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‘Apolitical warriors’: Remembrances, historical memory, and the boundaries of belonging among Gurkha migrants in Southeast Asia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 April 2025
Abstract
This article critically engages with ‘apolitical warriors’ as a conceptual tool for understanding how Gurkhas and their families are discursively embedded in political discourses. The analysis offered will shed light on the limited scholarly attention given to the implications of this soldiering community's ‘impartial’ and ‘martial’ identity in shaping ideas of (non-)belonging within Southeast Asia. By focusing on remembrances, this article draws out how a nation's past is produced vis-à-vis commemorative events and, within this context, it comparatively examines how Gurkhas, as military migrants, are remembered and represented during ceremonies held at, for example, the Gurkha Cemetery in Ipoh, Malaysia and the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore. A central question involves evaluating the role of historical memory in informing the extent to which the Gurkha community is incorporated within the national narratives of countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei. Herein, I argue that their perceived apolitical tenor has long served a dual purpose which, in turn, forms the axis of their ambivalent belonging. While Gurkhas are celebrated as foreign warriors reputed for their invaluable contribution to these nations, they are excluded through policy measures that rule out the prospect of citizenship and govern their status as transient migrants.
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- Research Article
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- © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The National University of Singapore
Footnotes
This research was carried out as part of my doctoral studies at the Department of History, National University of Singapore. I am grateful to the GRSS for funding the fieldwork in Malaysia. I would also like to express my gratitude to members of the WIRA (Warrior's) Association Malaysia Perak and, also Mr Ian Holthouse and Mr Ken McNeill of the National Malaya and Borneo Veterans Association of Australia (NMBVAA), for warmly welcoming me and facilitating my participation in the Remembrance ceremonies in Ipoh. My heartfelt thanks to Dr John Prabhu Solomon for his invaluable suggestions on earlier iterations of this article. I also extend my appreciation to the three reviewers for their insightful and constructive feedback.
References
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39 ‘Cenotaph ceremonies’, Singapore Standard, 12 Nov. 1956.
40 ‘Sultan of Kedah to lay wreath’, The Straits Times, 10 Nov. 1962.
41 ‘Wreath-laying at Cenotaph ceremony out’, The Straits Times, 7 Nov. 1957.
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45 Ibid., p. 12.
46 Ibid.
47 The Kukri, 1949.
48 R. Thambipillay, God's Little Acre: Batu Gajah (Ipoh: Perak Planters' Association, 1998). This is a commemorative book compiled by the author to mark the 50th anniversary of the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960). It provides an overview of the Remembrance events at God's Little Acre, and contains reminiscences, reports, and a memoriam of the graves. See also, R. Thambipillay, The last post: Story of the Emergency and commemorative events, 1948–1960 (published by R. Thambipillay: Malaysia, 2011).
49 A disproportionately high number of Gurkha names under the column of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles is noticeable, which is not surprising as Ipoh was their regimental home since the early 1950s. Prior to being known as ‘Suvla Lines’, regimental sources on the Gurkhas referred to the barracks of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles in Ipoh as ‘Sirmoor Lines’ up until the 1950s, and by 1960 it was referred to as ‘Suvla Lines’. For further information, see, 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles Regimental Association, No. 23, Spring 1959. Also see, The Kukri – The Journal of the Brigade of Gurkhas, 1954, pp. 6–9, and 1955, p. 40.
50 Nora, ‘Between memory and history’, p. 8.
51 Having said that, this is only based on a one-off participant-observation from my end, and it may not be representative of whether this has generally been the case in previous years.
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58 Neha Vora, Impossible citizens: Dubai's Indian diaspora (Durham; London: Duke University Press, 2013).
59 Kevin Blackburn, ‘Colonial forces and postcolonial memories: The commemoration and memory of the Malay Regiment in modern Malaysia and Singapore’, in Colonial armies in Southeast Asia, ed. Karl Hack and Tobias Rettig (London; New York: Routledge, 2006), pp. 286–309.
60 CSO, 0171/45. Memorandum No. D.2646-CA/46. Letter of correspondence from Sgd H. Dayal, Under Secretary to the Government of India to His Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Nepal, on the subject ‘Gurkhas for Malayan Police’, 13 April 1946.
61 ‘Gurkhas are here to stay: Jaya’, The Straits Times, 14 Mar. 1987.
62 Ibid.
63 Ibid.
64 Ibid.
65 Anthias, ‘Identity and belonging’.
66 ‘War or peace, Gurkhas deserved reputation’, The Straits Times, 2 Jan. 1999.
67 See, for example, Lee Kuan Yew, The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore: Federal Publications, 2000), p. 20; Lee Kuan Yew, From Third World to First: The Singapore Story, 1965–2000 (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), pp. 21–2.
68 Facebook/Lee Hsien Loong, 2019.
69 Djuna Thurley, ‘The campaign for Gurkha pensions’, House of Commons Library, 8 Sept. 2021.
70 ‘Britain opens door to 36,000 Gurkha veterans after policy U-turn’, The Times, 29 Jan. 2009.
71 ‘Nepalese Gurkhas end hunger strike over UK military pensions’, Aljazeera, 20 Aug. 2021.
72 Iain Hollingshead, ‘The Gurkhas in Aldershot: Little Nepal’, The Telegraph, 21 Feb. 2011.