Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir was caught short when an Islamic religious lecture was conducted in Tamil at the Persatuan India Muslim Perak (Prim) state function.

NONE Held at his official residency in Ipoh last night, Zambry ( right ) had expected the religious lecture would be conducted in Bahasa Malaysia.

However, the state head maintained his composure and sat throughout the lecture politely.

According to Zambry because of his dark complexion he is often mistaken to understand Tamil . However he doesn't speak or understand the language.

He only highlighted his shortcomings in the language when he later took to the stage to address the 2,500 strong Indian Muslim community that came from all over Peninsular Malaysia for the function.

The state Umno chief joked on how in many occasions when he went to Indian restaurants, he is often addressed in Tamil and can only watch in amusement and in puzzlement.

However, Zambry assured the crowd that he will learn the language just like how he is now learning the Mandarin and this caused the crowd to break into thunderous clapping.

Studying Mandarin

Zambry and some of his exco members are studying the Mandarin language every Tuesday in order to understand and forge a stronger relationship with the Chinese community.

In his speech to the Indian Muslim community, he said he will look into the Prim memorandum on the problems faced by the poorer sector of the community which include lack of opportunities for further education and scholarships.

However, he reminded the community that they must stay united and support the ‘1Malaysia' concept.

Earlier, in his speech PRIM adviser Jawahar Ali requested the Menteri Besar to allocate a small piece of land to set up their state headquarters.

At present, the two-year old association with a membership of about 500 is renting a premise located in Chemor.