
Woman helps durian seller talk to tourists from China
THE beauty of Malaysia also lies in its multilingual society, as Malaysians not only speak standard Bahasa Melayu and English but also communicate in other languages—sometimes ones that are not their mother tongue.
A viral TikTok video by a durian seller recently impressed netizens, showing a Malaysian woman helping the vendor communicate with Chinese tourists in fluent Mandarin.
The 16-second video showed three Chinese nationals standing in front of the stall, with the customer assisting the durian seller by explaining the types of durians available, as well as the pricing.
According to Harian Metro, the durian seller, identified as Mohamad Amin Rosli, said the woman voluntarily assisted him in communicating with the tourists.
Before the incident, he explained that he usually uses Google Translate when dealing with foreign customers in the event of a language barrier.
'As a businessman, I am very grateful because, indirectly, she helped me do business with the Chinese tourists, as they could not speak or understand English,' he was quoted as saying.
The 34-year-old trader added that he posted the video on TikTok to commemorate the incident but did not expect the post to go viral, amassing over two million views as of press time.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New Straits Times
21 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Mohd Na'im: Malaysians planning to perform haj must have valid permit, visa
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians planning to perform the haj must possess a valid permit or visa. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar said attempting to perform the haj without a valid visa is not only a breach of Saudi Arabian law but also poses significant risks to the pilgrims themselves. "This includes facing hefty fines, deportation, and being blacklisted from entering Saudi Arabia for an extended period," he said. "Such actions also risk jeopardising the longstanding cordial relations between the Malaysian and Saudi governments, and could lead to the revocation of privileges previously granted to Malaysian pilgrims," he said. He was commenting on the case of 80 Malaysian pilgrims who were detained at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) recently for attempting to travel using tourist visas. Na'im said Lembaga Tabung Haji consistently reminds prospective pilgrims not to be lured by packages offering unrealistic prices or marketed by unauthorised haj operators. "While mujamalah or furada visas are considered valid, they are exclusive privileges of the Saudi government and fall outside the official haj quota," he said. He added that under the Tabung Haji Act 1995 (Act 535), it is an offence for any travel agency or individual not licensed as a haj operator by Tabung Haji to advertise haj packages. As such, he urged the public to report any unauthorised haj promotions found on social media or websites to Tabung Haji, to help curb the activities of unlicensed operators.


The Star
29 minutes ago
- The Star
Queues at VEP application centres in Singapore, Johor Baru after news of enforcement from July 1
SINGAPORE/JOHOR BARU: Waves of Singapore motorists showed up at Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) application and installation centres in Singapore and Johor Baru a day after Malaysia announced that enforcement of the VEP will start on July 1. Singapore-registered vehicles entering the country from that date without a valid VEP will be fined RM300 (S$91), Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on Wednesday (June 4). The drivers will have to pay the fine and complete their VEP registration before leaving Malaysia. On Thursday (June 5), motorists showed up at VEP centres in Woodlands in Singapore and Danga Bay in Johor Baru because they needed help with signing up on the online portal or had problems activating their radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. VEP-registered vehicles need to have RFID tags installed and activated in order to make payments for Malaysian expressway tolls and the road charge when entering Johor via the two land checkpoints. Singapore-registered vehicles entering the country from July 1 without a valid VEP will be fined RM300. - Photo: ST The counters in Malaysia are operated by TCSens, Malaysia's ministry-appointed vendor for handling VEP registrations; while the one in Singapore is run by My VEP, a separate company, in collaboration with TCSens. Between 9.30am and 10.30am, around 40 people were seen queueing outside the My VEP office in Woodlands Industrial Park. They include motorists collecting their VEP RFID tags and those needing help with applications. Those without appointment slots were turned away. Around lunchtime at the TCSens inquiry centre in Danga Bay, more than 60 motorists were seen queueing to seek assistance from staff to troubleshoot their VEP registrations. The centre allows walk-in inquiries. Latiff Saleh, 64, who did not have an appointment, left the Woodlands centre in Singapore without getting any assistance. He needed help to terminate the existing VEP registration of his car, which was tagged to its previous owner, as he was not able to do so online. On hearing the June 4 announcement, he tried to log in to the VEP portal to restart the application process, but faced difficulties. He had not decided whether to try his luck at Danga Bay soon, or wait for the rush in Woodlands to subside before getting an appointment. Inquiries had been decreasing prior to the June 4 announcement, and appointment slots had been available daily since March, said Ng Poh Heng, manager of My VEP. But by the morning of June 5, all the slots until June 20 had been taken up, checks by The Straits Times found. Esther Chua, 50, received her VEP RFID tag earlier in 2025, but found that it could not be fitted to her car as required. The finance executive did not get around to exchanging the tag until after hearing the latest news. 'The Malaysian side seems to keep changing their mind, so I didn't feel the need to get it fixed (so soon),' she said at Woodlands on June 5. The latest move to enforce the VEP comes eight years after the plan was first mooted in 2017. Its implementation was shelved twice, in 2019 and again in 2020. It was rolled out in October 2024, but foreign vehicles found without valid VEPs were given reminders to get registered and not fined. At the Danga Bay inquiry centre on June 5, waiting times were long, with motorists saying they began queueing from as early as 6am for the counter to open at 9am. One of the motorists, a 76-year-old Singaporean retiree who wanted to be known only as Chong, said that his VEP application was rejected in October 2024 because it was missing insurance documents. He said he never heard back after he replied with the documents. 'Suddenly, they said they are going to enforce (the requirement) this July. This is very troublesome,' he said, adding that the announcement on June 4 caught him by surprise. Singaporean interior designer Andrew Ho, 44, who arrived in Danga Bay at 9am, waited five hours to get help from TCSens staff. His VEP RFID tag could not be read at the Malaysian customs gantry. A TCSens staff member at Danga Bay told ST that by 2.30pm, he had already assisted more than 100 motorists, compared with the daily number of 130 cars that the centre had handled in the past few months. Loke told reporters on June 4 that foreign-registered private vehicles have had ample time to be VEP-registered since the call to do so was made in May 2024. The minister added that 231,018 Singapore-registered private individually owned vehicles have signed up for the VEP, with 15 per cent yet to activate the RFID tags. Meanwhile, skip-the-queue VEP services in Singapore are seeing an uptick in inquiries. These services apply for the VEP on the motorists' behalf, saving drivers the hassle of making the online application or queueing at the counters. Derrick Heng, director of Radiant VEP, which offers skip-the-queue services, said inquiries have spiked since the latest announcement, after getting around 10 queries daily from the beginning of 2025. 'We received about 30 inquiries on June 4, and our office (in Kaki Bukit) was full, with motorists coming in to apply for the permits at the last minute,' he said. Jason Koay, director of accounting and secretarial firm Bizwise Management, which advertises its VEP application assistance service on Carousell, said he helped with 50 applications on June 5, up from a norm of two to three inquiries a day since March. A TCSens spokesman urged Singaporean motorists to register promptly for the VEP via the website, as it is anticipating a surge in applications and appointments at its four centres in Johor Bahru and Singapore. 'Motorists must ensure that the VEP RFID tags are securely fixed on their vehicles and activated for use once they have received them,' he added. - The Straits Times/ANN


The Star
29 minutes ago
- The Star
Trump, Xi spoke by phone as trade and tech disputes strain ties
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping spoke days before the US president returns to the White House. - Photos: AFP file WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke Thursday (June 5), according to China's Foreign Ministry, as trade tensions roil relations between the world's two largest economies. Relations between the two rivals have soured in recent weeks, with both sides accusing the other of violating a trade truce that brought down tariffs from massive highs. With the fresh conflict threatening the fragile détente, market analysts were hopeful the conversation would pave the way to a trade off-ramp. Stocks rose on news of the call, with the S&P 500 extending gains into a fourth straight day. The phone call between the leaders marks their first known formal contact since Trump took office. The last conversation between Trump and Xi took place in January before the US president's inauguration. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the call was initiated at Trump's request. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rare earths have emerged in recent days as a key flashpoint. The US has accused China of reneging on a promise to relax export controls on such metals needed for cutting-edge electronics. Beijing has been frustrated by fresh US restrictions on the sale of chip design software and plans to start revoking visas for Chinese students. Trump has long said direct talks with Xi were the only way to resolve differences between the nations, but the Chinese leader had thus far been reluctant to get on the phone with his American counterpart - preferring that advisers negotiate key issues. Export controls and US actions on student visas and technology curbs will likely be central to future negotiations. US and Chinese trade chiefs only agreed in Geneva last month to lower tariffs for 90 days, as they worked toward a broader deal. History suggests that any final deal could be a long time coming. In 2018 during Trump's first term as president, the two sides agreed to put their dispute "on hold' after a round of negotiations, but the US soon backed away from that deal, leading to more than 18 months of further tariffs and talks before the signing of the "Phase One' deal in January 2020. One goal for China this time around will be seeking relief from US export controls on cutting-edge chips vital for AI and military advancement. That's likely to be a sticking point in Washington, with both Democrats and Republicans in rare agreement that Beijing poses a national security threat. Beyond strains in economic ties, geopolitical frictions are also growing. Foreign Ministry officials this month protested US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's assertion at a gathering of military chiefs in Singapore that China poses an imminent threat to Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by Beijing. - Bloomberg