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I REFER to “Sikhs upset over MB’s gaffe” (NST, April 14).
Sikhs and Bengalis are far removed from each other in terms of religion, culture, language and locality.
The Sikhs originate from Punjab, they follow Sikhism and speak Punjabi.
Vasakhi commemorates the establishment of Khalsa, that is, the collective body of all baptised Sikhs, by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, and is celebrated on April 14.
Bengalis are mainly from Bangladesh and West Bengal.
They speak Bengali and their two main religions are Islam and Hinduism.
Their new year, Poila Boishakh, falls on April 14.
Perak Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin inadvertently insulted two communities when he wished “Happy Vasakhi to the Bengali community”.
Coming from a multi-racial country, he should have done his homework and be aware that silly mistakes do offend.
It is also unfortunate that he chose to acknowledge his mistake via SMS rather than a public apology in the media.
He may have also overlooked the fact that in the 1800s, the first police force in Perak was made up of Sikhs.
Thanks to their contributions in maintaining peace and order, the name Perak Armed Police was changed to Perak Sikhs in 1884.
Despite being a minority, Sikhs continue to play a big role in nation-building.
DR F.S. MALHI, Ipoh
Source: NST – April 16, 2008
One response to “Menteri Besar’s gaffe: A mistake that upset two communities”
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Peter Yew
April 16th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
In a multiracial society we need to learn more about each other’s culture and background in order that we don’t make similar mistakes. I wonder if our schools teach the children such things. But we adults are too busy to know the difference or check. Sometimes we think what we know is right and continue repeating the mistakes until someone points them out. This is part of learning and unless a remark is made with malice we should learn to be magnanimous and forgive. Otherwise we shy away from greeting each other for fear of being judged wrong.