Having grown up as part of a minority community, Gurdeep’s fluency in “Ganu”, or the Terengganu dialect, impresses many and draws curious stares.

The 21-year-old said he has been the object of such attention since he was a child, and sees it as a “privilege” to be able to speak the rich local dialect of the east-coast state.

And he never expected to gain popularity on TikTok, where he has amassed over 48,000 followers and more than a million “likes” since August.

It all started with a suggestion from his friends to take advantage of his uniqueness of being a “Sikh who speaks Ganu”. Gurdeep now uses it as a platform to share knowledge about religion and culture, as well as to promote the beauty of his home state.

“At first, I got a funny question from a viewer asking if I shower wearing my turban. I replied in Terengganu dialect, joking, ‘Do you shower wearing a tudung?’” he said with a laugh.

Gurdeep, a first-year bachelor of business administration student at a private university here, said he has never felt left out, even though, to his knowledge, there are only two Sikh families living in Terengganu, including his own.

“Of course, with this ability, I feel I’m quite ‘rare’ – I’m a minority within a minority. But this helps me feel no different from the Malay majority in this state,” he told Bernama.

“When you can speak the Terengganu dialect well, it makes daily life here much easier, especially when dealing with the elderly, who are more accustomed to the dialect.”

Gurdeep, who is also fluent in Mandarin, said growing up in a Malay-majority neighbourhood and having close friends of various races, particularly Malays and Chinese, made it easy for him to pick up the dialect.

At home, he said his family typically speaks in Punjabi, but they often include Terengganu Malay in certain situations – usually without even realising it.

“I’m actually more comfortable speaking in the Terengganu dialect. But with my Chinese friends, I sometimes speak Mandarin so I don’t forget it,” said Gurdeep, who used to study at a Chinese school.

Still, he harbours some wistfulness. His great-grandfather, Chigara Singh, migrated from Punjab, India to Terengganu in 1954. Sadly, all other relatives have moved abroad.

“Why is it sad? Because in Kelantan, there used to be Sikh families, but now I hear there are none left, even though a gurdwara still exists there.

“In Terengganu, there’s no gurdwara. We usually go to Kuantan in Pahang, where there is a place of worship and a larger Sikh community.

“So, I’m not sure what the future holds for Sikhs in this state since, as far as I know, there are only two Sikh families here,” he said.

Gurdeep encourages his non-Malay friends to learn local dialects, and for Malays to learn the languages of other ethnic groups, as a symbol of true unity.

“Make friends with everyone, regardless of race. It’s comfortable staying in your own circle, but that doesn’t help you grow. My message is that we all need to come together to ensure our local dialects don’t disappear,” he concluded.

Follow Gurdeep on TikTok.