Issue 11 : Tamil Diaspora and Identity
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Tamil as an ethnic identification . Tamil is present in schools . One of the official languages . Faced hardships during civil war which lead to mass migration
Issue 11 : Tamil Diaspora and Identity
Sri Lanka - Level 1 ( National )
South Africa - Level 4 ( Educational )
Tamil is one of the languages offered as third language in state run schools . Indian Tamils are accepted as permanent members of the community . Tamil is used in Religious ( Mostly known as Tamil religion not Hindu ) domains . But , Tamils are discriminated under the apartheid system
Topic of Interest : How we can strengthen our Tamil identity by establishing connections with other Tamil diasporas around the world and what are the benefits that we can gain from it ?
CASE STUDY : Modern Montessori International ( MMI )
DR T Chandroo , Chairman and Chief executive officer Source : http :// business . asiaone . com / sites / default / files / styl es / articleimage / public / 2014 / 04 / 04 / 20140404 _ DrTChandro oPhilanthropist _ franchisingandlicensingassociation . jpg
• Story of encyclopaedia salesman who became a founder of a global chain of pre-schools .
• Started in 1989
• A Singapore based education group which has branched out to many parts of the world .
• With its head office located in UK , it has branches in Singapore , Malaysia , Thailand , Indonesia , Vietnam , Hong Kong , India , Sri Lanka , the U . A . E , Egypt , Kenya and Nigeria .
• Locations where MMI have been established also tend to be countries where Tamil diasporic communities thrive .
• International company with over 100 teacher training centers and pre-school centers
• First pre-school in Singapore which was of international standards
• Dr Chandroo had won the “ Asia ’ s Most Promising Business Leader ” award in 2013
• As part of the Tamil diasporic community , Dr Chandroo has proven to be an example of one of the many success stories of the Tamil diasporic community .
CASE STUDY : OLAM
• Leading agricultural products exporter
• Started in 1989
• It was found by the Kewalram Chanrai groups , who were part of the Singaporean Indian diasporic community .
• Mr Verghese is a Bangalore born Indian who had migrated to Singapore in 1995 .
• He had won many awards , including the Public Service Medal by the Singapore Government in 2010 .
• Trades 47 different products at 16 platforms in 70 countries .
• Olam plays a major role in the African trade centre with enterprises spread over 19 African nations .
• Social responsibility : Environmental sustainability
• Olam has tackled low productivity , social vulnerability among small holder farmers using SECO , their inclusive cotton business model . This project has led to an increase in small holder farmer network which in turn contributed to an increase in yields .
• Alongside the networking , Olam has established literacy centres , business schools which offer modules on nutrition and crop diversity , training sessions on climate-smart agricultural practices and distribution of highly subsidised fertilisers and pesticides to farmers .
• Olam definitely exemplifies the major part Indian diasporic community plays in the trade sector around the world .
Mr . Sunny Verghese , Co-Founder , Group Managing Director and CEO
http :// images . forbes . com / media / lists / 79 / 2010 / sunny-george-verghese . jpg