Turban-blocked blogger feels ‘warmth of Sikh community’ after temple visit

A Singaporean blogger who apologized for comments deemed offensive to Sikhs met this weekend with members of their community to learn more about the religion and culture.

Lifestyle blogger Sheena Phua and two friends accepted an invitation to the Central Sikh Temple on Saturday to tour the Towner Road worship center, browse holy scriptures and feast on traditional food, days after she apologized for posting a clip of two turbaned men obstructing her view at an event.

Phua, who is ethnically Chinese, told the association that she “didn’t know much about the Sikh community” nor, for that matter, any Sikhs. That prompted the Youth Sikh Association, which invited her for the tour, to question whether people were fair in judging Phua over the now-deleted Instagram story she posted while watching the Singapore Grand Prix. 

“Now that we know her better, would it still be fair to say that she should have known better when she initially put up her post that some found offensive? We all have our own experiences that inform what and how much we know about others in our community,” the association wrote on Facebook.

Phua on Saturday acknowledged receiving many angry messages following the incident in which she captioned a clip of two turbaned men, “Dang! 2 huge obstructions decided to pop out of nowhere.”

“This visit to the Gurdwara with the YSA was sobering and taught me so much about the Sikh culture that I did not know before. It was a wholesome, genuine experience and let me feel the warmth of the Sikh community,” she wrote in the post. 

“I learned that when going through a rough patch, hitting back is not always the way to go and that empathy will shine through in the end. One just needs to stay strong and positive, which the Sikhs term Charndikala,” she added, referring to Charhdi Kala, the Punjabi term for the Sikh principle of optimism and joy.

 

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My faith in humanity has been restored. Truth be told, it has been a rough week for me after what transpired. Amidst the many hate dms I received, it was really touching to receive a kind message from the Youth Sikh Association @ysa.sg, who reached out to me and invited me down to share my experiences and learn about their culture. YSA is a secular nonprofit organization with members consisting of youths from the Sikh community, but they welcome anyone to join. Their activites are not restricted to the Sikh community, and they organize cultural/charitable events for various groups in Singapore. They act as a platform for Sikh youths to gather and promote their culture to everyone! Yesterday, I headed down to the Central Sikh Gurdwara at Towner Road and met with Shaun, Diana and Ram from YSA. Some of their family members and friends came along as well. From the moment I first stepped into the temple, I had never felt more welcome. The YSA received us with open arms and we had a delightful exchange on our cultures over a meal (Langgar), as well as did some service (Sewa) in the form of food preparation. It was amazing to see how commumal the Sikhs were and apparently anyone is welcome into their temples anytime! We even got to take a look at the Sikhs holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. Never once did I feel intimidated or awkward with YSA, and I realized that they really uphold the values of promoting harmony and strengthening ties. To top it all off, the Cha was amazing! This visit to the Gurdwara with the YSA was sobering and taught me so much about Sikh culture that I did not know before. It was a wholesome, genuine experience and let me feel the warmth of the Sikh community. I learnt that when going through a rough patch, hitting back is not always the way to go and that empathy will shine through in the end. One just needs to stay strong and positive, which the Sikhs term Charndikala. Will definitely be back and hope to work with YSA in the future! You guys should really check them out as they are open to working on almost anything, and will be more than glad to show you around 🙂 Charndikala!

A post shared by Sheena Phua (@sheenaphua) on Sep 28, 2019 at 11:16pm PDT

Misinterpreted?

While Phua at no point referenced the religion of the men in her original IG story, she was quickly inundated with an angry response as the “obstructions” in question were the spiritually mandated turbans worn by members of a marginalized community. People were quick to go on the attack, with screenshots from the clip popping everywhere, including the popular Wake Up, Singapore.

Reeling from the backlash, that saw Phua accused of everything from being racist to unfeeling, she issued an apology on Sept. 22 but said the post had been “misinterpreted.”

“I apologize for the distress it has caused. The obstruction being referenced in my video was a physical obstruction as the 2 Sikh men were taller than me and blocked my view of the show in front. This would have been the same were they (of) any other race or gender,” she said, adding that the video had been “taken out of context” and that she had not meant it as “racist or derogatory.”

That statement didn’t win over many of her critics, some of whom called it out as “fake.”

Others, including some Sikhs, saw no malicious intent to Phua’s post and believed she was simply highlighting the men’s height rather than their race or religion.

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