Taman Ilham resident Osman Piles, 77, (left) conversing in Tamil with his Indian friends in Kluang.
KLUANG: Osman Piles often raises eyebrows when he converses in Tamil and Hokkien, language skills he picked up while working in Singapore.
During his time at the Housing Development Board (HDB) in the late 1960s, employees were required to learn a vernacular language.
“We had to learn either Tamil or Chinese dialects like Hokkien or Cantonese,” he said in an interview.
“Many Chinese and Indians back then couldn’t speak Malay or English, so it was essential for us to learn to communicate with them in delivering our service.”
Osman, now 77, fondly recalls attending Tamil classes while also taking courses in sanitary, piping, air-conditioning and drainage at HDB.
He picked up Hokkien through conversations with colleagues.
Years later, after returning and settling in Kluang, Osman sold fish at the wet market, where his language skills became a valuable asset.
“I could chat with customers from all backgrounds, which made our interactions much warmer. It really helps in building closer relationships within the community,” he said.
“When I start small talk by asking in Tamil whether they have eaten, I still get surprised looks but they will immediately warm up to me,” added Osman.
Osman, a father of four, said his multilingual skills also inspired his children to pick up Mandarin in university.
“I told my children that in order to have added value, we should learn more languages.
“Having the ability to speak Mandarin will also help them in their communication skills and doing business,” he said, adding that his daughter-in-law also speaks Mandarin, having attended a Chinese primary school.
In the lead-up to the Mahkota by-election, Osman has been using his language skills to remind voters to head out and cast their ballots tomorrow.
The by-election will see Barisan Nasional’s Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah facing off against Perikatan Nasional’s Mohamad Haizan Jaafar.
