[2] Singapore was part of Malaya under British rule and Sikhs migrated there as policemen after leaving their homelands due to poverty and debt, seeking better fortunes abroad.

[8] In the second half of the 19th century, the majority of Sikh migrants to Singapore were employed in the police or security forces.

Due to the political stability and economic growth in the Punjab after its annexation by the British, profits from agricultural output increased which led to the prices for arable land to rise.

[8] The British preferred to recruit Sikhs belonging to the Jat caste from particular districts in the Majha region.

[10] The uprising of Singapore Societies along with the local police not deemed fit by the British lead to the recruitment of the Sikhs.

[8][3] Thus, Sikhs began migrating to Singapore in-hopes of being recruited by the Straits Settlement Police Force.

[13] The Sikhs responsibility was to counter Chinese Secret Societies as well as the security of the docks, harbors and the godowns.

[9][8] In 1898, a Sikh from Hong Kong named Lal Singh acted as a leader for the community during meetings, successfully gathering funds for the establishment of a dharamshala.

[14]: 66 At the time, Punjabis and Sikhs were not the only group of Indians in Singapore, there were also Tamils, Malayalis, Telugus, Ceylonese, Gujaratis, Sindhis, Biharis, and Bengalis.

[3] By the turn of the century, the community was still small but settled (concentrated in the town areas), and predominantly male.

[8] These were mostly transitory migrants who had no true intentions of permanently settling in Singapore, with them having the goal of eventually moving elsewhere or returning to their homeland.

[8] The reason for limited amounts of Sikh females is due to the unfamiliar environment, lack of employment options, and the living standards.

[8] However, some Singaporean Sikhs at the time pursued work in agriculture, such as by being dairy farmers and bullock drivers and keeping some heads of cattle on the outskirts of town.

[8] Many of the Sikhs, especially watchmen, were working multiple jobs or side-hustles (especially in money-lending) in-order to bring-in as much income as possible and to send funds back to their homeland in the form of remittance.

[8] Some of them aimed to eventually return to Punjab as wealthy individuals and thus worked hard to achieve their dream.

[8] The Singaporean Sikh policemen were barracked at Pearl’s Hill whilst those working as watchmen or security-guards resided near their places of employment, which were usually go-downs, banks, and offices located within the municipal area.

[8] In 1912, the Journal des Voyages published a satirical print of Sikh policemen rounding up Chinese criminals by their queues in Singapore.

[8] They started to build-up commercial enterprises, such as in textiles, which catered to both the Indian and European segments of the Singaporean population as wholesalers and retailers.

[11] Post-1945, more Sikh commercial migrants arrived due to the aftermath of the partition of Punjab, with some urban Sikh refugees from West Punjab moving abroad to Singapore, Malaya and Thailand, and also due to increased business opportunities as the Korean War raged-on.

[8] This gurdwara formed out of the purchase of a large compound (with a bungalow) in 1912 by a committee of Sikhs led by the Sindhi merchant Wassiamull Assomull Mahtani.