Ceylonese
I'm proud to be ceylonese... it's a race that's recognised by the spore government and found on the identity cards of many. It's a race with a rich cultural heritage and many traditions, from how tamil is spoken to how curries are cooked, it differs from indian culture.
But...
That don't mean that any race is superior to another and neither does it mean that ceylonese are vastly different from indians. Basically we are the same people. It's just that ceylonese are indians who've settled in Sri Lanka and due to the seperation have come up with a slightly different culture, one that i am greatly proud of. Too bad it's withering away cos frankly the differences between indians and ceylonese are dissapearing. Who speaks fluent ceylonese tamil in our generation apart from niron? Who in our generation can genuinely say they know how to cook traditional ceylonese food? Is all this gonna be lost with our dads and mums. I don't want it to happen but whats gonna stop it from happening? It's saddening...
Well that's my view, pls correct me if i'm wrong or anything, debate whatever u want but pls use the comments function below cos u guys are clusterf*cking my tagboard! haha :)
But...
That don't mean that any race is superior to another and neither does it mean that ceylonese are vastly different from indians. Basically we are the same people. It's just that ceylonese are indians who've settled in Sri Lanka and due to the seperation have come up with a slightly different culture, one that i am greatly proud of. Too bad it's withering away cos frankly the differences between indians and ceylonese are dissapearing. Who speaks fluent ceylonese tamil in our generation apart from niron? Who in our generation can genuinely say they know how to cook traditional ceylonese food? Is all this gonna be lost with our dads and mums. I don't want it to happen but whats gonna stop it from happening? It's saddening...
Well that's my view, pls correct me if i'm wrong or anything, debate whatever u want but pls use the comments function below cos u guys are clusterf*cking my tagboard! haha :)
posted by nesh at 10:17 PM
19 Comments:
Ok, I shall not clusterf*ck your tagboard. Besides, pple, you should write in the comment boxes so that we can actually see all the arguments for a particular issue, instead of having them disappear after 12 posts on the chatterbox.
That aside, I agree with Jan. Somewhat. On a very superficial level, race is a social contruct. Ok, I'm probably going to get lambasted by sociologists coz I KNOW abt such things, but if you look at it in a way that is most immediate, facial structure and skin colour differences are the most apparent clues as to someone's ethnicity. Our daily existence is very much like everyone elses. Such is the product of modernisation/westernisation. We talk about culture, but that is something which is more of a projected image of ourselves and what we want to be.
In practical day-to-day issues, we would solve problems the way any other persons would, there is no distinction as to how a ceylonese works, or a malay. (Ok, maybe there is, but I'm not aware of any studies.) The way we work, the way we think, the way we take the bus. Simply put, there are no differences in the way we live our lives. To each his own problem. Culture, race, tradition is simply a classification which over-enthu anthropologists of yesteryear came up with to make things easier. Environment and social factors implicit in that particular environment are more crucial I think. So, since everyone lives in their own particular society, race only come into play during feative seasons.
I mean, the Rwanda genocide is reason enough for us to make sure that race is NOT the issue when there are prroblems. It's something deeper psychologically. Muahaha. As long as race does mar our multi-lateral ties, it's all good.
Go watch Hotel Rwanda.
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Oops. I forgot to sign off. OK, the above comment is copyrighted by ME!
eyeeknee
Hey.. this is tush.. din wanna create a blogger a/c just to write this comment. Anyway, just to try to clarify things maybe, what I noe abt the diff b/w Ceylonese and Sinhalese is that Ceylonese are Sri Lankans whose backgrounds were from India. Sinhalese are the so-called 'natives' of Sri Lanka. But although Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, the term Ceylonese is used more as a racial term rather than one describing nationality. So like I'm Sinhalese, u could be Chinese, Malay or Indian but we're all Singaporean. Just like the Ceylonese and Sinhalese are all Sri Lankan.
And......... I completely have to disagree with the stand that race is merely a social construct and that we all fundamentally operate the same way. Sorry, but i think that is utter bs... Sorry if that's too forceful but i really really think so. And having done Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology, none of these disciplines claims that. In fact, if it did, the nature/nurture interaction theory would go to pots cos that just means humans are all predisposed to work in a certain way, regardless of where they're born, what environment they grow up in, what languages they speak or cultural practices they engage in. And we know.. that's imposible.. just look at the way we eat our food (fingers, fork n knife, chopsticks, skewers), look at the way we approach study, look at the way we treat people. How bout the Wild Boy of Aveyron who was found in the woods of France when he was 12, then taken and it was attempted to socially condition him cos he walked on all fours and couldnt speak, but he never really grasped a language nor walked with a perfect human gait.
To be fair, I do agree that humans are born with predispositions. Not uniform ones, though. But who a person really turns out to be has A LOT to do with where he grew up, where he lives at diff points in his life and his views on diff issues. Why are some people more violent than others, why are some seemingly born pacifists? It probably is becos of some injustice done to their 'people' ie a race.. and though it may seem like a particular race may possess diff characteristics, and it may seem like a sham cos that 'race' is but self-imposed anyway, BUT it still shapes the way u think... wether u were the victim or the aggressor...
Well that's my 2 cents worth. But believe me, if we were all that similar, we wouldn't have such problems today.
mmmm Navin dear,
Sinhalam, is a language just as Tamil is one. 'Ceylonese,' is the nationality of the people born in Sri Lanka which now would be commonly reffered to as 'Sri Lankan' due to the change in the name of the country.
So, Sinhalese and Tamils alike are ALL Sri Lankans or Ceylonese, according to your prefference. For example, Tamil, Chinese and Malay are words used to describe the different lanuguages and to distinguish the various races in Singapore, but basically, malays, indians and chinese are all Singaporean. It's a nationality my friend. Simple. :)
So yes, Sinhalese do qualify to have a nationality if that's your question. Otherwise they'd be stateless. That makes lots of sense doesn't it now?
This reminds me of something else. Don't you guys hate it when a randon malay/chinese fella asks you, "do u speak indian?" For Christs sakes!! Indian is a friggin race/nationality, not a damn lanuguage u morons!
Oops sorry for the digression..haha!
Oh and about your dad, do the malaysian indians have their own unique cultural heritage and tradition? If the answer is no, then i presume his family should stay there a while longer then ;)
Cheers!
i think everyone's confusing "race" and "culture".
the reason i said race was a social construct, was cos there is nothing GENETICALLY that says i am indian, you are malay.there's nothing in our DNA or anything in our bodies that says so.THATS why i said its a social construct.tush, i did sociology too and thats what we learnt.maybe there are differing schools of thought on that issue.
race doesn't exist.why do countries like switzerland stop identifying ppl by race?(they don't have it on their ICs)cos basically it doesn't exist.if u go right to the roots everyone's african, cos thats where humans originated.people changed due to differing climates, diets, practices, etc.
so, CULTURE is what differs.say i was born in spain...and i have nothing to do with indian culture watsoever...then i'm not indian.other than skin colour perhaps, and other physical features that have taken thousands of years to distinguish itself from the rest of humanity, nothing identifies me as indian.
all the labelling just leads to violence and seperation.
at the risk of sounding like haran, "one love, y'all"
I din't study sociology nor did i study psychology, (goddamit i'm in N.S. !) but i did study biology and this is what i can say:
Your Phenotype is determined by your Genotype. In other words your outward appearance is determined by your genetic make-up with some influence from the environment. Therefore there is something in our genes that cause us to be caucasian, chinese or indian. Just because the genes involved in manifesting racial differences have not been identified by scientists does not mean they do not exist. For the physical characteristics of a particular race to remain hugely similar between to different individuals of that race... There must be something genetic involved.
Secondly it is only a theory that everyone originated from Africa and it has yet to be conclusively proven. Sure they found human like decendents there... apes that walked on two legs that had large cranial cavities but it's also been proven that there is absolutely no solid evidence to show that man decended from these majorly prehistoric dudes.
Yups... That's my 2 cents worth.
genes involved in physical makeup of the person yes, but can't that change over time?take a whole bunch indians and make them live in russia...won't they change over hundreds of years?
somehow, i found that highly amusing jan.
eyeknee
the indians in russia?hahhaha yes that would be hilarious!"dei its VERRYY cold dei"
HAHAHA!
oooh saucy!! i likeeeee* ;)
And i sure do pray to god they dont call themselves 'MALAYANS'!!!!!!!
HUMAN!
haha, oh oh! and btw, the dhashinie pearlie sweetie darling is the blogspot owner's little sister thank you very much =)
I brought up the sinhalese being entitled to a nationality point mainly because of this:
"Are Sinhalese, who form the majority of the island's inhabitants also Ceylonese? Technically they should qualify too shouldn't they?"
My point was, OF COURSE THEY DO QUALIFY. It's just a matter of prefference if they want that or 'sinhalese' imprinted on their ic's. Oh and just to let you know, you can't have 'sinhalese' or 'ceylonese' imprinted on your ic under race anymore now. Only 'Sri lankan' under race. They've generalised it already.
As to why nationality falls back under race? It's the same as asking a Japanese Singaporean why it says 'japanese' under race rather then nationality. Have the Japanese also then confused their nationality with their own race when they were speculated to have origined from china? Shouldn't they be Chinese then? NO.
The point is, Sri lankans and Japanese alike have their own race because they have thier own cultures, traditions, common ancestry and inherited physical characteristics. If you look close enough, you can tell a ceylonese tamil apart from an indian tamil even though the difference is very subtle indeed.
Point taken? ;)
so how do u tell apart a ceylonese tamil from a indian tamil?
I dont think we can.. can we? *shrugs..
let's hear frm the pros...
wow...... u guys are deep.......
Irfan
Haha cant believe there's a debate going on about this issue. Lets not get too carried away by this subject shall we ;)
~aNuShA
haha. congrats nesh. you've accomplished what all bloggers secretly/not so secretly wish for. blog traffic!! the ultimate goal of narcissism is to be the centre of attention and have their works being the the subject of discussion... muahahah!!
eyeknee
CARE!
anyway. NAvin eet dharsh, she made me cry on me birthday when i wss like 10 or 9, will never forgive her for that! and EVERYONE lets all make love not war aiight
one love yall
haran its very easy to make u cry lah...=)
and i think the debate is officially over.time to start a new one!=)i'm officially post no.20!hahahhaa!!cheap thrill.
sleepy.
haha, well i'll never forgive you for making your mom MAKE ME apologise to you! I didn't even rip the damn t-shirt dude! lol
No wonder i didn't ever get invited to any of your parties after that!!
and i agree,
lets make love not war =)
ps: Dinesh, don't you dare bring biology into this! *yawn*
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