'Cook a pot of curry' Day

By the time you read this, it will be Sunday, and a strange event is expected to take place across Singapore, in kitchens and where people gather to share a meal. Singaporeans are being urged to take part in the "Cook a pot of curry" event. There is no set time for this... so you can have your curry in the morning, curry in the evening, curry at suppertime.

By now, most locals would have been familiar with what sparked this call to national action, so I will not go into too much detail A Google search will reveal what had happened anyway.

But note some key facts that had been distorted, the skewing of which had led to the national outrage. There was an issue between an immigrant (ethnic Chinese) family from China and a local ethnic Indian family, both neighbours in a public housing apartment block.

The issue? The Chinese family, newly moved in, found the aroma of the curry meals cooked by the Indian family too overwhelming. At some stage, a mediator was called in.

The bottom line is that both sides, with help from the mediator, settled the issue amicably.

But because of the widely reported distortions (and propagated on social media) -- especially the belief that the mediator had imposed an order on the Indian family to only cook curry when the Chinese family was not at home -- national outrage was sparked, carrying with it a show of unity among Singaporeans of different races. It also led to the "Cook a pot of curry" Day event.

That's not all. The incident had happened several years ago, not recently, and the two sides had moved on, possibly having become amicable neighbours. But because the story came out only earlier this month -- and because it then went viral -- it acquired a spicy potency.

Thankfully, the xenophobia it unleashed has dissipated and those of us having curry this Sunday can simply enjoy it with no agenda to push. So, please note that the Mr Brown "Curry, curry night" item below is pure 100% spoof, with no tongues lashed by servings of 100% proof curry. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQp7xU3YfaA&NR=1