This spring and summer, in-person and online engagement sessions focus on creating a museum in B.C. to celebrate Canadians of South Asian heritages.

The website is where people can upload written or video submissions and .

Surrey resident co-chairs a 13-member ministerial advisory committee tasked with gathering public input about the project.

sa国际传媒淭he B.C. government promised to build a museum, but the engagement is all about trying to figure out what the objectives should be, and should it be a museum/cultural centre,sa国际传媒� Gurm said.

sa国际传媒淲hat kind of space should it be, thatsa国际传媒檚 another question, and then what do we want to call it, and where do you want it built? There are lots of questions on the (survey), thatsa国际传媒檚 just a few of them.sa国际传媒�

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No construction timeline is given for the museum, plans for which date back to the provincial election campaign of October 2020, when .

The museum will be the first of its kind in Canada, according to B.C. Premier David Eby, and will sa国际传媒減reserve the rich history of the diverse South Asian communities in this province for generations to come.sa国际传媒� Eby made the statement May 23, 2024, .

At Surrey City Hall on April 2, the day the B.C. government launched expanded public engagement focused on the project, that aimed to push for the quicker creation of the museum.

The museum concept has been criticized by some for using a broad term sa国际传媒淪outh Asian,sa国际传媒� but Gurm is quick to defend whatsa国际传媒檚 considered a sa国际传媒渢emporary working namesa国际传媒� for the facility.

sa国际传媒淭he criticism is that sa国际传媒楽outh Asiansa国际传媒� does not reflect a person,sa国际传媒� Gurm said. sa国际传媒淪outh Asia is a place, a space made up of seven countries. So when wesa国际传媒檙e talking about the museum, not only are we talking about that, but wesa国际传媒檙e talking about people who might have gone from there to Africa and then to Canada or there to England and then to Kenya and then to Canada. So itsa国际传媒檚 hard to describe who it is, other than itsa国际传媒檚 people from an area. Thatsa国际传媒檚 why we call it South Asian, to reflect all those people in that area.sa国际传媒�

Gurm, born in the village of Mangata, Punjab, India, grew up in Vancouver. Today, shesa国际传媒檚 an award-winning who is involved in history and museum projects.

Feedback will be summarized into a report published later this year, possibly before the B.C. election on Oct. 19.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e hoping that by September we would have a report on the engagement so that we can inform government as to what we want,sa国际传媒� said Gurm, who co-chairs the advisory committee with Am Johal.

sa国际传媒淧olitically, with government cycles, you know that during election time theysa国际传媒檙e probably going to promise you more things than when theysa国际传媒檙e sitting in session.sa国际传媒�

The current round of engagement will be a good reflection of what the community thinks, Gurm hopes. The more people respond, sa国际传媒渢he better the data and the better the decision,sa国际传媒� she added, sa国际传媒渂ecause if nobody bothers to engage, then yousa国际传媒檝e just got people sitting around a table, you know, like myself and others that are on the committee deciding, and I didnsa国际传媒檛 want that.sa国际传媒�

So far, Gurm says people prefer either Vancouver or Surrey for the museum location.

sa国际传媒淚t would be great for Surrey,sa国际传媒� she underlined. sa国际传媒淚 do teach at KPU, and KPU has multiple campuses where we have space. It could be a partnership between the province and KPU, you know. Itsa国际传媒檚 an educational facility, and if there are lull times at the museum, then the university could use it (the space). But again, itsa国际传媒檚 a biased opinion and I will be the first to admit that.sa国际传媒�

The creation of such a museum is important, Gurm said, because when she was growing up, sa国际传媒渢here was nothing reflected in our history books about contributions of South Asians. They were written from a very Western European perspective, and so that change is needed because if we look at self-identity, self-concept, itsa国际传媒檚 important to know who we are and where we come from. And when we donsa国际传媒檛 have that, it has an impact on health. And if you donsa国际传媒檛 have a healthy person, yousa国际传媒檙e really not gonna be a good citizen, so to me, itsa国际传媒檚 really important that we do try to do these types of things.sa国际传媒�