Most Malaysians are able to speak 2 or more languages with each other, but it never fails to amaze locals whenever they come across foreigners who can speak one of the many languages used here, mainly Malay.
However, it’s not every day we hear a foreigner, particularly those from Western countries, speaking Mandarin with the locals in Malaysia until this TikToker from the United States posted a video of his recent travels to Perak.
@maxwell.carver While at Kampar’s famous Pasar Karat, we met the legendary Uncle Chen – Kampar’s biggest dealer of second-hand rings. You can see the full episode from Kampar on YouTube now! Kampar Perak Malaysia 金宝 马来西亚
Maxwell Carver, a travelling content creator from New York, US, has been travelling around Southeast Asian countries, with his latest stop being Malaysia. The TikToker posted a video of his trip to a street market in Kampar, Perak on his channel where he decided to try and speak Mandarin with the local sellers.
An amazed ring seller, known as Uncle Chen, can be heard shouting, “A white (guy) speaking Mandarin!” at the start of the video before he and his group of friends have a conversation with the tourist in full Mandarin. The locals asked the Caucasian man where he was from to which he answered, “New York, United States”. Charmed by the New Yorker’s fluency in the language as well as his personality, Uncle Chen offered to give one of the rings he was selling for free as a token of friendship.
During some parts of the video, the conversation code-switched between English and Mandarin. The locals were not only astounded by the TikToker’s speaking skills but also his reading skills as he was able to recognise the Chinese characters on one of the rings being sold.
The TikTok video reached nearly 200k views, making this Maxwell’s most-viewed post on his TikTok. Malaysian netizens were amazed by the American’s Mandarin speaking skills, with some claiming that he was more fluent than them. Others commented that they enjoyed the cheerful conversation he had with the locals and thanked him for the wholesome content.
As for what’s next for Maxwell, he said he’ll be posting videos from his trip to Melaka soon so we’re looking forward to seeing what he experienced in the state.
Source: TikTok
