Love language: Chinese-Malay groom's endearing wedding speech in Tamil impresses guests and netizens

Love knows no boundaries, as it often transcends language and culture.

In a heartwarming video on TikTok recently, Danial Leong surprised guests at his wedding by delivering – or perhaps, attempting to deliver – a speech in Tamil.

@kuchimama22 Even Tiktok can’t captioned my video! HMU if you’re lookin for Tamil classes. I can help you…fail. 😀 #chineseindian #indian #wedding #malaysiatamil #muslimwedding #weddingspeeches #fyp #malay ♬ original sound - Danial Adam Leong - Kuchimama22

He is well aware of his proficiency level in the Indian language, as he made a tongue-in-cheek comment in the caption: "[Hit me up] if you’re looking for Tamil classes. I can help you…fail."

Danial and his wife, Muna, tied the knot on August 27 last year. 

Dressed in traditional Indian clothing, with his wife next to him, the Chinese-Malay groom took the microphone and spoke in Tamil. 

He translated what he said in English for the benefit of those who didn't understand the Indian language: "I will take care of Muna and also treat Azhar (Muna's brother) like a brother of mine."

'I rehearsed for hours'

Speaking to AsiaOne, Danial shared the inspiration behind his Tamil wedding speech and preparation for it.

"As my wife's parents and grandma are from India and hence, mostly Tamil-speaking, I felt that it would be a nice gesture to speak in Tamil, especially during our wedding.

"With the help of Google Translate, I had a six-liner paragraph all ready. I rehearsed for hours and sent many voice messages to my then-fiance to get the pronunciation right.

"Sadly after everything, she said she still couldn't understand [me]. So the day before the wedding, I decided to keep it simple and kept it to just one line." 

Danial added that he wanted to be mindful of what he was saying in his speech since he would be speaking in a language he had only barely learned.

"As my family, colleagues and friends were all present, I was quite nervous as I didn't want to butcher the words and give them a whole other meaning. 

"Or even worse, be accused of racism by sounding like I was making fun of the language.

"I paced myself [during the speech] and when I was reaching the Tamil section, I slowed down even more to make sure that I pronounced them as best as I could without showing any signs of nervousness.

"In [the] spur of the moment, as I could sense that no one understood me, I translated the Tamil words into English and it was nice that everyone had a good laugh."

Despite not quite getting it right, Danial could still pat himself on the back for the thoughtful attempt.

"After it was done, I felt very accomplished, as Tamil is a really tough language to grasp, and I felt that my in-laws and Muna's grandma were very touched by my effort." 

In the comments section, netizens were impressed with Danial's attempt at speaking in Tamil. 

Bollywood-inspired walk-in

The cultural exchange didn't stop there. The wedding also had a Chinese tea ceremony, a yam seng toast and even an epic wedding walk-in by the groom.

The groom and his squad made an entrance with a Bollywood number, capturing the vibrant Indian energy you would typically see in films. 

"Funny thing was, it could have been a totally different walk-in," said Danial. "I initially wanted [to walk in to] WWE's Kurt Angle - Medal Entrance theme.

"That of course, didn't happen. But I wanted a song with a cultural spin that also had an impactful entrance, and I remembered this [song I listened to] about seven years ago called Malhari from the movie Bajirao Mastani.

"While my groomsmen and myself were nowhere close [to the actual performance from the movie], we had a pretty fun time rehearsing for it."

READ ALSO: 'It took us 6 months': Couple create own 16-page wedding magazine for guests on their special day

venkat.gunasellan@asiaone.com

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