22 August 2026

Multiculturalism

From my experience, I find that living in a multicultural community is usually interesting and sometimes complex as integration of traditions is not easy. This is particularly so in people who migrate to countries other than their own. I have witnessed this in South Africa. Every town there has a small community of Indians engaged in different professions and running businesses such as restaurants and grocery stores. Places such as Tower Hamlet in London (UK) and Queens in New York (USA) are other examples.

There are a few countries such as Cambodia which is highly multicultural due to tourists. Here too multiculturalism is interesting. Integration of ancient Sanaathana traditions with Chinese, Vietnamese and other traditions are well reflected in Angkor Wat, Cambodian Apsaraa Dances (that are part of Cambodian version of Raamaayanaa) etc.

This morning I happened to view an interesting documentry on CNA TV CHANNEL on how Srilankan Tamil people have integrated with local French communities in Paris, France. I tried to provide a link to the documentry, but in vain. 

The documentary reminded me of my visit to a Srilankan restaurant with Hans, my Dutch colleague, in Kampot (or Kho Kong), when I was working in Cambodia. Hans was Education Advisor to the Regional Education Officer. He was a softrock music fan like me.



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About Me

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Chennai, Tamilnadu, India
I am a retired K-12 Education Management Professional. I have worked at different levels in K-12 school systems, textbook publishing, elearning and Education NGOs. I have held memberships in The Association for Science Education (UK), American Association of Physics Teachers and The Malaysian Institute of Physics. I hold a 1st class B Sc Degree in Physics followed by B Ed [English and Physical Science] and M A [Childcare and Education] degrees. My published works include 59 articles in teacher development magazines in India and the US and a book entitled `Creative Classrooms and Child Friendly Schools' (listed in Amazon). This book is almost an anecdotal account of my professional experience in six countries (including Cambodia where I worked as Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Education, Youth And Sports). I served as mentor in the Certificate of Teaching Mastery Program offered by Teachers Without Borders.