Written By : Andrew Samuel
PETALING JAYA: Modest and soft-spoken Tok Wan appears unaware of the attention his eponymous YouTube channel is getting.
Tok Wan Kami, which translates to “our Tok Wan”, has garnered 50,000 subscribers in the 10 months since its inception.
Tok Wan laughs when he’s made aware of the fact. “I don’t check the page often,” he says bashfully. “I barely watch my videos once they’re up.”
But online users have been following the 62-year-old grandfather of eight, who prepares home-cooked meals for orphanages every week.
His videos are a hit on YouTube, with multiple amassing over 100,000 views each.
For the past year, Tok Wan has dedicated his weekends to providing orphans with a variety of different dishes from across the world, ranging from local fare like mee kari and roti John to Western favourites like pizza and spaghetti.
Truly catering to all tastes, Tok Wan even has a recipe for carbonara popiah, which marries an Eastern concept with Western flavours.
“Sometimes I find recipes online, usually through online tutorials, and then try and recreate them.
“But most of the time I just ask people who are better cooks than me,” he adds. “They teach me what to do.”
With the help of his six children, the food is then delivered to orphanages near his home in Kampung Melayu Subang.
“There are two or three places that I donate to on rotation,” he shares. “They’re all within the area, so it’s not too far to travel.
Tok Wan, whose real name is Mohd Zaki bin Ariffin, came from humble beginnings. Born in a small village in Kedah where most people found work as small-time farmers or rubber tappers, he left home to roam the country as soon as he could.
“Life in the village was not always easy when I was growing up…I left once I was old enough, doing odd jobs here and there,” he said.
“I travelled all over the place. I was in Pahang for a while, and then one day I ended up in Selangor.”
There he met the woman who was to become his wife. They started their family in Selangor, and he has remained there ever since.
Tok Wan’s YouTube page was inspired by Grandpa Kitchen, a channel featuring gardener-turned-youtuber Narayana Reddy who filmed videos with the same premise.
“My children were the ones who introduced me to Grandpa Kitchen. I don’t know anything about YouTube,” he laughs. “They were always watching his videos…he cooked a lot of food, and then shared it with orphans in India.”
“I thought that if that grandpa can do it, surely I can too. There are children here in Malaysia who I can help.”
And help them he has – their smiling faces in his videos say it all. Kids run out to meet him at the door, and choruses of “terima kasih Tok Wan!” ring out as he distributes parcels of food to children of all ages.
The channel is clearly a family affair, with Tok Wan’s six children often featured in the background, helping chop ingredients or pack the food.
“My children help me a lot…they film and upload the videos for me, as well as help me cook so I don’t get too tired.”
The food is prepared in his backyard, with the sound of twittering birds and rustling leaves providing calming background noise to his cooking. But that isn’t all there is to enjoy about Tok Wan’s videos.
They often end with a little magic trick or demonstration on one of his many Rubik’s Cubes, of which he has many different shapes and sizes. When asked about it, he laughs.
“I picked up magic in my youth. A long time ago, I’d perform magic in travelling shows for kids,” he says with a smile.
While those days are long gone, Tok Wan still manages to bring them joy today, albeit through different methods.
“We want to show people that no matter how little you have, giving is important. Even if it’s just a little bit. As my dad likes to say, ‘blessings and goodness should always be shared with others’,” says Tok Wan’s son, Muhammad Luqman Hakim.
Tok Wan reveals that in future he hopes to be able to provide food to orphanages further afield, or film in more interesting locations, like by the riverbank or in paddy fields.
When asked what his next recipe will be, Tok Wan says, “I love curries and stews…I’m a real Kedah boy,” he chuckles. “We’ll see.”
Tok Wan and his family welcome donations so they can continue cooking meals for orphanages every weekend.
