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.

含羞草研究社淭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,含羞草研究社� Gurm said.

含羞草研究社淲hat kind of space should it be, that含羞草研究社檚 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), that含羞草研究社檚 just a few of them.含羞草研究社�

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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 含羞草研究社減reserve the rich history of the diverse South Asian communities in this province for generations to come.含羞草研究社� 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 含羞草研究社淪outh Asian,含羞草研究社� but Gurm is quick to defend what含羞草研究社檚 considered a 含羞草研究社渢emporary working name含羞草研究社� for the facility.

含羞草研究社淭he criticism is that 含羞草研究社楽outh Asian含羞草研究社� does not reflect a person,含羞草研究社� Gurm said. 含羞草研究社淪outh Asia is a place, a space made up of seven countries. So when we含羞草研究社檙e talking about the museum, not only are we talking about that, but we含羞草研究社檙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 it含羞草研究社檚 hard to describe who it is, other than it含羞草研究社檚 people from an area. That含羞草研究社檚 why we call it South Asian, to reflect all those people in that area.含羞草研究社�

Gurm, born in the village of Mangata, Punjab, India, grew up in Vancouver. Today, she含羞草研究社檚 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.

含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e hoping that by September we would have a report on the engagement so that we can inform government as to what we want,含羞草研究社� said Gurm, who co-chairs the advisory committee with Am Johal.

含羞草研究社淧olitically, with government cycles, you know that during election time they含羞草研究社檙e probably going to promise you more things than when they含羞草研究社檙e sitting in session.含羞草研究社�

The current round of engagement will be a good reflection of what the community thinks, Gurm hopes. The more people respond, 含羞草研究社渢he better the data and the better the decision,含羞草研究社� she added, 含羞草研究社渂ecause if nobody bothers to engage, then you含羞草研究社檝e just got people sitting around a table, you know, like myself and others that are on the committee deciding, and I didn含羞草研究社檛 want that.含羞草研究社�

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

含羞草研究社淚t would be great for Surrey,含羞草研究社� she underlined. 含羞草研究社淚 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. It含羞草研究社檚 an educational facility, and if there are lull times at the museum, then the university could use it (the space). But again, it含羞草研究社檚 a biased opinion and I will be the first to admit that.含羞草研究社�

The creation of such a museum is important, Gurm said, because when she was growing up, 含羞草研究社渢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, it含羞草研究社檚 important to know who we are and where we come from. And when we don含羞草研究社檛 have that, it has an impact on health. And if you don含羞草研究社檛 have a healthy person, you含羞草研究社檙e really not gonna be a good citizen, so to me, it含羞草研究社檚 really important that we do try to do these types of things.含羞草研究社�