ONE of Scotland's most powerful businessmen has admitted he made racist remarks to Pakistani immigrants when he was growing up in Leith - acts which he still feels shame over.
Sir Tom Farmer says he made the offensive comments out of "sheer ignorance" and is hoping that youngsters can learn from his mistakes.
The owner of Hibernian FC will draw upon his experiences when he addresses hundreds of schoolchildren this week
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Farmer will urge them to embrace tolerance and multiculturalism at a keynote address to mark the launch of a new exhibition celebrating the life of Anne Frank, the young Jewish diarist who was murdered by the Nazis after hiding in secret rooms in an Amsterdam office.
The tycoon will also call on Scotland's leaders to create an outward-looking nation which extends the hand of friendship to incomers, claiming that difficulties with immigration have been "blown out of proportion".
The former pupil of Edinburgh's Holy Cross Academy looked back to the reaction of himself and his friends to the arrival of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent in the late 1940s and 1950s.
"At the time these were strange people to us," he said. "There is no doubt that when I was a young lad I said some things that were unkind to the other young laddies who had come over from Pakistan.
"We were boys and acted like young boys do in the playground. I was among those who pulled the legs of the Pakistani boys and cracked jokes about them. We did it through sheer ignorance and never realised how hurtful and unkind our remarks must have been.
"I now realise that some things I said as jokes really weren't funny at all.
"You can't undo these things, but hopefully the young people that I'm going to speak to can learn from my experiences."
The future businessman subsequently learned that even apparently innocuous comments can be hurtful after being referred to as "Jock" by non-Scots.
"I used to say 'My name's not Jock, it's Tom' and get a bit annoyed," he said. "That reminded me to be respectful, even with remarks that are meant to be lighthearted, when speaking to people from other cultures and backgrounds."
Yet Farmer believes that further campaigns are needed to eradicate pockets of ignorance and bigotry in Scotland.
"It is unfortunate that sometimes people dwell on the small problems that sometimes occur with people who are new to Scotland," he said. "Yet every day when I visit shops, restaurants and workplaces I see people from other countries who are fitting in to life in Scotland, working hard and making a positive contribution."
Farmer will recall his childhood at Edinburgh Synagogue on Wednesday.
Gillian Walnes, the chief executive of the Anne Frank Trust, described the businessman as "courageous" for drawing attention to an episode in his life that most would choose to sweep under the carpet.
"It is very brave of Sir Tom to admit that he, like many others, held a less positive attitude in the past and has learned from his life experiences," she said.
