Chinese-Malay groom's Tamil wedding speech touches bride's family, guests

His love language is definitely not Tamil. But everyone loves this groom for trying… so hard.

Mr Danial Leong, of Chinese-Malay descent, surprised guests at his wedding with his speech in Tamil.

Mr Leong and his wife, Muna, got married last August. 

In a funny and warm video he posted on TikTok, he looks like a Bollywood star in his wedding finery as he takes the microphone and speaks in what sounds like Tamil.

His wife, beautiful in her red wedding lengha, seems to mouth his line silently with him as she stands beside him.

But she and the guests laugh graciously as they listen to Mr Leong trying his best to speak in Tamil.

Looking at the guests’ faces, Mr Leong realises that most did not understand what he was saying. 

He quickly translates what he said into English: "I will take care of Muna and also treat Azhar (Ms Muna's brother) like a brother of mine."

@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

Speaking to AsiaOne, Mr Leong 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.

He had a six-line paragraph ready with the help of Google Translate. He then rehearsed for hours to get the pronunciation right.

"Sadly after everything, she (Ms Muna) 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,” said Mr Leong. 

Even with just a line, the nerves set in on the wedding day.

Mr Leong said, "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 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."

Though he did not quite get the pronunciation right, it did not matter to the people whom he did this for. 

"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." 

Netizens were also impressed with Mr Leong.

Said one, “Congratulations, love conquers all including language.”

“So cuteeeeee,” said another.

But Mr Leong did not let the praises go to his head.

He commented in the caption, “(Hit me up) if you’re looking for Tamil classes. I can help you…fail.”