To the resounding beats of 'Gattam' and the mellifluous 'Nadaswaram', Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was today welcomed by hundreds of ethnic Indians enthusiastically here, where he heaped praise on Malaysia for its multiculturalism and multi-ethnicity.
"Malaysia represents the very best of Asia, it is diverse, welcoming and simply beautiful," Singh told the crowd as he inaugurated the ethnic Indian shopping enclave of Brickfields which has been renamed 'Little India' along with his counterpart Najib Razak at a colourful ceremony.
He noted that this southeast Asian country, which has a majority Malay Muslim population, was an example for tolerance and peaceful coexistence "what we are trying to do back home in India."
The other components of Malaysia's 27 million people are 25% ethnic Chinese and 8% ethnic Indians, who are mostly Hindus from Tamil Nadu.
Najib, since he took office in April last year, has been propagating 'One Malaysia' concept, embodying equal opportunities for all the three main races in the country.
Sixty school children, dressed in colourful ethnic clothes of the three races, performed a dance to a one Malaysia song which had lyrics in Malay language, Chinese and Tamil.
This was followed by a spectacular Odissi dance performance by Malaysia's famous Indian classical dancer, Ramli Ibrahim, who incidentally is a Malay Muslim. Ramli has recently returned from a dance tour of Chennai.
Singh in his brief speech noted that Malaysia and India had a lot in common and could learn enormously from each other. He also noted that the ethnic Indian community had made important contributions to the Malaysian development for the last 100 years.
A majority of Indians' ancestors were brought by the British to the then Malaya from Tamil Nadu as indentured labourers to work at the rubber plantations and road building.
"The Malaysian government's decision to dedicate this Indian enclave of Brickfields as Little India is a tribute to the continuation of Malaysians of Indian-origin and their development in this country," he said, before both the prime ministers pressed a button to bring down a curtain covering a huge fountain which then lit up and spouted water marking the official opening of the newly renamed area.
The fountain is touted to be the highest in this country and is a copy of a fountain in Chennai. India has said it will gift a traditional gate to be put at the entrance of little India.
