The write choice

For many corporate houses, small businessmen and individuals, he is like a man on a rescue mission. But for him they might have lost valuable businesses and contacts many miles away in another part of the world. For Vilcent Chong, it is five years since he discovered that his command over Mandarin, the official language of China, is a rare skill in Chennai, that enabled him to help others understand the language and also earn a small sum, in the process. He is the only Mandarin interpreter available in the city and is much in demand.

"There are some Chinese who do small-time translations. But taking it up as a business venture and offering their services both within and outside Chennai is virtually impossible for them. I do it out of interest because I feel this is something that gives me an identity," Chong reveals. He owns a restaurant, which is managed by two efficient persons taking care of it in his absence.

Chong was born in 1953 to John Chong and Grasa, who emigrated from China to escape the wrath of the Second World War. "I studied in a school here. It was a convent located in Richie Street. Those were the days when my first Mandarin lessons began at home in a totally informal environment," Chong explains. Although what he learnt from his father wasn't enough to make him read and write the language, Chong's knowledge is enough to understand and interpret Mandarin for the non-speakers. After receiving training as a chef in Taiwan, the period when he fine- tuned his language, Chong's focus was totally on running a quality Chinese restaurant.

He mentions that his introduction to interpretation was accidental. "Five years ago, I received a visitor from the customs office who requested me to help them with the negotiations between the Customs department and the Chinese merchants. They were happy with my work and whenever necessary, they keep calling me," Chong recalls. He was also approached by a consumer goods company that brought a machine from Taiwan and required his services to act as interpreter between the company engineers and the Taiwanese technician.

"It is very difficult to learn the Chinese language. Even to people like me, the learning process is a continuous one. Since we have a strong foundation in the language, adding on to our knowledge base is an easy thing," Chong says. He also adds that there is no school or institution in India to teach Chinese, owing to its complexity. "Even in Calcutta, where there are large number of ethnic Chinese, exclusive Chinese schools are dwindling and this might probably leave no scope for formal learning. So the survival of the language, say in 50 years, is a big question," Chong fears. As an interpreter, Chong sees a manifold increase in his clientele in the recent years.

His only grievance is that people do not understand the difficulty involved in the job and hesitate to pay him for his services. "It is not easy to leave my restaurant business and attend to interpretation work for nothing," Chong says. Although he is prepared to take up the job of interpretation on a regular basis, customers' reluctance to pay his charges seems to be a great obstacle.

As soon as that is worked out, Chong may be fully in the business and would have enough business to keep him busy.

L. SUBRAMANI

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