Houses in Motion by Baxstrom Richard

Author:Baxstrom, Richard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2011-08-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chandra later qualified his statement that Malays were intentionally trying to destroy neighborhoods like Brickfields:

C: I think that no matter what Brickfields will become less Indian because the community itself is changing. Fewer people speak and understand Tamil very well, and this is critical. Most of the ceremonies and stories in the temples are in Tamil and, without being able to understand the language, the meaning is lost. It is also a bit boring to go without knowing what is going on, so people stay away, especially young people. More and more young Tamils, especially those who have made a little money, cannot speak the language well and they tend to become more mainstream—less Indian. This has an impact in Brickfields because the ... well, the Indian-ness of the neighborhood becomes less important to them and they move out. This has been going on for years. In many cases it was their parents that moved out to places like PJ, but perhaps the parents still maintained some ties to the area. The children don’t really have a reason to do this—it isn’t relevant to their lives. It won’t completely disappear. You know, a lot of expatriates from India are now moving in here.

RB: Yes, I know.

C: They are generally professionals, but they come here because they can get things from home. Sure, most of them aren’t Tamils—they are North Indians, I think—but it is still more familiar than most places in KL. So they will continue to move in and some middle-class Tamils will also stay. I think that some of the businesses will survive as well, although they will have to cater to tourists. Still, the Indian character of Brickfields is not just going to totally disappear.

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