The Universcale

We are able to view all entities, from the microworld to the universe, from a single perspective. By setting them up against a scale, we are able to compare and understand things which cannot be physically compared.

Today, using the electron microscope and astronomical telescope, we can see the objects which we have not been aware of its existence before. Are you able to fathom, or even roughly grasp, these sizes?

See the Nikon Universcale and experience the sizes of various objects.

Malaysian-Chinese man speaks amazing Punjabi!

This is a video interview of Kian You (a.k.a Karam Singh), a Malaysian Chinese who speaks very good Punjabi. Listen to his last quote, "If you are Punjabi and you don't speak Punjabi, who else will?"

We already hate you because of the way you look, now lets accuse you of being gay

Film exposes persecution of Sikhs in early Vancouver, director says

"What's so funny about this 1915 trial … is that you can see how hard the nascent municipal government was trying to associate these Sikh males with homosexuality, to the point where they were involved in very aggressive hands-on entrapment,"

If you think a fair number of Canadians don't want Sikhs around now, here's a true story that almost no one has heard of.

If the Komagata Maru wasn't bad enough. On top of that Canadian authorities also made sure sure that Sikh women weren't allowed to come into the country to join the men, so that it guarantee that the Sikh men would go back to "where they came from". But that wasn't enough, according to court transcripts from 1909 to 1929, the Canadian authorities used sodomy laws to entrap Sikhs to make life even more miserable.

"During one courtroom scene, a chauffeur accuses Dalip Singh of boldly propositioning him in English, although the mill worker could speak only Punjabi. The other accused, Naina Singh, testifies the sodomy charges came after he acted as a witness in a case against a Sikh man that police had used as an informant during the Komagata Maru incident."

All this comes from the new documentary Rex versus Singh, being made by Ali Kazimi, Richard Fung and John Greyson and commissioned as part of Vancouver Out On Screen's Queer History Project. Ali Kazimi, as I've written earlier, has made the definitive documentary on the Komagata Maru incident, entitled Continuous Journey.

Rex versus Singh looks to be a provocative film based on the real-life tale of two Sikh mill workers tried for sodomy in the early 1900s is making its world premiere at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. If anyone gets to see it, let me know what you think.

Related Postings:
Canada: Rex Versus Singh (1915)
York professors' film debuts today at the Out On Screen festival
Unearthing the ignored and forgotten

What could be more Canadian than a red turban?

Sikh athletes to don turbans at Games as 'celebration of Canada'
The colour? 'Canadian red, of course'

"My dad had to cut his beard and lose his turban to get a job when he came to Canada (in 1970). Now we can choose to wear a turban or not and it doesn't affect anybody making a living. Now we can celebrate that evolution of our country" Ravi Kahlon, Canadian men's filed hockey team.

Seems like everyone wants to wear a turban (at least in public). We've had Akshay, Snoop Dogg and now members of the Canadian field hockey team competing in the Olympics want to wear red turbans as a way of celebrating Canadian culture. I've always felt that my Sikh and Canadian identity are completely complimentary. Both are grounded in values of equality, freedom and opportunity. Like I've said before, the Charter of Rights is as an expression of Sikh values. I proudly wear my Roots Canada t-shirts whenever I'm on vacation abroad and what's a Canada Day without sporting a big red turban.

So while a whole segment of Canadians will scratch their head at this odd choice of expressing pride in Canada (especially those spew pseudo-racist comments on the Globe and Mail website), I see the expression of religious freedom as one of the greatest ways of displaying what it means to be Canadian.

Test

Technorati Profile

Its about more than just a boatload of Indians..

Sikhs don't accept apology for Komagata Maru (Globe and Mail, August 3 2008)


First of all, if anyone wants to truly understand the whole Komagata Maru incident, what it means to Sikhs, Indians, Canadians and especially new Canadians, I wholeheartedly ask you to track down a copy of the documentary by Ali Kazimi entitled Continuous Journey. Produced in 2004, it is an award-winning film that beautifully steps through all the complexities of the tragedy and brings a sense of relevance to today's Canada.

While the majority of Canadians never heard of the Komagata Maru incident until recently (if still at all), the Sikh community has never forgotten it. For Sikhs, especially those living in BC, the reluctance of governments to even acknowledge the racism of past policies, never mind apologizing for them, has been a pain point for over 90 years. I says Sikhs, because outside of the Sikh (and Chinese) community, very few people have cared to remember the "White Canada" skeleton in our closet. While its hard to fathom today, Canada's founding political parties jostled for position as the one that was best able to "Stand For A White Canada".

"That Canada should remain a white man's country is believed to be not only desirable for economic and social reasons, but also highly necessary on political and national grounds." - Prime Minister Mackenzie King

So we've come along way, but the wounds of the past remain and they only hurt more when others fail to acknowledge them. That's what the lack of an apology for the Komagata Maru has felt like. The daily Sikh communal prayer begins with a running summary of history that pays homage to our forefathers' sacrifices that have brought us to where we are today. So for us, the past is not the past, it is something to reflect on each day; to understand where we've come from, how we got to where we are, and what it means to what we endeavour to do that day.

For Sikhs, who've lived in Canada for over 100 years, they have chosen to make Canada their home. They've created thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity. Sikhs have opened free kitchens across the country where anyone is served a meal at all hours regardless of who they are. Sikhs have given by the thousands to local blood drives. Most Canadians probably couldn't get to work alive if it wasn't for the thousands of Sikh women who keep many urban Tim Hortons drive-throughs running each day.

So let me be clear; WE LOVE CANADA. It has given us so much in terms of economic, political, and religious freedom. Sikhs even joke that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms must have been written by a Sikh (hence our love of Trudeau) because it is an articulation of our fundamental beliefs. So if this our home, we must take responsibility for its housekeeping. Part to that is building the Canada of tomorrow but another important part is coming to terms with the past and honouring those who sacrificed so much for us to be where we are.

Sikhs, as a community, have pushed so hard for an apology, not because we want money in our pockets (although I'm sure a small number have ulterior motives). We have advocated for an apology so that ALL Canadians can better understand where this country originated from in terms of its beliefs (White Canada), how these beliefs caused serious harm to others (i.e. Komagata Maru, Head Tax, etc) and how we have moved on to become a better place (Multicultural Canada). Sikhs do not need an apology just for the 376 human beings who were left to starve in Vancouver harbour, but an acknowledgement that our nations originally racist policies inflicted fundamental hardships on the forefathers of today's Canadians and a simple "We're Sorry". The formal apology would close this open chapter in our history, get it written up in our school textbooks, get exhibits made at our museums, and allow all Canadians to remember. That's all we ask.

Kookie for Mookie on Canadian Idol

While there's lots of people who aren't fans of "Idol" reality shows, I'm sure their opinion changes, when they actually have some connection to the contestants. Well here's my connection. The brother of a friend is competing in this year's Canadian Idol. And, in my don't-know-the-first-thing-about-music-opinion, he's pretty darn good. Even more so, considering how young he is. Here's one of songs that I particularly liked:



All very exciting for a young guy who's used to playing in his own garage. The Toronto Star even wrote him up.

So the next Canadian idol show airs at 9 PM on CTV on MONDAY, AUGUST 4. Phone lines are open for 2 HOURS after the show ends. During the show, Mookie will be assigned his own toll-free number which you can CALL AND VOTE. 1-866-943-650_, the last digit will be broadcast right after Mookie performs. Voting is FREE so call and vote for Mookie!

Rallying for a 'revival of spirit'

"We think the community is in a sleeping mode at this time and they are becoming ignorant of the principles of Sikhism"

Speaking of Haloonaa, here's a great article on the project from the Toronto Sun (when's the last time someone said that).

Discussing the origin of Ha -loonaa, Harjinder and his fellow volunteers say they believe the "Sikh nation (Quoum) is going through a grave internal and external crisis recently."

They believe it is happening as Sikhs themselves have "certain misconceptions about the past and its present" and so, "to restore a deep sense of identity, the global Sikh community must keep alive the spirit of Sikh sovereignty and prosperity through an understanding and practice of the faith."

For this, Harloonaa promoters are imploring "every Sikh ... (to) contribute toward revival of the spirit in the community."

They should also "strive to follow basic Sikh principles Naam Japna (remembering God), Kirt Karni (make honest earnings) and Wand Shakna (first share with others and then eat yourself)."

Harjinder is suggesting to his fellow Sikhs that they should "rejuvenate Chardi Kala (high spirit) and Sarbat Da Bhalla (goodwill for all)." link