Salutaions my fellow KLKlan-ites!
Redefining the KLK-Identity is something I'm sure all our faithful readers must have thought about at one point or another.
As A KLKlan-ite myself, I often find great frustration in the following four alphabets of the english language.
C. M. I. O
In Singapore, KLK-ites are all classified as an ubiqutous 'I', for Indian, lumping us all into one formless nameless entity. Our Department of Statistics defines ‘Indians’ as a ’race’, comprising “persons of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan origin, such as Tamils, Malayalis, Punjabis, Bengalis, Singhalese, etc.” The term 'Indian' therefore refers broadly to people of South Asian descent, rather than those from the Republic of India.
[Interestingly, also applies to Malays in Singapore where they can define race as "Boyanese", "Javanese" etc. Whereas Chinese are simply Chinese with no demarcations of different dialect groups]
Consequently, the Singapore definition of 'race' is problematic for many, and in several cases fails to reflect the culture and ethnic identity people.
And ultimately, this is where all the divisions in our community begin and end.
They call us 'Indian' but what is 'Indian'? It most certainly is not a nationality. Historically, our ancestors came from a place that didn't even exist. India after all was a British possession and not a sovereign nation when most of our forefathers came here.
So why call us Indian?
Is it because we look different?
Then how does one account for North Eastern Indians? Wait a minute, they are 'not indians now are they', they are 'Nepali' or "Gurkha".
As a KLKlan-ite, I feel that the Singaporean Indian identity should move beyond an artificial government appointed classification, and as members of the community, we must seek to define our distinct identities.
And what better place to begin than with a KLKlan-guage?
Diss it as much as you wish, but one can only marvel at the sheer genius of Anjadi speak.
Its a mixture of an almost poetic tamil, english, a mixture of hokkien and malay words and sometimes even Hindi and Punjabi words, which all add up to make for a very lyrical language in its spoken context.
While I don't profess to be big expert of the language, my malayalee accent will spoil the whole effect, I am a huge fan of it.
So now that we have a manifesto and a language in place, as well as a cultural bank [Vasantham Central] [Editor's note: I badly beg to differ that they are a bank of any sort], we are on our way to KLK-unity.
All we need is a KLK-Anthem and a KLK-Pledge.
So my dear readers, how many of you want me to put my muse to use and come up with a KLK Pledge? [If I get enough response, I might be persuaded to make it rhyme]
Redefining the KLK-Identity is something I'm sure all our faithful readers must have thought about at one point or another.
As A KLKlan-ite myself, I often find great frustration in the following four alphabets of the english language.
C. M. I. O
In Singapore, KLK-ites are all classified as an ubiqutous 'I', for Indian, lumping us all into one formless nameless entity. Our Department of Statistics defines ‘Indians’ as a ’race’, comprising “persons of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan origin, such as Tamils, Malayalis, Punjabis, Bengalis, Singhalese, etc.” The term 'Indian' therefore refers broadly to people of South Asian descent, rather than those from the Republic of India.
[Interestingly, also applies to Malays in Singapore where they can define race as "Boyanese", "Javanese" etc. Whereas Chinese are simply Chinese with no demarcations of different dialect groups]
Consequently, the Singapore definition of 'race' is problematic for many, and in several cases fails to reflect the culture and ethnic identity people.
And ultimately, this is where all the divisions in our community begin and end.
They call us 'Indian' but what is 'Indian'? It most certainly is not a nationality. Historically, our ancestors came from a place that didn't even exist. India after all was a British possession and not a sovereign nation when most of our forefathers came here.
So why call us Indian?
Is it because we look different?
Then how does one account for North Eastern Indians? Wait a minute, they are 'not indians now are they', they are 'Nepali' or "Gurkha".
As a KLKlan-ite, I feel that the Singaporean Indian identity should move beyond an artificial government appointed classification, and as members of the community, we must seek to define our distinct identities.
And what better place to begin than with a KLKlan-guage?
Diss it as much as you wish, but one can only marvel at the sheer genius of Anjadi speak.
Its a mixture of an almost poetic tamil, english, a mixture of hokkien and malay words and sometimes even Hindi and Punjabi words, which all add up to make for a very lyrical language in its spoken context.
While I don't profess to be big expert of the language, my malayalee accent will spoil the whole effect, I am a huge fan of it.
So now that we have a manifesto and a language in place, as well as a cultural bank [Vasantham Central] [Editor's note: I badly beg to differ that they are a bank of any sort], we are on our way to KLK-unity.
All we need is a KLK-Anthem and a KLK-Pledge.
So my dear readers, how many of you want me to put my muse to use and come up with a KLK Pledge? [If I get enough response, I might be persuaded to make it rhyme]
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