Sikhs in the Policing of British Malaya and Straits Settlements: (1874-1957)

This publication examines the position and role of Sikhs in the policing of British Malaya and the Straits Settlements. The Sikhs were employed in the Colonial Police Forces of the Straits Settlements and the Peninsula Malaya from 1874 to 1957. The Sikh ¿martial¿ self-image coupled with the given colonial classification of their community as a ¿Martial Race¿ served to ensure their employment in these colonial law enforcement agencies. The Sikhs were able to entrench themselves in Malaya and Singapore largely because of the para-military nature of the early Colonial Police Forces as well as the reluctance of the Chinese and indigenous Malays to serve as policemen in these parts of the Empire. This publication goes on to show how these early Sikh migrants and police recruits eventually became the genesis of settled Sikh communities in these parts of the Far East.