Meet 'Optus Dan': Australia's latest hero
A Melbourne filmmaker is behind the Optus social media posts who have won the hearts of many.
‘Optus Dan’ is actually Dan de Sousa, a Carlton based Kiwi who loves music and skateboarding.
Friends of Mr de Sousa shared his identity after his diplomatic responses to backlash faced by his employer when the company decided to advertise in Arabic.
Mr de Sousa revealed on his Facebook page his Optus bosses were pleased with his skills.
'Just looking on the Optus facebook [sic] page too at all the people declaring their Dan fandom! Awesome stuff! Bet your work is loving it!' a friend said.
Mr de Sousa replied: 'Yeah my team are really happy, I work with a great bunch of people, all sweethearts.'
The drama first flared in November when Optus placed an advertisement outside of its store in a suburb in which about 10 per cent of the population was able to speak Arabic.
It informed customers that a staff member inside the store was able to speak with them in that language if they so wished.
But it became a rallying point for a flood of complaints which saw many arguing the ads were a form of discrimination against white people or a sign that Arabic speaking Australians were refusing to become parts of society.
“Can I just ask why Optus is advertising in casula mall (sic) in middle eastern language and not English??” one Facebook user wrote.
“This is an outrage, this is Australia not Syria. You are hypocrites saying sorry for Paris etc etc but advertising only for Muslims to read.”
Another insisted: “Australia is an ENGLISH speaking society. Please REMOVE THESE signs immediately. (sic) & i will be cancelling my account with you”.
The controversy reached such a fevered state that Optus and the mall decided to withdraw the advertisements on the advice of police after threats were made against staff members at the Casula Mall store.
But amid the flood of complaints, the man called Dan stood against the tide, politely responding to the concerns of those frightened by the poster.
Now the controversy has given way to an outpouring of admiration for the social media manager who has taken on and embraced all comers. He has even had marriage proposals.
It may have been months since the great Casula Mall storm erupted but the love for 'Optus Dan' seems to be going strong.
According to the 2011 Census, Arabic is the third most spoken language other than English in Australia. Mandarin is the most spoken with 1.6 per cent of Australians able to speak and understand it, followed by Italian, 1.4 per cent, and Arabic, 1.3 per cent.
Cantonese and Greek are each spoken by 1.2 per cent of the population.
Arabic is the official language of 25 countries throughout the world, including Israel where it is the co-official language alongside Hebrew.
