June 17, 2024
Supermarket sign off makes Tamati TikTok star
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An Ōpōtiki supermarket worker has gone viral telling customers it’s time for them to go home – in te reo Māori.
New World Ōpōtiki posted the video of Tamati Jensen on TikTok on Thursday and it’s racked up tens of thousands of impressions and shares.
The Ōpōtiki College student says it’s a whānau based community which encourages everyone to express themselves in what ever language they want.
“Not all people in our shop are Māori, but they are really supportive and the person that I am and how I deliver things through my own personality. they don’t mind that I sing, I haka when I’m at work. They let me be who I am and that’s what makes our shop special,” he says
Tamati Jensen says his bosses attended his dress rehearsal ahead of next week’s nation secondary school kapa haka competition in Nelson and saw how the songs he practices at work sound with a full kapa.