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SINGAPORE: In a four-and-a-half minute video, an Indian vendor fluently switches between Mandarin, Hokkien, and a little English, while demonstrating the use of a mop to fascinated viewers.
At one point, the man tells his audience in Hokkien: “Fifty years ago, the people of India could not speak Mandarin. Now the people of India can speak Mandarin … It is also time to change your mop.”
The video, uploaded on Sunday (February 21), has gone viral, with various posts of the clip recording tens of thousands of views on Tuesday afternoon. Many asked in the comment section where they could buy the mop, while others commented on the fluency of the seller’s Mandarin.
11 LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS
When CNA spoke to the vendor on Tuesday, the 30-year-old Singaporean seemed unfazed by his newfound fame.
When requesting to be known only as Mr. Ng, the man said that he is half Chinese and that he learned Mandarin, Hokkien and Teochew from his grandparents while growing up.
The man said he can speak a total of 11 languages and dialects, including Cantonese, Hokchew, Hakka, Malay, Tamil, Vietnamese, Thai and a little English.
The man, who works as a demonstrator with home appliance retailer DHomez SG, said he doesn’t feel like the video made him famous.
“It’s nothing, they are just curious, someone who speaks so many languages,” he said in an interview conducted entirely in Mandarin.
He had just finished a demonstration in Ang Mo Kio, he said, where many people recognized him. They would pull out their phones and ask for the particular mop in the video, even though he was selling a different mop that morning, he added.
Ng said his family and friends were “happy” for him when they saw his video go viral.
“‘Wah, you’re finally famous.’ ‘Wow, you’re popular now,’ “she said of the messages she received.
LIVING IN CHINA, VIETNAM AND THAILAND
Ng said she moved to China from Singapore to live with her sister and brother-in-law when she was 13 years old.
This was where he learned Chinese dialects, Ng said, adding that he had worked as a service staff while in China.
Before returning to Singapore four years ago, he also spent two years each in Vietnam and Thailand, learning their local languages.
Mr. Ng says he can speak 11 languages and dialects. (Photo: Cindy Co)
Learning new languages was a way of communicating with people, Ng said.
“I’m very curious about languages… I have friends all over the world and I listen to some of them speak Hokkien… I think it’s quite interesting, so I just learn. When I hear someone speak Teochew, I learn ”.
“And since I work in sales, I thought that the more languages I know, the better,” he added.
In Singapore, it uses a mix of English, Malay, Mandarin, Hokkien, and Teochew to sell its products.
Ng’s story is reminiscent of a Cambodian boy, Thuch Salik, who went viral in 2018 for being able to speak 16 languages.
Said Mr. Ng: “At first, when I saw it, I laughed. Because it’s like looking at myself. “
LEE: From poverty to the realization of the impossible: the life of a Cambodian linguist child after viral fame
READ: Despite Salik’s success, concern persists for the well-being of Cambodian children working in tourism
FUTURE PLANS
While he plans to stay in Singapore for the duration of the pandemic, Ng is looking to move to Taiwan for a few years and then Japan. Ultimately, he wants to return to China, where he plans to make sales through live broadcasts.
He said: “There are so many people in China. I speak fluently and accurately, so if I can get S $ 2 out of half the population, that would be enough. It would have made him rich. “
But for now, he’s looking to make use of his viral fame by selling products on Facebook live.
As for your future aspirations, you will take things “step by step”. Although he is not sure which language he plans to learn next, he says it is likely to be Japanese.
“Whatever language I want to learn, I will go to that country,” he said.
