For over 30 years, Lee Ho Chu has been running Kedai Gunting Rambut Bola at the Langkap Public Market near Teluk Intan.
Despite being an Indian descent, the 69-year-old man is fluent in Cantonese and effortlessly converses with his Chinese patrons.
Fondly known as Ucong, Lee hailed from a diverse background. His mother, S. Krisnama, 95, is Indian, while his late father, Lee Se Ti, was Chinese.
The skilled hairdresser is also fluent in Tamil and Malay languages, allowing him to serve customers of various races with ease.
“Even though Malay is the national language, it will be a loss if the people do not make an effort to learn the languages spoken by the other two primary races in the country,” he said when met at his shop here recently.
Elaborating about his language skills, Lee said he learned Cantonese and Malay languages while playing with friends from diverse racial backgrounds at a young age.
“I never took up formal classes to learn Cantonese. I listened and tried to speak the language. Eventually, I was able to communicate in the same way as native speakers,” said the fifth of eight siblings.
He said that being fluent in various languages would enable individuals to understand and communicate better with people from other races and, as a result, have a closer bond with one another.
“Like myself, I would speak Chinese if I visit a Chinese village, and if I’m in a Malay village, I switch to Malay. It’s advantageous to learn all three languages (Chinese, Tamil and Malay),” he said.
In conjunction with the National Day celebration on Aug 31, Lee suggested that the community embrace the spirit of unity by cultivating an interest in learning languages beyond their mother tongue.
Sharing about his business, he said the barbershop has maintained its traditional roots since it opened in 1990.
“I never run out of customers and some have been coming here for multiple generations. Despite the booming modern outlets, I still have regular customers,” he said.
Being an avid football enthusiast, Lee also decorates his shop with newspaper clippings on both local and international football leagues to showcase his passion for the sport.
He also maintains low prices for haircut services, which are RM10 for adults and RM7 for children.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency