Not just Bengalis, but basically all people of North Indian origin are called Bengalis in this country.
Parminder Singh, former managing director of Google and Twitter, recently shared some interesting thoughts on ethnicity regarding X. In a tweet posted on April 14, Parminder Singh pointed out that in Malaysia, Sikhs are often referred to as Bengalis. Not just Bengalis, but basically all people of North Indian origin are called Bengalis in this country. Mr. Singh also shared detailed historical reasons behind this confusion.
The former Google MD said he learned about this when he recently attended a meditation retreat with Indian Malays in Malaysia.
“British India had three ports: Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. British Malaya was served by ships from Calcutta and Madras. Most North Indians used Calcutta port. , the majority of whom were Sikhs who were conscripted into military, police and security jobs. To the Malays, anyone who was not from Madras, basically anyone from North India, was a Bengali,” he said. explained.
“On a lighter note, some of them insisted on calling me Pari Dada (the Bengali word for older brother). Mr. Singh added that this is contrary to the tendency to refer to everything as “Madras”.
See tweet here.
In Malaysia, Sikhs are often referred to as Bengalis. I recently learned about this fact and the interesting history behind it. His three ports in British India were Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. British Malaya was served by ships from Calcutta and Madras. Most North Indians…
— Parminder Singh (@parrysingh) April 14, 2024
Internet users were also interested in observing and sharing stories about how their culture and ethnicity is perceived by people of different nationalities.
“Very funny,” one user wrote. I remember what salwar kurta/kameez is called in Odisha. Believe it or not, it’s Punjabi. Imagine saying to the shopkeeper there, “Show me some colorful Punjabi.”
Another said, “Surely all over the world we are understood differently according to their own perceptions, based on lack of knowledge, but in reality, we Sikhs are understood differently according to their respective values.” I have it,” he commented. We are like his VIBGYOR of the world community, so all names are accepted. ”
A third said: “Interesting.” In East Africa, Sikhs are called Kala Sinha. The earliest Sikh immigrant was Kala Singh, a bearded Indian with a similar turban and the same name tag. ”
A fourth said: “This is why many South Asians used to colloquially refer to all white people as ‘Angres’ (Angres means English, not French, German, Scottish, etc.) do). And that is why the name Sindhi/Hind/Indus became a mislabel for all South Asians – Punjabi-Sindhi-Gujarati-Maratha. ”
A fifth said: “Very interesting. Thank you for sharing.” Our family is married to a Sikh and we can’t wait to get married. ”
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