From: STRAIGHTS TIMED (***@scsnscm.com)
Subject: Kelings & Chulias ! Re: Who Founded Singapore?
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.singapore, soc.culture.hongkong,
soc.culture.malaysia, soc.culture.british
Date: 2003-09-13 00:22:44 PST
now,while we are examining the root word for singapore,
there are several other indian words on daily usage here,
which originated with good intend but through the course of time
had attained dubious & derogatory meanings just as our
english word 'gay"
Tambi /Thambi- tamil...literaly translated to mean younger
brother but because the tamils are generally polite & called
persons holding lower offices such as despatch riders &
etc.,who were generally young boys ,as tambis...however,
soon this terminology got stucked to lower level menial
job holders who were mostly illiterate ! thus derogatory!
Mama...tamil..literaly means uncle,more of maternal uncle
than anything...the term mama is also lovingly used to refer
to husbands or by maidens for men whom they are about to marry
just as a malay maiden calls her beloved 'abang'...hence it
has sentimental tone...the terminology of 'mama' is generally
refereed to indian muslims here in this region who basically
belong to mercantile class...its now had attained a derogatory
nature.
Keling- its has its roots in the Kalinga kingdom...this is an
ancient kingdom in india whom Asoka fought bitterly &
because of the immense blood shed he became a buddhist &
spread buddhism to China & SEA...now,Kaligaa are dark
skinned Dravidians & Asoka and his armies fair skinned Aryans..
but perhaps to the chinese & other south east asian races the
distinction must have been the difference in their colour of
skins thus Dravidians(Tamils) were thus called Kalinga or Kelings but
it generally now derogatory term refereed to Indians..
http://www.buddhadust.org/backmatter/buddhas_india/buddhas_india.htm
http://www.umass.edu/wsp/conferences/wswg/16/indiamap1.html
The last conquest of the third Maurya ruler Asoka
was the south-eastern kingdom of Kalinga.
Chulias- Tamil..its a corruption of Cholas...this terminology is
now dead & not derogatory at all..its a general term
of reference to Tamil Indian Muslims who were ocean going
mercantile class & traders...perhaps,the reason why the
Chulias & Kalingas were differentiated could again be because
of the differences in their features & others...though vast
majority of Indian Muslims were converts but their ancestry
is also attributed to Turks,Moors ,Arabs & Persians...most tamil
muslims call their fathers ''Atha' ..its Turkish just as Atha Turk,the
father of turkey..there is a Chulia Street in singapore's commercial
district...the Chola kings sailed from S.India(Tamil Nad) & ruled
practically the whole of SEA for more than 400 years,thus Chulias
are the second wave who came after the first wave of Kalingas!
Bangali or Bangalee...now ,this trem is generally refereed to the
Sikhs who are Punjabis...the Punjabis are natives of Punjab,which
is geographically close to Afghanistan & China...Pakistan & India
shares this ethnic race...whereas Bengal is at the other end of
India ,thousands of miles away,and whose ethnicity is also now
divided into Bangladesh and W.Bengal of India...the reasons why
the Punjabi sikhs are mistakenly called Bangalis has its origin to the
British Raj& its troops sationed in these part of SEA including HK...the
British colonist had their head quaartes in Calcutta,the State of Bengal,
and their native Sepoys(foot soldiers) were from Bengal Regiment..
thus the misconception of calling Sikh Punjabis as Bangalis...the its also
another derogatory term..
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From: palladin (palladin@ phantomemail.com)
Subject: Re: Kelings & Chulias ! Re: Who Founded Singapore?
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.singapore, soc.culture.hongkong,
soc.culture.malaysia, soc.culture.british
Date: 2003-09-15 08:25:22 PST
A very factual and informative posting. Now we shld have more such
articles to clear misconception and racial prejudices. Well done ST!
Rgds
Palladin
"Have Gun Will Travel"