Then & Now | Sikh temple’s reopening in Hong Kong a reminder of the community’s contribution to city’s success, and that of many other minorities
- The Khalsa Diwan in Wan Chai has reopened after renovations and, as is Sikh custom, once again offers delicious and nutritious food free to visitors
- Sikhs have been in Hong Kong since the 1840s, serving as policemen, prison officers and security guards and running small businesses
The public reopening on November 6 of the newly rebuilt Khalsa Diwan, on Queen’s Road East in Wan Chai, is a magnificent reminder of the Sikh community’s extensive, multifaceted connections to Hong Kong life.
More generally known as the Gurdwara, or Sikh temple, the first modest building on this location was constructed in 1901; several reconstructions have been undertaken since then.
Many local Sikh families, who first settled in Hong Kong in the 19th century, have maintained continuous residence, in unbroken succession, down to the present day.
Vibrant, thriving and well integrated, the Sikh community presence provides a valuable contemporary reminder that Hong Kong – from its mid-1840s urban beginnings, through to its extraordinary late-20th century economic successes – was never simply a British-Chinese story.
Various long-domiciled “minority” communities – Parsees, Sephardic Jews, local Portuguese, Bohra Muslims, White Russians, Punjabi Muslims, Eurasians and others, as well as the Sikhs – also played key roles in that emergent Hong Kong success story.
