Chris Monny Singh

Chris Monny Singh, a poet, musician and arts events organizer, was born in Australia in 1956. He adopted Sikh religion mainly because he was impressed by its philosophy of treating all the people equal. He was also impressed by Gurbani, particularly its close association with music, which he is fond of. Chris came to India with a view to study the Sikh religion and popularize those musical instruments which were used in the times of Gurus. He lived in Taran Taran for a long period and manufactured Rabaabs with a view to revive it for the promotion of Sikh and Punjabi culture. He has influenced many youngsters in Australia and he is hopeful that if the Sikh religion is promoted in the right earnest, a large number of people will like to adopt this modern religion which makes no distinction between man and man. Chris is well versed in the Sikh philosophy and appreciates that it is the concept of ‘Naam’ as propounded by the Gurus which has always given strength to the Khalsa.

His conversion, conviction and dedication made him a role model Sikh. After staying in India for some years he went to Singapore. He has published two collections of poetry, ‘The House of Winter’ and ‘The Infinity Track’ and his received writing grants from the South Australian Department of the Arts to write poetry, short stories and opera librettos. He also edited the Penguin Book of Christmas Poems in 1992 (Australia) and has produced two CDs, one of which is entitled Indian City, a poetry/music fusion work recorded in India and released in Singapore in 1997. As a recipient of a Singapore National Arts Council and Singapore International Foundation grants in 2003, Mooney-Singh toured the USA in 2003 and performed at international festivals and poetry slam venues in Texas, Chicago, Ann Arbor and New York combining spoken word performance with music. He launched the Poetry Slam Cabaret in Singapore in May 2003, the first poetry slam venue in Asia and is also conducting performance poetry workshops in schools and universities. In March 2004, he was invited to launch poetry slam in Hong Kong as a part of the Hong Kong Literary Festival again with the support of the Singapore National Arts Council. Since then he has been actively associated with such kind of activities and is living in Singapore as a perfect Sikh role model.