1. A sikhs cultural identity, enculturation, socialization, and intergration process
“SIKH” is not a race. Sikhs are those people who practice the religion of
sikhism or lifestyle and they are also known as “SINGHS”. The state of Punjab is
located between nothern India and southern Pakistan and this is where majority
of the sikh people come from and they can be found almost in all the major
countries in the entire world such as Singapore , Malaysia , Thailand , Iran , USA ,
UK , Germany , Belgium , Kenya , Australia and so on .
According to the teachings of my elders a sikh can never be identified by
their skin colour or DNA testing but all religions do somehow set certain scarce
form of basic principles so dear to the founders of their respective faiths.
However, the litmus test to identify a sikh is if the following requirements are met
by a particullar person or an individual such as faithfullness in believing in the one
true immortal supreme entity commonly known as GOD by most people in the
language of english.

2. The one supreme GOD is known to sikhs in many names such as “Akaal
Purakh” meaning the creator, “Waheguru” meaning the great light that dispells
the darkness or “Har” meaning all everything and many more . Secondly a sikh
can also be identified if he believes in the ten gurus of sikhism from Guru Nanak
Dev Ji sahib to Guru Gobind Singh ji sahib (1469-1708) .
Thirdly, a sikh faithfuly believes in the Shree Guru Granth Sahib Ji (bible of
the sikhs) which is also known as the eleventh guru and it contains all the sikhs
sacred hymns and revealed words of divinity bequeathed by the tenth guru.
Keeping up the unshorn hair, beards, and moustaches with turban on head for
males and scarf for the females is a must. This symbolises acceptance towards
nature and great courage .
Even if a Sikh dosen`t keep his long hair effect due to cultural assimilation in
Malaysia, he or she always wears a steel or iron bracelet on their right hand. Sikhs
were brought to Malaysia by the British during their colonial service in Malaysia
as police and soldiers. The first few Sikhs to set foot in Malaya were Nihal Singh
(better known as Bhai Maharaj Singh) and Kharak Singh.

3. Later in 1865, it is believed that the process of migration of sikh people into
Malaysia has started again this time involving larger numbers of sikh migration as
British Empire armed forces. Even if Sikhs are minority in Malaysia, it is normal to
see them working as professionals now for example dentists, doctors, lawyers or
even businessmen.
Every society has its own codes of conduct, rules, regulations and norms
including values . Understanding by now that every culture clearly demarcates the
desirable and undesirable behavior in different social contexts. For example how
should we behave and show respect as a son or daughter, a husband or wife, as
brother or sister, as a nephew or niece, as a host, a guest or as a friend. Every
culture has its own very unique folkways ,norms and expectations towards these.
For example we show respect to our elders by calling them in polite
manner for example. Let`s say the punjabi word “PHUPER” meaning “uncle “, we
are not allowed to call our elders that way but instead we all use a punjabi pollito
“JI“ to that word we use to call our elder and it becomes “Phuperji”. This form of
addresing elders in the punjabi culture is considered very polite and respected.

4. Sikhs greet other people by putting their palms together and simply bowing
at about 10 to 20 degrees angle. The meaning of this form of greeting symbolises
our belief that no human has higher or lower ranks in this world and all of us are
the same and we mean no harm to anyone so we peacefully form friendship.
These are several such rules with such social norms which differ from society to
society. Thus, it is clear that an individual should be aware of such social norms
and cultural expectations.
As we know that the sikh religion was originated in the very continent of
Asia, therefore Sikh culture is a collectivist orientated culture. To the sikh
community family and religion comes together in pair, one cannot live without
the other. It is stated in the Sikhism holy bible the guru granth sahib that. Says
God " I am unseenable and there is merely any evidence in this universe that
proofs my existence right, you say that you fear me, you say that you believe in
me, you say that you respect me? How are you going to respect me as GOD when
you cannot even respect my creations which are existing and are much weaker
then you ? you can only respect me when you respect the family relationship that I
have blessed you with and my very creations " .

5. Therefore according to the sikh religion respecting and prioritising family is
very important to achieve certain degree of spirituality within an individual. A true
Sikh must treat everyone good or bad as his own brothers and sisters. This is
because every human has feelings and should not be judged according to their
actions but by knowing them deep inside.
Today the Sikh culture cummunity has became much more advanced
compared to the ones in punjab as most sikhs in Malaysia are into high paid
professional jobs and have very good communication skills as they are not
unilingual but instead multilingual . Malaysian Sikhs are also much more accepting
and adaptive with their surroundings full with other different local cultures and
are great in coping with them in terms of food ,clothing , taboos and many more.
As a conclusion , Globalisation has brought a lot of changes in many
communities around the world. But such changes may also bring about extinction
within ones culture. There fore we as the modern generation shall adapt to both
modern and our ancesstric culture so that it may be preserved for the upcomong
generation.