Keling (pronounced /kling/) is a word used to describe people originating from the Indian subcontinent by native Malaysians and Indonesians. It is now generally considered offensive by majority of Indians.

The origin of the term is rooted in the former cultural and economic influence of the Kalinga kingdom over south east Asian kingdoms.^[1] The ancient Indian Kalinga was located in southeastern India occupying modern day Orissa and northern Andhra Pradesh. India was then referred to by the Malays as Benua Keling. In the 7th century an Indonesian kingdom was named Kalingga^[2] after the aforementioned Kalinga in India. Chinese sources mention this kingdom (Holing) as a centre for Buddhist scholars around 604 before it was overshadowed by the Sanjaya or Mataram Kingdom. The most famous Kalingga ruler is Ratu Sima.

The Sejarah Melayu (the Annals of Malay history), written in the 15th century, used the term keling to refer to India and traced the origin of Malay sultans to Indian princes. In its early usage, the term was not considered offensive or derogatory.

Castanheda was a Portuguese traveller who lived in Malacca during its heyday—1528 to 1538 has written about the Kelings of what should have been said Kalinga.

"In the northern part of the city, live merchants known as Quelins(Kling, the people of Kalinga, from India); In this part, the town is much larger than at any other. There are at Malacca many foreign merchants, who I said before live among themselves. They are moors and pagans..... "^[3]

The change of the word keling as an offensive term can be said started around 1960 / 1963. This is based on the change in terms of orang Keling Keling people in Cherita Jenaka published in 1960 to orang India Indian people in Cherita Jenaka published in 1963 ^[4]

Usage[link]

In the Chinese and Malay communities, keling is augmented into various words of their language to form new phrases that may considered offensive and to discriminate Indians.

Malay[link]

The word keling is used since 15th century within the Malay community to mean "Indian-Muslim children". The term "Kapitan Keling" was used for a representative of an Indian community, similar to the "Kapitan Cina" of a Chinese community. In early Penang of the 1790s the Kapitan Keling was Cauder Mohideen who, together with the Kapitan Cina Koh Lay Huan and other prominent members of the community, formed the first Committee of Assessors to decide the rates and collection of taxes.^[5] At the time, clearly, there was nothing derogatory in the term. This usage is preserved is the name of the Kapitan Keling Mosque, a prominent Penang landmark (see below).

However, in today's multi-racial settings the term has become politically incorrect. Keling was recently used by Members of Parliament in Malaysia, resulting in uproar by the Malaysian community accusing the MPs of racism.^[6] Popular usage in Malaysia also suggests a tone of general disrespect to Indian Malaysians. This derogatory term is uttered in the same way^{[citation needed]} African Americans are called niggers and Indigenous Australians are called abos.

The phrase janji keling (janji being "promise" in Malay) OR cakap macam keling (cakap macam being "talk(s) like" in Malay) is sometimes used by people of Malay-speaking communities (regardless of race) to refer to a liar, someone who gives conflicting statements, or, more commonly, someone who changes their minds and decisions often. Considered offensive, this term is comparable to the North American English expression Indian giver (although referring to different types of "Indians") or the English expression "to welsh", meaning to fail to honour a bet.

Chinese[link]

The phrases keling-a (Hokkien; 吉寧仔; POJ: kiet-lêng-á), keling yan (Cantonese; 吉寧人; Yale: gat-lìhng-yan), and keling-kia (Teochew) are frequently used within the Chinese community in Malaysia and Singapore. These may be used in either a derogatory or non-derogatory manner: e.g., in Penang Hokkien, which is spoken by some Indians in Penang, keling-a is the only word that exists to refer to ethnic Indians.

The Hokkien and Teochew suffixes -a and -kia are diminutives that are generally used to refer to non-Chinese ethnic groups. "-yan" mean human.

Names of places[link]

Various place names in Malaysia contain the word keling for historical reasons, e.g. Tanjong Keling.,^[7] Kampong Keling,^[8] and Bukit Keling, etc.

In Penang, the Kapitan Keling Mosque, situated on the corner of Buckingham Street and Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling (Pitt Street), is one of the oldest mosques in George Town. Various other Penang Hokkien street names contain the word keling, e.g. Kiet-leng-a Ban-san (Chowrasta Road), Kiet-leng-a Ke (King Street/Market Street).

In Singapore, there is a road in Jurong Industrial Estate called Tanjong Kling Road which is probably deprived from the word 'Keling'.

In Surabaya, Indonesia, there's a place called Pacar Keling. It's an area in the subdistrict Tambaksari, Surabaya. Phrase 'Pacar' itself means 'Lover' in Bahasa Indonesia.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dr. S. Jayabarathi from Malaysia's article on KELING
• Some words are not a joke
• Racism and the Word "Keling"
• Keling: Apim lodges police report against Jerai MP
• UMNO should stop claiming Ketuanan Melayu