For the uninformed, let me enlighten them.

Indians should be very proud to be associated with Kelings!

The origin of the word ‘Keling’ is traceable to Kalinga on the east coast of India and is mentioned with respect in such Malay classics as ‘Kedah Annals’ and ‘Sejarah Melayu’ (1535) and in the court of Parameswara and Malacca of the 15th century.

Long before Indians were referred to as Hindus (people of the Indus River) and their country as Hindustan, they were known in South East Asia as ‘Kalingans’ later modified to ‘Keling’.

Effectively, this associates them with the Dravidians who were the original settlers of South India which means in terms of antiquity, we are talking about a civilization that is at least 5,000 years old!!

In their venture into SEA, they brought with them music, art, culture, writing, reading, mathematics, religion, legends, sailing, ship building, art of war and more and contributed to the civilizing influences in later peoples stretching from Funan in Cambodia to Vietnam, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Borneo, Indonesia, Philippines etc.

So,what is there for Indians to ashamed about being associated with Kalingans or Kelings?

As for racists and other uninformed shallow minded bigots, who gives a toss what they think?

But then, what makes me curious is that why they use phrases like ‘You cakap macam kelinglah’ or ‘You tak faham bahasa ke? Nak saya cakap bahasa keling?’ or ‘You ni macam kelinglah’. Whenever something gets wrong or out of hand, they make a simile out of the word ‘keling’, to regard the wrong-doer. So, Indians are the ones who do all the wrong things?

What are they trying to say by that? I mean, why in the world do they need to use that particular phrase? If the word, ‘keling’ is not meant in an offensive way, why do they have to use it in an offensive way? Why are they making simile using the word ‘keling’? Why are Indian classified? Of all the harmony and peace talk, why people still differentiate Indians?

Yes, I do know that Malays, Chinese and others have their own racial slurs. But trust me when I say this, their names are not used as much as the word,’Keling’. I’ve done my research. And one of the best place to get this type of research done is schools, offices and obviously, the goverment/parliament.

So, in conclusion, what do people actually mean by using ‘keling’? Are they trying to say that Indians are low chaste? Do they think Indians are no-use beings? Most probable answer is Yes.

So, we can be as open-minded as possible but how much more of insults do we Indians neede to hold up ? If these sort of racial slurs are encouraged, there will always be another name like ‘Keling’ for other races. I admit that not only Indians are discriminated in the world, but, everyone needs justice.

BTW, I am proud to be an Indian. I don’t care if my ancestors are from Kalinga. In fact, I love Kalinga. I love Gujerati and Punjabis too. In fact, I love all people. My best friends are Malays, Chinese and Punjabis but yet, still there is racism there.

I tell you guys of 2 tales of racism between me and my friends.

-I was with my friends at this condo to interview the tenants. As we walked out the exit, my fren, Syahirah said in Malay, ‘Did you see the guy there? The one who looked like Keling? He was staring at us all the time’. After saying that, she said, ‘Sorry, Lisa. No offense’.

-My fren, Daljeet was talking to me the other day. She told me that she doesn’t like the fact that her sister might be in love with a Indian-Tamil guy. She thinks that Indians are not good people and she also said she means no offense to me.

*From all these talk, can you say that the word,’Keling’ is not offensive? If you still can, I’m totally breaking down.
Tell me what think about it….

I personally urge all reader an dblog owner to try not to raise sentiments.. at least we try to not to. I’m seeing more bad than good if we were to play the sentiments.

A rotten banana doesn’t represents the whole bunch, we can’t say 1 corrupted Malay politician will drag the others. And we can’t tell if there’s another corrupted politician from other ethnics, will drag the whole ethnic community.

Think wisely and shape up ourselves before we express anything. this is an advise also to myself..

Cheers!~

Sebab tadi malam orang orang India pasang muzik kat kereta kuat-kuat kat luar apartment tarak kisah itu orang Melayu mau tidur la…tarak sensitif punya orang India. Kenapa mau masuk politik saya pun tarak faham.

But sering kali penggunaannya dalam konteks insulting. itulah problemnya..
but i agree, dari aspek bahasa, its not wrong. people will learn to accept it, but we shouldnt aspect ppl to accept an insulting term, when its used to insult..kan?

Apapun, kita semua rakyat Malaysia, perbezaan pendapat sebegini kita boleh bincang elok2, like here. Takde masalah

saya suka comment aston

Aston
2 December, 2008 at 10:38 am
I once read a book titled ‘History of Malaya’ by Richard Olof Windstedt (a British researcher) detailing life in Malaysia in the pre-independence days for British traders. He paid some attention to the word ‘Keling’…………. (yg lain baca sendiri la)

actually keling bukanlah bahasa yang menghina, tapi jika niatnya untuk menghina, kita sebut ‘kerusi’ pun org boleh jadi marah..

Jadi, saya harap anda faham, pasir salak mungkin melampau (eventough with malay pon dia kurang hajar).. x perlu risaukan perkara remeh ni, yang penting kita fikir formula untuk berbaik2 semula, demi Malaysia.

Saya Melayu yang tinggal di Malaysia.