Amar Singh has been appointed the police commissioner of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, the highest police rank achieved by a Sikh in the Muslim-majority country. Deputy commissioner Amar Singh, in his late 50s, will replace Tajuddin Mohamed, who will move to the federal headquarters as the deputy director of commercial CID (crime investigation department) next month. Amar is a third-generation policeman from his family.

Amar Singh’s father, Ishar Singh, joined the Federated Malay States Police in 1939, a year after coming to Malaysia from Punjab and was a pioneer member of the police jungle squad established during the Emergency. His maternal grandfather, Bachan Singh, was a constable who joined the force in the early 1900s. Amar did BSc from the University of Malaya here and LLB from the University of Buckingham (UK). He has a diploma in Sharia law.

Did You Know?

• The word Kuala Lumpur has been derived from Malay language which means “muddy confluence”
• Kuala Lumpur remained under the occupation of Japanese from 11th January 1942 until 15th August 1945, when Japanese forces surrendered to the British following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• Yap Ah Loy, the third Chinese Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur, worked diligently to rebuild Kuala Lumpur into a booming mining town.
• Kuala Lumpur, the largest city of Malaysia, achieved the status of a city in 1972.
• Kuala Lumpur is the most populous city as well as the city with highest literacy rate in Malaysia.