Malaysian Chinese woman goes viral for speaking fluent Tamil at parents’ chicken rice stall

A woman in Malaysia recently became internet famous after a video on Instagram of her conversing with a customer in Tamil at her parents’ chicken rice store in Penang went viral.

Posted on Jan 28, the video shows Ms Lynette Lee asking a customer if he wants sauce poured on his chicken rice and if he would like vegetables with his order. The clip has amassed over 11,600 likes with comments such as “so impressed with your Tamil” flooding her feed.

In another video, the Malaysian Chinese law graduate proficiently asks a group of customers in Tamil if they are together and want to consolidate their orders, and if they would like the bones removed from their chicken.

In a comment on the second post, a user asked: “Girl how did you learn?”

Ms Lee told the Straits Times that she and her four siblings had an Indian babysitter growing up, making Tamil a language they heard and used daily at home.

“By the time we were old enough to remember, we were already able to speak and converse in Tamil naturally,” she said, despite not having any formal education in the language.

Referring to her babysitter as amma, or mother in Tamil, Ms Lee said by conversing with her the language eventually became one she was most comfortable speaking in.

“Even when we are back at our own home, we do speak Tamil with one another,” she said of her siblings.

The 24-year-old is also fluent in English, Malay and Mandarin.

She added that many of the customers to her parents’ store have been going there since she and her siblings were young, and speaking Tamil to them has brought them closer.

Now, long-time customers are even bringing their children and grandchildren to the store, 215 Beng Huat Chicken Rice, which was started in 1979, she said.

“Being able to communicate with our customers in Tamil creates a sense of familiarity and trust,” said Ms Lee who is currently working as a paralegal while preparing for her Certificate in Legal Practice.