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Sikh Society of South Australia |
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October 2004 NEWSLETTER No. 1 |
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Sikh Society of South Australia |
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October 2004 NEWSLETTER No. 1 |
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Swaran S. Khera
Sat Sri Akal
It was with considerable hesitation that I decided to accept the nomination for this position being the sixth time now. Many of the members were very concerned over some matters, if not controlled, would have affected our Society very adversely. I too felt the same. Many members as well as the outgoing committee urged me very strongly to do so. The fact that most members of the outgoing committee pledged to offer their services and support once again to run the Society made me to stand for election. I am very happy and so should all our Society members who care for the Society that we have a core of very dedicated, able and unselfish persons who have in the past and are now willing to go on doing such service. The committees over the past few years have done an excellent job and should be praised.
We have come a long way from the days, some twenty five years or more ago, with only a handful of Sikh Punjabi families in Adelaide having functions on a monthly basis from one house to another to hold our prayers. The person who organized this in a relentless and dedicated manner and still continues to serve our community inspite of his age is Master Joginder Singh. We all owe him a lot of gratitude, although he very humbly refuses any acknowledgement. From meetings in homes we moved into school halls and eventually into the current Enfield site in 1988. Initially this place appeared “large” for us but now it has become “small”. It has served us well but time had come to improve and move on. We have been blessed by Waheguru with luck to find and acquire the new site – Colonial Function Centre which is manifold better and would serve us well for a considerable period of time. Even before we move in, the value of it has almost doubled compared to what we paid for it. We have been also lucky in being able to get approval to sub-divide the current site into blocks and sell them as land-house packages, thereby raising about $1.4 million, which would completely pay off our debt to the banks for the purchase of the new property. We do not have to go about collecting donations and the amount needed would have been very difficult to get. We are also lucky that we did not get misled into selling the current property cheaply and that some others may have benefited with almost a million dollars overnight by purchasing it thus.
Until we move into the new premises we are going to face certain inconveniences in holding of our weekly prayers and other activities. It is a small price to pay for the benefit we will have when using the new place. I hope you all will understand, have patience and above all willingly help the committee in all its efforts –for the good of all of us.
Several old standing members had become very disturbed at the attempts to hijack the AGM elections by recruiting as members from outside Adelaide, especially persons who have no interest in attending our functions or helping us, but merely to affect the outcome of the elections. This is serious and their motives have to be questioned. I feel this practice should be very strongly opposed and reversed. We do not want the Society and its assets to fall into wrong hands and the assets to disappear. Do think carefully for the future. The committee will deliberate on this and consider ways to deal with this and offer the members its view for action and decision.
Best wishes and regards to all.
Humbly yours.
Dr Swaran S. Khera
The Golf season of 2004 is coming to the end and there are a few interesting events left for the members. The golf section travels to Renmark to compete for the Pike River Trophy sponsored by Saroop Singh and family. About twenty members of the golf section and their families will be hosted by Saroop Singh in Renmark and I am sure everyone going there will have a great week-end.
Other coming events are the Captain’s Cup on the 23rd October 2004 and the Khera Cup on the 13th November 2004, which will be the last game for 2004 season.
The Annual Golf Dinner for 2004 is going to be held on the 20th November 2004 at the Tee Chow Restaurant. Tickets for members are $30.00 and for non-members is $35.00. Anyone interested in attending the dinner please contact Gurcharan Dhillon on 82070219 during office hours or home 83366940. There is a restriction on number of seats available. Members will have priority.
The Boxing Day game, which is normally played on 26th December, is being changed to 19th December.
The Golf committee wishes everyone seasons greetings.
Ever wondered why a full-length golf course has 18 holes, and not 20, or 10 or an even dozen?
During a discussion among the club's membership board at St. Andrews in 1858, one of the members pointed out that it takes exactly 18 shots to polish off a fifth of Scotch. By limiting himself to only one shot of Scotch per hole, the Scot figured a round of golf was finished when the Scotch ran out. And now you know!
WELFARE CLUB
The Welfare Club held its sixth AGM on 26th September and voted in a new committee:
Chairperson:
Lila Randhawa
Secretary: Poonam Singh
Treasurer:
Balbir Grewal
Committee Members:
Harpal Gill
Balbir Kaur
Gagandeep Chuga
Sharmil Randhawa
Rani Turner
Any suggestions by members would be most welcomed by the Welfare Club Committee.
SIKH YOUTH SECTION
Vishal Sharma
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
I would like to thank first and foremost all those who supported me in being elected into this youth position. My objective is to provide and form an environment of unity amongst our youth and a focus on youth involvement in the community through social/function events, sports and Gurdwara services.
Preparation is already well underway for the upcoming 18th Annual Sikh Games (website: www.australiansikhgames.com) in the Riverland in April 2005. Representing the Sikh Society of South Australia are the Adelaide Khalsa Senior Soccer and Netball teams.
Training sessions are regularly Sunday afternoons from 4-6pm. For further information please contact Saurabh (captain of the Adelaide Khalsa Soccer Team) on 0413313298 after business hours and Juspreet (captain of Adelaide Khalsa Netball team) on 0402457748.
Please remember all are welcome to attend trainings and be involved with these teams. The greater the involvement the better! Even if it is just for fitness reasons please come and support your community teams.
There is also the opportunity of entering a Youth 16 Soccer Team and a Senior Basketball Team (pending inclusion as a sport) at these Games. Those who are interested in participating in either playing and/or coaching, could you please contact me so we can make the appropriate arrangements.
The Annual Sports Day will be organised in February 2005. This will involve all events in track and field and novelty games as well. Updates will be posted on the website in the coming months. All members of the community are encouraged to participate.
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS
November 2004
Upon discussions will other youth communities there will be a multicultural university party involving the Hindu, Sri Lankan, South Indian, Pakistani and Persian youth communities after the exam period. This year it is proposed that the youth of our community are involved in this event. Updates on the event will be posted on the website and around all universities.
In the months of December 2004 and February 2005, two Community Dinner Dances will be planned at the Magill Club. Organised and run by the youth, these events will include Dinner, Dance performances, Raffle prizes and a Dance floor to dance the night away with the best Bhangra music, both traditional and modern. We hope to continue the success of previous youth dinners that have been organised at this location.
A two-day Sikh Youth Camp is also being proposed for the month of December. Location is yet to be decided, however we hope to have the attendance of as many of the youth (all ages) at this camp. There will be a program formulated to cater for everyone’s needs. Any input would be greatly appreciated so please contact me with any ideas.
The youth will be organising a Family BBQ quite possibly in the beautiful Botanical Gardens in the Adelaide CBD. The usual food, drinks, fun and games will be provided at a very friendly cost.
As mentioned previously a community dinner will be organised and this will be in conjunction with the Annual Sports Day on the same day.
The all-important 18th Annual Sikh Games will be held in the Riverland. We hope to see as many faces amongst this community to come support the teams that will be representing the Sikh Society of South Australia.
There have been many talks of forming a Youth Committee this year. After careful thought about this, I have looked at another measure that I feel will be more successful. I proposed that on the first Sunday of every month (starting November 7) there will be a Youth Meeting held at the Gurdwara. All youth are more than welcome to attend. It is hoped that through these meetings new items can be addressed, and all matters involving Gurdwara Services (remember Youth Day at the Gurdwara is first Sunday of each month), Sporting and Social/Function issues can be addressed not solely by myself, but collaboratively as a youth community.
A youth contact list will also be organised at the first meeting in which upon approval will be posted on the website.
For any issues regarding the above information please contact the following people:
For Functions and Gurdwara Services:
Vishal Sharma
0402
597
925,
0433 153
008
Varinder Singh
0421
981
171
Ashwin Sinha
0422
710
910
For Sport:
Saurabh Thaper
0413
313
298
Juspreet Dhillion
0402
457
748
I am eagerly looking forward to the Youth program that is proposed for the coming year. As can be seen there are many exciting things in store for the community in the months to come. It is going to take a lot of time and effort and I encourage all members of the community to support these events. It is important not only to unite the youth in our community, but to also bridge the gap between the elder members of the community and us, the youth.
OTHER EVENTS
Education for Shared Values for Intercultural and Interfaith Understanding
Mental Illness: Fact or Cultural Fiction?
Saturday 16th October
2004
9:45 am – 5:00 pm
Flinders University Hall
Sturt Drive, Off University Drive
SIKH SOCIETY SOCIAL CALENDAR
The Annual Sikh Society's Diwali Night will be held on Saturday 13th November 2004.
Venue: Magill Club, 6 Uren Street, Magill
Cost: Adults -------
$15.00 per person
Students --- $10.00 per person
Free for children under 5 years of age.
Tickets are limited so please book early.
Note: tickets cannot be purchased at the door.
To book your tickets please call:
Gurdip Padde - 8410 3599
Sushil Sinha - 8336 9624
Vishal Sharma - 8331 0208
Gurdev Bahl - 8278 9290
Click here to view Diwali Night 2004 Poster
SSSA COMMITTEE MEMBERS
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President: |
•••• |
Swaran S. Khera (Dr.) |
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Vice-President: |
•••• |
Charan S. Dhami |
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Secretary: |
•••• |
Gurdev K. Bahl |
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Asst. Secretary: |
•••• |
Sushil Sinha |
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Treasurer: |
•••• |
Balwant Singh |
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Asst. Treasurer: |
•••• |
Tarsem S. Rai |
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Committee Members: |
•••• |
Serjit Singh Kang |
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Balbir Kaur |
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Gurdip S. Padde |
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Sharmil Randhawa |
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| Youth Member: |
•••• |
Vishal Sharma |
EMAIL CONTACT DETAILS
As a contemporary way to keep in touch with current members of the Sikh Society of South Australia, we ask for your kind assistance in filling in the slip below and returning it to any committee member, or alternatively posting to GPO Box 3, North Adelaide, South Australia 5006.
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SIKH SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
MEMBER'S NAME :___________________________________________________
EMAIL ADDRESS :___________________________________________________
SIKH SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
MEMBER'S NAME : __________________________________________________
EMAIL ADDRESS : ___________________________________________________
Last updated : 12th July 2004
