Deaf couple serves authentic Pakistani cuisine in Cheras

Free Malaysia Today

Wal Daun restaurant is run by Pakistani chef Waleed Khan and his Malay wife Wan Nor Arifah, both of whom are deaf.  📍Wal Daun 12, Jalan Jejaka 9, Maluri, 55100 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur  Operation Hours: 10.30am - 12.30am  Story by: Theevya Ragu  Shot by: Bani Jamian  Edited by: Selven Razz  Read More: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2025/04/06/deaf-couples-authentic-pakistani-cuisine-gets-the-thumbs-up/  Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5 Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download FMT News App: Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46 App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP  #FMTLifestyle #WalDaun #Deaf #Pakistani #Cuisine #MFD

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00:0035-year-old Waleed is the proud chef and owner of Wal Daun, a restaurant serving authentic

00:22Pakistani food in Cheras. Born deaf, Waleed's love for cooking began

00:32at 13 when he started learning the skill from his mother back in Pakistan.

00:38It's hard to get work when I'm at home, I mean back in Pakistan, and I thought that

00:44perhaps maybe it might be easier to actually get a job here and easy to learn here.

00:51Here in Malaysia, it's very good the way how you can learn and how they teach you.

00:58I told my parents, I left my family, my parents there, and I come here alone.

01:03And I got married to my wife who is from here.

01:09My family stays in Pakistan and they remain there.

01:13In 2019, he married one Nur Arifa who is also deaf after meeting her on Facebook.

01:20While he cooks, she helps manage the restaurant. Although he is now the owner of this spacious

01:27eatery, Waleed first worked at various restaurants across Malaysia.

01:32FMT Lifestyle asked how he communicates with his staff and how he manages the restaurant,

01:38especially since he isn't confident in writing.

01:41When I was in Pahang, I mean the boss, the place that I'm working with, the boss

01:49always reminded me that I have to learn how to write. If I want to buy anything, I have to learn

01:55how to write so that I'll be able to communicate. So it took me about three years approximately

02:00to actually being able to kind of like learn how to write. Yes, I start to pick it up slowly and

02:06like asking people, a customer that come in, do you want a drink? What drink do you want?

02:11Do you want your beverage and all? So they were actually right. So I don't get much communication

02:17writing with the staff, but most of it is like using visual language. I just like show move and

02:25all and it'd be better. Waleed has been operating since November 2024. With just nine Google reviews,

02:33business has been slow but is steadily picking up. Waleed serves a variety of Pakistani dishes

02:40with biryani and naan being crowd favorites. Half of them felt that, wow, it's, you know, it's delicious

02:48and they just look at the menu and they think because there's nothing here that actually showed

02:52that I am deaf. So they don't know I'm deaf. So they say, who's the boss? So and then later on,

02:59when they showed me and they said, oh, he's deaf. So they were going like, the food is

03:04pretty delicious here. So it's a great thing and it's like word of mouth, it spreads around

03:10and people come here. And FMT Lifestyle has to agree, the food is delicious.

03:24To be like the community here, it's like, it's good to actually to portray and show that, you know,

03:31we deaf people could actually have the opportunity to do business on our own.

03:36So this has to be an eye-opener, you know, indirectly. So you can sell like, you know,

03:42from beverages to food and all. So that's why I wanted to show, I'm very happy to

03:47kind of like let people know that, you know, even though I'm deaf, the thing is I could actually

03:52observe the visual language, use my eyes and you know, I can still go on and do business like others

03:57and work. For the full story on Waldaon and more, visit FMT and follow our socials.

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