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{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Punjabi Malaysians
| image = Kids coloring activity organised by Gurdwara Sahib Jelapang.jpg
| caption = A group of local Punjabi kids in [[Ipoh]], [[Perak]]
| pop = 100,000 (2010)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/malaysian-punjabi-party-gets-first-woman-president-416922|title=Malaysian Punjabi party gets first woman president|website=ndtv.com|access-date=25 March 2024}}</ref>
| popplace = [[Peninsular Malaysia]]
| langs = [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] {{·}}[[Malaysian Malay|Malay]]{{·}} [[Malaysian English|English]]{{·}} [[Malaysian Tamil|Tamil]]
| rels = [[Sikhism]]{{·}} [[Islam]]{{·}} [[Hinduism]]{{·}} [[Christianity]]
| related = [[Malaysian Indians]]{{·}} [[Pakistanis in Malaysia|Malaysian Pakistanis]]
| native_name = {{lang|pa|Panjābī Malā'iśiyā'ī}} 
| footnotes =
}}
{{Punjabis}}
'''Punjabi Malaysians''' are people of full or partial [[Punjabis|Punjabi]] descent who were born in or immigrated to [[Malaysia]]. Originating from the [[Punjab]] region of present-day [[India]] and [[Pakistan]], Punjabi immigration to Malaysia began in the 19th century from what was then [[British Raj|British India]] to [[British Malaya]].<ref name="Sandhu">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TeExjdWUmJYC&pg=PA161|title=Indian Communities in Southeast Asia|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|pages=161–162, 581|first1=
K. S.|last1=Sandhu|first2=A.|last2=Mani|date=2006|isbn=9789812304186}}</ref> The Punjabi Malaysian community today numbers over 100,000 – the majority of whom are [[Punjabi Sikhs|Sikhs]], although there are also sizeable [[Punjabi Muslims|Muslim]], [[Punjabi Hindus|Hindu]] and [[Punjabi Christians|Christian]] minorities.<ref name="MM">{{cite news|url=https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2018/04/29/vaisakhi-festivities-showcase-sikh-communitys-vibrancy/1625376|title=Vaisakhi festivities showcase Sikh community's vibrancy|work=Malay Mail|date=29 April 2018|access-date=22 November 2023|first=Jordan|last=Barnes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528004634/https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2018/04/29/vaisakhi-festivities-showcase-sikh-communitys-vibrancy/1625376|archive-date=28 May 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Sandhu"/><ref name="Meddegoda">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=21gkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA74|title=Hindustani Traces in Malay Ghazal|first1=Gisa|last1=Jähnichen|first2=Chinthaka Prageeth|last2=Meddegoda|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|date=2016|isbn=9781443899987|pages=74–76}}</ref> They form the largest [[Punjabi diaspora]] group in [[Southeast Asia]], while within Malaysia, Punjabis are the fourth largest ethnicity of [[Malaysian Indians|Indian]] or South Asian descent after the [[Tamil Malaysians|Tamils]], [[Malaysian Malayalees|Malayalis]] and [[Malaysian Telugus|Telugus]].<ref name="Sandhu"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sikhnet.com/news/gurdwara-trail-malaysia-spiritual-experience|title=On the Gurdwara Trail in Malaysia: A Spiritual Experience|work=Sikh Net|date=20 January 2023|access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref>

==Demographics==
Punjabis were brought to Malaysia in the mid-19th century, when both the [[Indian subcontinent]] and Malaysia were under British colonial rule. The earliest Punjabi arrivals included political prisoners from British India, as well as those recruited by the British to serve in the paramilitary and police forces in both [[Peninsular Malaysia|Peninsular]] and [[East Malaysia]], owing to their characterisation as a [[martial race]]. They were primarily men and largely composed of Sikhs, who established the foundations of [[Sikhism in Malaysia]].<ref name="Bedi">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B65oAQAACAAJ|title=The Earliest Arrival of Sikhs in Malaya|first=Rajindar Singh|last=Bedi|year=2001|access-date=22 November 2023|archiveurl=https://www.penangstory.net.my/indian-content-paperrajindar.html|archive-date=22 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://asiasamachar.com/2017/06/10/sikh-migration-to-peninsular-malaysia-part-1/|title=Sikh migration to Peninsular Malaysia – Part 1|work=Asia Samachar|date=10 June 2017|access-date=22 November 2023}}</ref><ref name="Malhi"/> Upon the completion of their service, many of these Punjabis returned to the subcontinent. Amongst the men who remained, those who were Muslims married local women and integrated into [[Malaysian Malays|Malay]] society.<ref name="Sandhu"/> With the expansion of the community, the second wave of Punjabi settlers included farmers, merchants, tradespeople, hawkers and those in the transportation business.<ref name="Bedi"/>

In the [[Census in Malaysia|census]] of 1947, the Punjabi population in Malaysia numbered 30,592 – constituting by far the largest ethnicity from the northern part of the subcontinent settled in Malaysia.<ref name="Sandhu"/> During the 1990s, they numbered anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 individuals.<ref name="Cohen">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgesurveyo00robi|url-access=registration|title=The Cambridge Survey of World Migration|first=Robin|last=Cohen|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1995|page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgesurveyo00robi/page/70 70]|isbn=9780521444057}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Malaysia |publisher=Scarecrow Press|first=Amarjit|last=Kaur|year=1993|isbn=9780810826298|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G226AAAAIAAJ}}</ref> Today, their population is considered to approach or be well in excess of 100,000.<ref name="Malhi">{{cite news|url=https://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/598203|title=Outsized contributions of Malaysian Sikhs|work=Malaysiakini|date=7 November 2021|access-date=22 November 2023|first=Ranjit Singh|last=Malhi}}</ref><ref name="MM"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L38_jNlkADAC&pg=PA252|title=The Sustainability of the Translation Field|page=252|first=Hasuria Che|last=Omar|publisher=ITBM|year=2009|isbn=9789834217969}}</ref> Punjabis are considered well-represented in multiple spheres of Malaysia's economy, in particular as professionals, in the academia and civil service, and in the mercantile and money-lending business.<ref name="Malhi"/><ref name="Sandhu"/> The [[Punjabi Party of Malaysia]] (PPM) was founded in 1986 and formally registered in 2003 to advance the political interests of the Malaysian Punjabi, and in particular, Sikh community.<ref>{{cite news|title=Parti Punjabi seeks members|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-82779503.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611075029/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-82779503.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 June 2014|work=[[New Straits Times]]|publisher=The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad|date=5 October 2003|access-date=24 June 2008}}</ref>

The regions with the largest concentration of Malaysian Punjabis include the [[Klang Valley]], [[Perak]] and [[Penang]].<ref name="MM"/><ref name="Bedi"/>

==Notable people==
{{div col}}
* [[Mohinder Singh Amar]], field hockey player
* [[Melinder Bhullar]], model
* [[Jagjit Singh Chet]], field hockey player
* [[Gobind Singh Deo]], politician
* [[Jagdeep Singh Deo]], politician
* [[Satwant Singh Dhaliwal]], biologist
* [[Faezah Elai]], actress
* [[Avtar Singh Gill]], field hockey player
* [[Ranjit Singh Gurdit]], field hockey player
* [[Kiran Jassal]], model
* [[Anita Raj Kaur]], badminton player
* [[Sukhvinderjeet Singh Kulwant]], field hockey player
* [[Sarjit Singh Kyndan]], field hockey player
* [[Maninderjit Singh Magmar]], field hockey player
* [[K. S. Nijhar]], politician
* [[Aphthar Singh Piara]], field hockey player
* [[Nauraj Singh Randhawa]], athlete
* [[B. S. Rajhans]], film director
* [[Harinder Singh Sekhon]], sportsman
* [[Harnahal Singh Sewa]], field hockey player
* [[Kavita Sidhu]], model
* [[Nashatar Singh Sidhu]], javelin thrower
* [[Tara Singh Sindhu]], field hockey player
* [[Baljit Singh (field hockey, born 1986)|Baljit Singh (b. 1986)]], field hockey player
* [[Baljit Singh (field hockey, born 1987)|Baljit Singh (b. 1987)]], field hockey player
* [[Baljit Singh Jigiri Singh]], politician
* [[Gian Singh (field hockey)|Gian Singh]], field hockey player
* [[Jagdish Singh (badminton)|Jagdish Singh]], badminton player
* [[Kalwant Singh (drug trafficker)|Kalwant Singh]], drug trafficker
* [[Karamjit Singh]], rally driver
* [[Karpal Singh]], politician and lawyer
* [[Keshvinder Singh]], politician
* [[Lall Singh]], Test cricketer
* [[Manrick Singh]], cricketer
* [[Pavandeep Singh]], cricketer
* [[Ramkarpal Singh]], politician
* [[Sanjay Singh (squash player)|Sanjay Singh]], squash player
* [[Santokh Singh]], football player
* [[Savinder Singh]], field hockey player
* [[Shebby Singh]], football player
* [[Suresh Singh]], cricketer
* [[Virandeep Singh]], cricketer
* [[Sanjna Suri]], model
* [[Kuldip Singh Uijeer]], field hockey player
* [[Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof]], academic
{{div col end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Malaysia|Punjab}}
* [[Malaysian Indians]]
* [[Pakistanis in Malaysia]]
* [[Sikhism in Malaysia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Punjabi diaspora}}
{{Indians in Malaysia}}
{{Indian diaspora}}
{{Overseas Pakistani}}
{{Ethnic groups in Malaysia}}

[[Category:Punjabi diaspora in Malaysia|*]]
[[Category:Punjabi diaspora by country|Malaysia]]

Punjabi Malaysians - Revision history

Agamx: started basic post w/ infobox!