New Delhi: Jaswant Singh Gill, Singapore’s first Navy commander and a tall figure in the Sikh community, died Saturday from pneumonia. He was 97.
Gill was six years old when he had emigrated from Punjab to the island nation along with his uncle.
He was the son of a farmer and his uncle was a clerk in the Singapore Police Force at the time, according to an independent news portal for Sikhs in Asia.
“We are deeply indebted to Commander Gill and all of our navy pioneers,” said the Republic of Singapore Navy in a Facebook post Saturday.
The post also quoted Gill’s speech when Singapore first hoisted its white naval ensign in 1967. “Now that the new white ensign of our own young country will fly here and in our ships, I hope that you will all remember that its reputation is in your hands. And that you would resolve to do your best to ensure that it will always be regarded with honour and respect wherever it flies,” he had said.
Born in Punjab in 1923, Gill attended the Khalsa School in Moga. In Singapore, he received education at the Raffles Institution, according to another report in the independent news portal for Sikhs in Asia.
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Member of Singapore Khalsa Association
Gill fought for Singapore between 1963 and 1966, during a conflict between Indonesia and the then Federation of Malaysia. Besides serving as commander of the Singapore Naval Volunteer Force, he was also the commanding officer of Pulau Blakang Mati Camp, the head of the Singapore Armed Forces training department in the general staff division, and the commander of Tengah Air Base and Changi Air Base.
He retired from the Singapore Armed Forces with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1972.
In 1941, he became a member of the Singapore Khalsa Association and served as its president from 1966 to 1981.
According to Gill’s nephew, Kirpal Sidhu, 60, commemoration services on his death could not take place due to Covid-19 restrictions. It was, instead, conducted over Zoom so that the late commander’s children, five of whom are currently not in Singapore, could attend.
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