Many western countries are considered melting pots for various ethnicities, languages, religions and cultures. These countries; Canada, the USA, and the United Kingdom to name a few, shun the act of assimilation and even encourage their citizens to celebrate their cultural identity. An example of this cultural acceptance is the Asian Awards, an award ceremony that recognizes the exemplary achievements of those belonging to the British Asian community.
The Asian Awards honor people in a wide variety of categories. Business, sports, technology, politics, arts, television, cinema, music, science, philanthropy, environmental activism, are all among the different achievements that the awards recognize. According to their website, nominations for these wards are made and chosen by a panel “made up of key business people, cultural leaders and eminent political figures.”
Many famous people and familiar faces were in attendance at the fifth annual Asian Awards. Most were from the United Kingdom, but some other came from all across the world. Bollywood star Shah Rukh Kahn, movie star Jackie Chan, Zayn Malik, Russell Peters, Gok Won, Naughty Boy, Ahmed Kathrada, Beverly Knight, Cerys Mathews, were all in attendance.
The number of awards given out each year always varies; each category is not showcased every year. Many recognizable figures have won in the past; Russell Peters (Outstanding Achievement in the Arts), Amitabh Bachchan (Lifetime Achievement), Ravi Shankar (Fellowship Award), Jay Sean (Outstanding Achievement in Music), Bruce Lee (Founder’s Award), Nicole Scherzinger (Outstanding Achievement in Music), and Jackie Chan (Fellowship Award). This year awards were given out for music, cinema, technology, business, and entrepreneurship. Some recipients were Jack Ma, Zayn Malik, John Rocha, and others.
Some questions about who qualifies as British-Asian. Previously the organization who runs the awards defined the term as people who had an Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, or Bangladeshi background. Now their definition has come to include those from Japan, China, Thailand, and other Asian countries. This has shown greater acceptance and created an event that has much greater cultural diversity, furthering the idea of these events being “melting pots.”
And finally for the most important part of the awards. Usually these awards do not garner much media attention, but this year was quite different due to the fact that Zayn Malik, sporting a shaved head, was in attendance. Malik recently cause frenzy when he left the world-famous boy band, One Direction, in the middle of their world tour. Malik, who is of Pakistani descent, joked to the audience, “I’d like to thank my mum and dad for making me Asian” obviously trying to break the tension and nervousness he felt. His speech, for winning an outstanding music achievement award, evoked laughs, tears, and even some anger from viewers and fans. He also spoke out publicly about One Direction, “I’d also like to take this moment to thank four of the best guys that I ever met whilst being in the band and doing all the amazing things that I did. Some of the things that we did will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
The Asian awards were a great way to celebrate cultural diversity and highlight the achievements that minorities have made in the United Kingdom. It really highlights the fact that the “American Dream” and its counterparts in different countries is still alive and well. Now, since all the serious reasons for the importance of the awards have been stated, here’s the truth, Zayn Malik was the only interesting part and the only reason anyone actually watched it.