Sports
Tiger Jeet Singh (Jagjit Singh Hans):
Among Top 25 Canadian Immigrants 2012
NEWS REPORT
Occupation:
Real estate entrepreneur, philanthropist and former professional wrestler
Origin:
Punjab
City:
Milton, Ontario
Wrestling great
Sikh-Canadian Jagjit Singh Hans became a professional wrestler more than 40 years ago. The wrestler who played a villain wielding a sword saw much violence during his time in the ring. But, outside the ring, he was a peace-loving person.
“I came over [to Canada] with my parents as a student in 1961. But I chose to reside here afterward because I found work, and found Canada to be a very peaceful and welcoming nation for immigrants!”
Today, the man known popularly by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh is a living legend of Canada. The grandfather of seven amassed a fortune in real estate during a four-decade ring career, and now donates freely to charity.
With the support of family and friends, he and his son, Gurjit (Tiger Ali Singh), started the Tiger Jeet Singh Foundation three years ago.
“We promote two charity events per year - TigerFest in the summer and Troy’s Toy Drive during the holiday season,” Tiger Jeet Singh says. Proceeds from these annual events are donated to several organizations including the Hospital for Sick Children, McMaster Children’s Hospital and Halton Women’s Place.
Recognizing his community service, the Halton District School Board voted to name an elementary school after him in 2009. Tiger Jeet Singh Public School - the first school in Canada to be named after a person of South Asian origin - has been open since Sept. 7, 2010.
While Toger Jeet has received several such recognitions and awards for both his wrestling acts in rings across the globe and charity work in Canada, the most recent accolade was bestowed on him in his hometown of Milton, Ontario. Early this May, he and his son received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, presented to them during an assembly at the school named after him.
“Standing in a school [named after you], in front of a room of children accepting the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal was such an overwhelming experience,” he says “It is my hope that we inspire these children and help them realize they can do anything they set out to achieve.”
As a New-Canadian youth growing up in the 1960s - when Sikh immigration was already half-a-century old but Indian and South Asian immigration to Canada was still in its early stages - Tiger Jeet did very well despite adversities. He recalls, “I used to confront a lot of racial problems and people used to tell me to go back to India. [But] I won over my detractors with kindness and not retaliation. I believe in God, and my teachings of Sikhism taught me to win over people with peace and understanding.”
And his advice to other newcomers is to do just that: “Believe in God and you will always be successful.” He adds, “Don’t give up and work hard. Don’t take any shortcuts for quick rich schemes, because they won’t last and will take you into the wrong society.”
June 12, 2012