Activities and events

Calendar of annual events

These recur each year. Dates follow the Tamil calendar and are confirmed nearer the time — announced here and on our Facebook page.

1. Family Assistance Programme

   Year-round, with festival deliveries

   The Sabai's largest standing commitment. Families referred by members, hospitals and welfare organisations receive dry groceries chosen for their household, and — as the need arises — clothing, school items for children, mobility aids, used furniture, kitchen equipment and financial help. Special deliveries are made at Thai Pongal, Tamil New Year and Deepavali.

   From our records

   Revamped under this name in 2020, when Covid-19 emerged, beginning with four families in April of that year. By August 2025 it was supporting more than thirty. It is led by Mdm Vivekaambal Gopal PBM, assisted by Mr Thanabalan, Mr Manthramoorthy, Mr A. K. R. Mohan and Mdm Sumathy, with volunteers, donors and sponsors.

2. Ponggal Festival

   Thai — January

   The harvest festival, and the first observance of the Tamil year. The Sabai marks it as a community gathering and as one of the points in the year when the Family Assistance Programme makes a special delivery to the families it supports.

3. Tamil New Year

   Chithirai — April

   Kept by the Sabai as its own anniversary as well as the community's new year. Past celebrations have included blood donation drives, guests from welfare homes, and performances by well-known musicians, dancers and singers.

   From our records

   Held for some years at Queensway Muneeswaran Temple with the temple deity's procession and special prayers, and staged jointly with the Indian Activity Executive Committees of Alexandra, Queenstown and Kampong Chai Chee community centres.

4. Sekkizhar Vizha

   Vaikasi — May or June

   The guru pooja of Sekkizhar, who composed the Periya Puranam — the account of the sixty-three Nayanmars that closes the Saiva canon. The Sabai's long-running discourse series on the Nayanmars and Azhvars grew from the same ground.

   The committee's own description of this observance is to come.

5. Deiva Thamizh Kalai Vizha

   To be confirmed

   A festival of sacred Tamil arts — devotional music, recitation and dance. The Sabai has a long record in this line, from the Meenakshi Kalyanam dance drama at Victoria Theatre to Geetha Thendral and Pon Malai Pozhuthu.

   The committee's own description of this observance is to come.

6. Vallalar Vizha

   Aippasi — October

   The Sabai's observance for Ramalinga Adigal, Vallalar, kept annually. The Jothi lamp is lit, the Sabai's advisor gives the introductory address, temple groups recite the Agaval, and speakers share Vallalar's teachings and their own experience of them.

   From our records

   The 2023 celebration marked the bicentenary of Vallalar's birth, with a full dance drama of his life staged by a fifteen-member group from Ipoh. Around a hundred people attend in an ordinary year. The Sabai has also released Vallalar's songs and hosted a well-known vocalist three times to perform in his praise.

7. Sumangali Pooja

   To be confirmed

   The rite honouring the sumangali — married women of the family line — performed to seek their blessing on the household. The Sabai's work in this area extends to guidance on how such observances are properly kept at home.

   The committee's own description of this observance is to come.

8. Vel Maaral Chanting

   As announced

   Mass chanting of the Vel Maaral, the hymn to Murugan's lance. Held at PGP Hall and open to all.

   From our records

   The 2025 chanting, conducted by Mr Vijayakumar from Tamil Nadu, drew more than eight hundred people — the largest single gathering in the Sabai's recent record.