Several Indian Malaysian leaders today voiced their support for an end to the use of the word 'keling' since the term is often used in a derogatory manner to describe members of the community.

The community leaders from various walks of life said that although the term was originally used to describe migrants from the Kelinga district in central India, popular usage in Malaysia suggests a tone of disrespect to Indian Malaysians.

They also found offence with the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka's (DBP) inclusion of examples such as "keling mabuk todi" (to connote one fond of talking nonsense) and "keling pelikat" (to illustrate an Indian Muslim) in its Kamus Dewan dictionary.

The row over the issue started on Thursday when an Indian Muslim association applied to the High Court for a declaration that the DBP had failed in its statutory responsibility based on the manner which it listed the word.

The Angkatan Pelopor India Muslim Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan is also seeking compensation from the publishing house for the use of the word and other references which, it claimed, had embarrassed and humiliated the Indian Malaysian community.

Remove word

Contacted today, veteran Tamil educationist S Pasupathy said the government should direct the DBP to amend or remove the word from the dictionary immediately.

He said the publishing company should also issue a public apology to the Indian Malaysian community for its "insensitive" labelling of them.

"These are the kinds of things that jeopardise national unity. Would it be right for us to associate incest with Malay Malaysians or Ah Longs (loan sharks) with Chinese Malaysians? This kind of thing has to be stopped immediately," he asserted.

Pasupathy said those who want to use descriptive references should consider using politically-correct terms such as "Indian Malaysian" or the subgroup names such as Tamil, Telegu or Malayalee since about 80 percent of the community are members of these groups.

National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general N Siva Subramaniam said while he had no objections to the word being included in the dictionary to explain its origins, the more offensive references should be removed.

"If it is a terminology, it can be included in the dictionary to explain its meaning. But I would not support its use in normal conversation, particularly if it is used to ridicule people.

"The DBP should also take into consideration the sensitivities of the people," he urged.

Rais should apologise

Meanwhile, several political party leaders also spoke out in opposition to any further use of 'keling' to describe Indian Malaysians.

"Indian Malaysians find the term offensive. Other people should respect this and stop referring to them as 'kelings'," said Keadilan supreme council member N Gobalakrishnan.

Another Keadilan leader, vice-president Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the DBP should take a lesson from other dictionary publishers over the way in which they had dealt with other similarly politically-incorrect terms such as 'nigger' (a term commonly used in America in previous centuries to describe people of African origins).

"People now use the term 'African American'. This is how the DBP should also look at this matter. There is no need to tie (certain characteristics) such as being drunk to any particular community," he stressed.

A check in several English-language dictionaries showed that the entrant for the term nigger is clearly marked as an "offensive or derogatory" noun for a person of African origins.

On a related development, DAP national publicity secretary Gobind Singh Deo said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim should apologise to the Indian Malaysian community for saying that the word 'keling' is widely used and accepted by the public.

"Dr Rais is no stranger to Malaysian culture. He should know that the use of the word upon Indian Malaysians is highly derogatory. It is certainly not 'acceptable'.

"Dr Rais should set an example and call for an end to derogatory name calling against any community in Malaysia," he said in a press statement.

The minister was quoted in today's Star as making the remark, while urging the DBP to explain the issue to the public.

Rais also said the matter should not be "blown out of proportion" as the historical aspects of the word needed to be looked into.

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