ABSTRACT

This article investigates why uṟumi mēḷams are successful in empowering Singaporean Tamil Hindu youths and keeping them away from gangs and crime. Drawing on oral history resources, historical newspaper articles, and ethnographic data from field research conducted in Singapore, Malaysia, and Tamil Nadu (South India), I explore the chain of events and official narratives that associated uṟumi mēḷams with moral panic, before then considering how musicking in an uṟumi mēḷam appeals to Singaporean Tamil Hindu youths. Finally, the article examines approaches adopted by uṟumi mēḷam to engage their young artists so that they feel purposeful and accepted by the group. Building on music and youth empowerment discourse, I argue that uṟumi mēḷam has an enormous potential as an activity to engage and empower at-risk Tamil youths.

摘要

本文调查了为什么uṟumimēḷams成功地赋予了新加坡泰米尔印度教徒年轻人以权力，并使他们远离帮派和犯罪活动。借鉴口头历史资源，历史报纸文章以及在新加坡，马来西亚和泰米尔纳德邦（南印度）进行的田野研究的人种志数据，我研究了一系列事件和官方叙事，这些事件和官方叙事将uṟumimēḷams与道德恐慌相关联，然后再考虑如何在音乐中吸引新来的泰米尔印度裔年轻人。最后，本文探讨了uṟumimēḷam采取的吸引年轻艺术家的方法，使他们感到有目的和被团体接受。在音乐和青年赋权话语的基础上，我认为uḷumimēḷam具有巨大的潜力，可以吸引和增强处于风险中的泰米尔青年的活动。