racial harmony day in schools

i was invited to a primary school to be a part of the racial harmony day celebration which was held in most schools on monday, 21 july.

i always find it odd that schools choose to accentuate the racial differences on this day by encouraging the pupils to report to school in their ethnic costumes. so, the malays will come in their baju kurung/baju melayu, the chinese in their cheongsam or qipao and the indians in dhoti & kurta/saris and the eurasians in their 'western' clothes. those who do not have any appropriate costume will opt for the everyday school uniform.

no, i did not turn up in any traditional garb. my mission there was to prepare and cook some traditional indian snacks - murukku and papadam. to ensure that there would be enough for all the pupils in the school, the school bought some commercially produced ones.

i was there primarily to demonstrate how to cook/make murukku. i bought six packets of murukku flour, six packets of papadam, a packet of sesame seeds, a piece of butter and a bottle of cooking oil. the portable gas stove and the wok were both new.

the children seem to like the murukku which they found not as hard as those bought from the shops and also not as spicy.