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Because man, you're the voice.

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I appreciate that.

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Thank you.

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That's very kind of you.

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No, really.

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I mean it.

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I mean it's, it's, it's, um, people say a lot of things about me and I've been doing

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videos for a long time and you know, and, and I've got great compliments, but I tell

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you man, having one of the best voices ever in the studio with me is something.

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A lot of, a lot of what we do or what I do, I believe, uh, is, is comes down to confidence

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and you only get confidence, uh, if you've been asked the question, do you, do you want

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to speak well or do you want to sound good?

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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So, uh, broken English with a phony American accent is problematic.

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Somehow, right?

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Yup.

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I completely agree.

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So, so it's, it's, it's what, unless you've been trained, you don't really know which

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of those two things have been identified as being your thing.

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Right?

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So you either want to speak well, uh, or you want to sound good.

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If you want to do this for a living, you have to be both.

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Yup.

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Right?

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And if, if you speak well and you sound good, then confidence comes, right?

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And if, once you're confident, then you know this, this is you.

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Man after my own heart.

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You know, I teach this.

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Right.

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I've been teaching this for years, right?

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And I teach voiceovers.

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I've got regular students.

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They come back to me every time for coaching.

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And I see exactly the same thing almost.

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Uh, completely agree.

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And see, that's the reason why I feel today, right?

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I mean, I don't know whether you agree or disagree, but way back when, and I've said

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this, oh gosh, so many times, so often, I said to Timbo.

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I've said this to, uh, I think Germit as well.

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I said this to Joe Augustine and the standards of the past with the likes of Eric Lim, um,

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Mike Ellery, right?

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I mean, my goodness.

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I mean, Ellery, come on.

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Yeah.

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And Eric Lim, the little man with that voice.

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I grew up wanting to do this because of guys like them.

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And then I've got you.

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I want to, I want to jog your memory a little bit.

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The last time we met decades ago, I don't know if you remember, um, it was in a studio

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called Stunk.

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Stunk?

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Up, uh, in Amoy Street.

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Amoy Street.

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Yeah.

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That's right.

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I was there and met you for the very first time.

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Uh, and Cloda was the producer.

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Remember her?

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Half Chinese, half British girl.

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I do know the name, but are you sure it's Stunk?

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Stunk, man.

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Not, uh, not, uh, Yellow Box?

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No, no, not Yellow Box.

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Home Studio?

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No, no.

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Back then, uh, uh, it was Stunk for sure.

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You're sure it was there?

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Oh, very, very sure.

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You worked there.

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No, no, no.

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I was there as a, as a VO artist.

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And we were working on the same project.

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I remember working with a Cloda, doing those, uh, doing, uh, infomercials.

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Courts.

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Courts.

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I was doing infomercials.

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And we were doing it at, uh, um, Act, no, no, not Act.

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Uh, oh my goodness.

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Uh, what's it called?

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Petal.

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Petal.

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Remember Petal?

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Aaron Ezekiel, Larry Lai.

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No.

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Those folks?

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No, man.

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Not that Larry Lai.

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Okay.

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The other guy named Larry Lai, Petal Productions.

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I went to school with Aaron Ezekiel.

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They had, uh, they had digs first at, uh, Beach Road.

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And then they moved back, uh, moved to Craig Road in, uh, in Tanjung Pagar.

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Tanjung Pagar.

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Yeah.

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I remember a Cloda there.

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I was doing infomercials for her.

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I don't think I saw a check after everybody, everybody caved and therefore evaporated.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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But it was decent work.

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Yeah.

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But this was, that one, that one, when I met you.

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What happened at Stunk?

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What were we doing?

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We were doing something, a commercial for Quartz.

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Okay.

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You know the Jim Rees Welcome to My World?

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Yes.

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Right.

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And Anne Weirapass was there as well.

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Anne!

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Yeah.

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Wow.

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And I remember, I think, if memory serves me well, um, Robert Fernando was also there.

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You were there.

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Okay.

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Right.

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And, and me.

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Right.

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Right.

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And it's just when I met you for the first time.

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We were all working on the same one?

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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On the same one.

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Wow.

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There were multiple voices for that particular commercial.

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I see.

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And we sang it.

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Wow.

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We did parts.

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Why?

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Individually.

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Why can't I remember?

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I remember it also.

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I worked with Robert quite closely, uh, during the, uh, the songwriting competition days.

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Yeah.

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Oh, yeah.

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I'm going to ask you about that soon too, man.

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I've known Bob forever as well.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Great guy.

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Great guy.

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I know him as well.

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Um, and after that, after that recording, I went across the street.

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There was, behind Armois Street, it's the low-i-e street, right?

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There was a little coffee shop.

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Right.

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This is not the show proper yet, right?

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Uh, well, we, we always be recording, you know.

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00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:22,840
Oh, okay.

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00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:23,840
Okay.

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All right.

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Just, just so I can, I can identify a kind of a thread.

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We're always recording.

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Okay.

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So don't worry about it.

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Um, and, and, and you were crossing the street and you were so candid, you went, bye!

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And then the next time I met you was when you were spinning in Branigan's.

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You have to put a, you have to put a year on this.

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Okay.

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Branigan's, I don't know if you, you can remember the year, if I were to tell you who was with

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you behind the decks and Chand Nadeisen was with you.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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I can't remember exactly when that was.

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I think it's definitely, definitely somewhere in the 90s.

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Definitely in the 90s.

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It was still Branigan's, it was not even Bricks yet.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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And you were spinning and I saw you do this.

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You took a record.

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Yeah.

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You spun it.

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Yeah.

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And pinpoint accuracy.

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Yeah.

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It went in.

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Yeah.

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On the turns.

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You know, I'll tell you something because you know, I can't quite place the 90s when

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it comes to my memories about being in the business.

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Okay.

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So I may have been visiting because I don't think I had a gig at Branigan's.

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Maybe I was jamming or visiting whoever was the resident at the time.

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Maybe Chand was the resident.

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Yeah.

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Probably, probably because I don't remember having to go to Branigan's and not be late

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00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:46,760
and stuff like that.

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You know, if I happen to be say with someone like, if we were doing maybe a training check

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or something, we were just with Mike Mahendran.

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So with Mike, we might have, you know, he may have, I might have had my day off or something.

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And he might have said, listen, I'm going to go and check on the kids.

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Right.

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Why don't you come?

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00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,000
You know, something like that.

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So we would all just kind of swan into Branigan's just to see how the resident was doing.

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00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:14,400
Okay.

201
00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,560
Other than that, or maybe pay them or, you know.

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00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:18,840
On that note, yeah.

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00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,840
On that note, on that note, this is where I need to go back to the beginning.

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And this is where I'm going to go.

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Hi everyone.

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00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,000
Welcome to the Chris Hansen conversation.

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And I'm so happy today.

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00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,440
So really, really excited because I've got with me.

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00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:37,560
People call me that, but I never believed it because I think this man should be conferred

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that honor.

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00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,880
The voice of God in my studio.

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00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:43,880
And praise indeed.

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00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:45,320
Thanks for having me there, Chris.

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00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,120
Lots of people call me that, but I never accepted it because as far as I'm concerned, I don't

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00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:50,480
think so.

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00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,760
The voice of God with me in the studio is Mr. X.

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00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:59,000
You hear him every evening on Goal 905 on a show called Night Flight.

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00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:05,400
On the weekends, he's got Rock of Ages and he's here with me in ccpTV for my show.

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00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:07,400
And I'm very happy to have him here.

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00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:08,920
Welcome to the studio.

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00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:13,680
And we've been talking just before we, well, I made the official introduction and I just

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00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,360
want to start this way.

223
00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:22,600
William Xavier started life, well, I'm not going to go back too far.

224
00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,800
I'm just going to go to St. Joseph's institution.

225
00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:28,800
You were an old boy, right?

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00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,240
What did you pursue after that?

227
00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:32,240
College.

228
00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:33,240
Okay.

229
00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:34,240
Which one?

230
00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:35,240
Which college?

231
00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:36,240
Raffles Institution.

232
00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:37,240
Yeah.

233
00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:38,240
Whoa.

234
00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:39,240
Yeah.

235
00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:45,080
I'd gone across because of a course selection issue.

236
00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:46,080
Yeah.

237
00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:53,120
So my resume and my test results had gone back to the ministry, as I remember.

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00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:58,680
And so it wasn't a question of number of places available for my chosen course.

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00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:04,200
Throughout my entire school career, if you can call it that, it's always been a case

240
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:10,360
of me being part of an experimental group that was going to be the first batch on any

241
00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,920
new or emerging syllabus.

242
00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:13,920
Really?

243
00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:14,920
Right.

244
00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:15,920
Okay.

245
00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:20,520
So my track was economics and commerce.

246
00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:27,280
So they had not offered economics or commerce at A level prior to-

247
00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:28,280
Really?

248
00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:29,280
Yeah.

249
00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:30,280
This is going way back now.

250
00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:31,280
How long ago was this?

251
00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:32,280
So it was the mid-70s.

252
00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:40,040
So in the mid-70s, you mean Singapore at A levels had no economics.

253
00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:41,040
Yeah.

254
00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:45,040
I'll tell you something else that you'll find quite surprising as well, going even

255
00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:50,760
further back with regard to the state of play when we were.

256
00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:57,460
Remember, even if you're talking about the mid-70s, say 1975, which is when I was looking

257
00:09:57,460 --> 00:10:05,480
for a college to go to, it would have been no more than 10 years of us being an independent

258
00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:06,480
country.

259
00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:07,480
Well, yeah.

260
00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:08,480
Right?

261
00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:09,480
That's right.

262
00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:15,160
So a lot of what we take for granted or take as given these days, the state of play as

263
00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:21,800
we know it now, primary, secondary, baccalaureate, all that stuff, this would have been unheard

264
00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:28,480
of, we would not have been able to think of life or education or development in those

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00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,760
terms based on what is available today.

266
00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:38,820
So I kid you not that to pursue commerce, which would have been a secondary school subject,

267
00:10:38,820 --> 00:10:46,040
to pursue it and make it a kind of a major, one of your four A levels or whatever it was,

268
00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:51,040
to offer commerce because A, there weren't the teachers to teach you.

269
00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:52,040
To teach you, yeah.

270
00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:56,960
There weren't that many students who were choosing it because it was new.

271
00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:03,560
So there weren't enough of us who wanted to do commerce and hence economics.

272
00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:09,960
And so it wasn't because I was unable to make the grade with regard to my first choice of

273
00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:15,000
college because you know, SGI and schools like that would have been a feeder for the

274
00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,920
Catholic junior college of the time.

275
00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:21,680
A brand new Catholic junior college, I'll have you know.

276
00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:22,680
See?

277
00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:28,960
So either they couldn't get the teachers or they couldn't get enough of a cohort to offer

278
00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:35,000
that at A level because once the exams are done, you're going to need examiners over

279
00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:39,000
in Cambridge in order to go over the results.

280
00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,880
So none of that was completely locked down.

281
00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:50,080
And so through no fault of our own, they had decided not to pursue a commerce as an A level

282
00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:55,720
subject in the school of my choice, which meant that our resumes and bios, test results

283
00:11:55,720 --> 00:12:02,080
had to go back to the ministry and it wasn't a case of not being able to get in.

284
00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:07,640
And therefore you had to settle for your second choice, you know, the other schools, you know,

285
00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:09,440
to make up the numbers.

286
00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,280
They thought it would have been unfair.

287
00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:17,680
So based on the relevant results of the courses that would have been available based on the

288
00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:21,040
results, I ended up in R.I.

289
00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:26,080
Also it was pretty useful that while they were trying to put a championship winning

290
00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:33,360
football team in the school, they came across my name, you know, all right, you know, combined

291
00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:38,040
schools examination, combined schools qualifications.

292
00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,440
Yeah, plays in defense.

293
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:43,880
Okay, it's pretty useful.

294
00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:44,880
Does he have the grades?

295
00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:45,880
Right?

296
00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:46,880
Next comes the answer.

297
00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,520
Does he have the grades?

298
00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:52,680
And the rest, as they say, is pretty hysterical.

299
00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:56,360
But you had the grades, you ended up in R.I., you did your A levels there.

300
00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:57,600
Okay.

301
00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:59,920
Just to rewind just a little bit.

302
00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:08,200
When did you realize that you have this passion for being behind a microphone?

303
00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:09,600
Was it during school years?

304
00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,280
It was.

305
00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:18,400
This is difficult to define in terms of passion.

306
00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:25,280
I don't think anyone recognizes it as passion at that age.

307
00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:27,840
Okay.

308
00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:35,360
It was also a question of the background or the circumstances leading to this so-called

309
00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:36,360
passion.

310
00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:42,800
I don't recognize the term until you've been doing it a few years.

311
00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:49,560
The question obviously was, were you going to be given the opportunity to either establish

312
00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:51,720
or identify a passion?

313
00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:56,800
Because as I always say on my shows, even to this day, it's good work if you can get

314
00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:58,880
it.

315
00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:11,480
And hence, you do tend to guard it jealously, not to keep pretenders out, but also to understand

316
00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:18,480
why it is you are here and given the opportunity for the job.

317
00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:28,160
The scope or the area in which you focus or try to have a passion for, that would be a

318
00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:33,920
passion for the music rather than a passion for the job we do in connection with the music.

319
00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:34,920
Okay.

320
00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:39,080
So what you're saying now is that you had an opportunity, you discovered a passion after

321
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:40,080
a couple of years.

322
00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:45,240
That, hey, I kind of like this, doing this, being behind a microphone.

323
00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:52,680
But the true passion stemming, or this job, if we may call that, this profession stemmed

324
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:54,600
out of a love for music.

325
00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:56,680
So it was the music that came first.

326
00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:58,280
So let's talk about that.

327
00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:08,680
The passion, as I recognize the term, is the connection between what you do and who you

328
00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:09,880
are.

329
00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:15,540
It's also the difference in my view, and I'm sorry, we're going to get philosophical here,

330
00:15:15,540 --> 00:15:20,940
but to understand that there is a difference, there is a difference, Chris, between job

331
00:15:20,940 --> 00:15:21,940
and work.

332
00:15:21,940 --> 00:15:22,940
Okay.

333
00:15:22,940 --> 00:15:23,940
You know?

334
00:15:23,940 --> 00:15:26,400
What are you doing, dad?

335
00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:27,400
I'm working.

336
00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:29,600
What are you doing, dad?

337
00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,480
I'm doing my job.

338
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:33,560
You see, I see there's a difference.

339
00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,120
There's a huge gulf between those two questions.

340
00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:42,800
Perhaps it might be easier to understand or to see how I make those connections if I go

341
00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:50,480
back to my earliest recollection, my earliest vivid recollection, which would have been

342
00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:52,600
Mr. X, age four.

343
00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:53,600
Wow.

344
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:54,600
Yeah.

345
00:15:54,600 --> 00:16:01,180
The youngest of two boys and my very musical parents.

346
00:16:01,180 --> 00:16:10,720
My real vivid recollection would be me, age four, sitting, four-year-old kid, remember?

347
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:22,800
Sitting on what my dad would call the entertainment center in our house in Lorong Ampas, off Ballastier

348
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:26,000
Road near Kim Kiat Road.

349
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:33,080
In a radiogram about this big, the size of this table where a four-year-old could easily

350
00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:34,080
get on.

351
00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:35,080
Right.

352
00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:41,480
So if I can describe how it was set up, you had a play or gramophone section with the

353
00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:42,480
auto record changer.

354
00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:43,480
Right, right.

355
00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,480
So you put a stack of singles and they'll just like a jukebox.

356
00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:48,040
You feed it in, yeah, jukebox.

357
00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,040
They'll play themselves, right?

358
00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:57,000
At the bottom of the gramophone section would be a small cupboard for storage of everything

359
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:02,040
from the singles to the 78 RPMs that this player could do.

360
00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:07,440
I guess my dad being a military, probably had access to these so-called state of the

361
00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:08,440
art, right?

362
00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:09,440
Okay.

363
00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:15,800
It would be one of those old British brands, brands like Kev or Grundig, I don't know what.

364
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:16,800
Grundig, oh wow.

365
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:17,800
Yeah.

366
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:19,800
So anyhow, so there would be the gram section.

367
00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,920
There'd be a cupboard section where the 78s go.

368
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:32,240
And on this side, this half of the gram, radiogram, would be everything from shortwave to FM.

369
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:33,240
Wow.

370
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:38,600
On this side, on a huge knob and the needles that would cover several bands.

371
00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:39,600
Yeah.

372
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:45,800
And I would be perched sitting on this, you know, with the music basically coming out

373
00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,800
my behind, right?

374
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:54,560
Sorry, I'm sorry the image is a little disturbing.

375
00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:55,560
This is age four.

376
00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:56,760
I clearly remember this.

377
00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:04,080
I don't remember much about it after, but age four, this was really a memory.

378
00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:05,080
Okay.

379
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:06,080
Because I would be looking out.

380
00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,280
Remember, I gave you my address, which was Lorong Ampass, right?

381
00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:10,280
Ampass, yes.

382
00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:20,880
My house was in a larger compound, which consisted of a Buddhist temple, several other sort of

383
00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:27,400
ancillary buildings like set out in a row, like a row of terrace houses within kind of

384
00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:30,200
a gated community, right?

385
00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:40,640
And our house shared a fence, I remember it was 1963, shared a fence with Shaw Brothers

386
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:41,640
Studios.

387
00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:47,320
So P. Ramlee was my neighbor, you could say, alias Congo, people like that.

388
00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:48,320
They were the neighbors.

389
00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,840
So Shaw Brothers had a studio there in Ballastier.

390
00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:53,120
Yeah, Lorong Ampass.

391
00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:57,760
I thought they've got one in East Coast Road as well.

392
00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:58,760
Perhaps.

393
00:18:58,760 --> 00:18:59,760
Near Jackie's Bowl.

394
00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:00,760
Right.

395
00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:06,680
So I guess we would have stayed there because it was a magnificent house, I thought.

396
00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:14,760
And it was built with the fact that we had crunching floods before the flood alleviation

397
00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:19,680
system that took care of all the low lying areas in that part of the country.

398
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:25,280
Ballastier, Booker T. Ma, Kim Kiat, notorious for floods, right?

399
00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:33,280
And at the time, off the film lot on the other side, they shared a fence with what appeared

400
00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:39,700
to be sort of scrubland before even the Torpayos of the world came up.

401
00:19:39,700 --> 00:19:41,640
And they put a canal through it.

402
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:47,640
And they put a canal through it, a manmade canal rather than a tributary stream of some

403
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,440
other river, Wampo River, perhaps.

404
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:57,200
So while we were there, they were starting to build this sort of concrete sided canal.

405
00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:58,200
Right.

406
00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,920
I'm sorry, I'm taking a little time to explain the background.

407
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:02,920
We've got the time.

408
00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,440
The lead up ramp to the story.

409
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:15,480
So the so-called wall sided canal became part of the film set.

410
00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:21,840
There are films, black and white films of people like Wahid Sate alias Kogo people,

411
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:31,120
Asam Sudin, sort of paddling down this manmade canal with palm fronds on the side to make

412
00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:33,960
it look natural.

413
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,000
So they use that as a set as well.

414
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,000
Special effects.

415
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:38,000
Yeah.

416
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,600
So this was my memory.

417
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:46,320
So I'd be sitting on the radiogram looking out the window to see what was going on at

418
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,840
the film set at the Loh Rong Ampass Studios.

419
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:57,520
And between me and the fence would be my six ducks.

420
00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:02,360
So the duck pond.

421
00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:05,800
It didn't take very much to entertain a four year old.

422
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:07,800
So I was quite happy.

423
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:13,120
But the one thing, the consistent or the constant thread that ran through it was that there

424
00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:18,080
was always music playing.

425
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,640
I thank my parents all the time on the show.

426
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:30,240
And I say to them, I can't imagine a world that didn't have the soundtrack of my life

427
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,440
in it because it was part of my earliest known memory.

428
00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:41,400
So you see how I'm developing the, to the extent that I realized that I could probably

429
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,280
still do my job if I didn't have any limbs.

430
00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,200
But if I lost my hearing, it would definitely be over.

431
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,200
If I couldn't hear.

432
00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:59,960
And Roger Cool, God rest his soul, blind DJ, you don't have deaf DJs.

433
00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:08,160
It would be a challenge not to be unkind, but that's the realization as I see it.

434
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:15,640
And it's always a less than gentle reminder that you are not, I don't like to use the

435
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:16,640
word talented.

436
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,840
You're not doing this because you are talented.

437
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:25,880
Because you are doing this because you are fortunate.

438
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:33,960
And I suppose the confluence or the meeting point of all those influences said that I

439
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:42,920
must go back or I must reestablish my earliest known memory because that's what makes me

440
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:43,920
happy.

441
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,160
So to you, that's how we truly started was the influence of the music that you hear all

442
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:48,160
the time.

443
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:54,640
It's also a reminder or it takes me back to my earliest known memory, not just of all

444
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:59,480
the things that made up the memory and all the parts, ducks, radiogram, et cetera, et

445
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:00,480
cetera.

446
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:01,640
It's how I felt.

447
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,440
I was in heaven.

448
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:11,120
I was at my happiest because of my very, very earliest known happy memory.

449
00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:13,480
I always go back to that.

450
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:22,800
If you don't feel today or at any time in your career, not because I thought that I

451
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:28,680
would end up in a job like this at age four.

452
00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:35,000
That's why I don't say passion because I had no idea that that would happen.

453
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:41,760
I had no idea, I guess, at age four or 12 or 16 whether or not people actually did this

454
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,760
for a living.

455
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:53,880
At which point in your early years by your recollection that you decided that I'm going

456
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:59,200
to be doing something with music, let me be fair here, music first and then get behind

457
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,200
the microphone.

458
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,040
When did it all really start?

459
00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,360
Remember I said it's good work if you can get it.

460
00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:09,200
I always thought that I would be over the moon.

461
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:13,640
It would be my only job if I could get a job like this.

462
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:22,320
So far it's been true because I always thought I didn't have what it took to get this job.

463
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:36,640
I also realized that it wasn't necessarily your so-called talent, your rough diamond.

464
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:46,880
You only get to go to the next stage or get past the next filter if someone who is assessing

465
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:52,000
you thinks that there's a hope in hell that you might get that far.

466
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:53,720
Who was that someone?

467
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:58,500
I would say there were a number of people, but if I can hit the rewind button again,

468
00:24:58,500 --> 00:25:01,960
this is again, sometimes I kid myself.

469
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:09,720
I know it's probably Kismet if you can call it that.

470
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:14,760
But Kismet is serendipity.

471
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:25,360
That's a happy coincidence that at age eight, while we're delving into things like history,

472
00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:28,520
I think geography is also pretty important.

473
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,400
Let me explain.

474
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:38,840
I went to school or went to the school down the road from where MediaCorp is or at least

475
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:44,040
was until very recently, until the last seven or eight years.

476
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:48,760
So I went to St. Michael's, which is down the road at the end of Thompson Road.

477
00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:57,720
I also happened to be fortunate enough to be classmates with a young man, my friend Terry,

478
00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:01,380
whose dad actually worked at the corporation.

479
00:26:01,380 --> 00:26:04,080
And so he was near his dad's office.

480
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,040
He was in my primary three class.

481
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:14,120
I would probably been with me throughout the entire primary school career.

482
00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:17,760
I ended up in his school after he got transferred.

483
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,920
He made the leap from St. Michael's to Raffles Institution.

484
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:26,220
And then I caught up with him four years after four years at SGI.

485
00:26:26,220 --> 00:26:28,800
So we were together again.

486
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:33,240
But at age eight, we were in Mrs. Shears' primary three class.

487
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:34,240
Mrs. Shears.

488
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:35,600
Yeah, Mrs. Colleen Shears.

489
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:43,880
And the two of us, both interchangeably first and second in the class at the exams, fortunate

490
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,280
us again.

491
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:50,740
Another part of the puzzle, which is we absolutely loved learning.

492
00:26:50,740 --> 00:26:52,000
We absolutely loved learning.

493
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:58,600
And I was fortunate enough to have an older brother who was also in the school who had

494
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:03,040
primary three books when I was still in primary one.

495
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:08,080
And I had read all his textbooks because we were voracious readers.

496
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:12,840
During the seven or eight weeks of school holidays, we didn't go skiing in Gstaad in

497
00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:18,360
Switzerland or scaling down the peaks at Chamonix.

498
00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:22,760
We were reading each other's textbooks for next year.

499
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:25,600
So we had read everything cover to cover.

500
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:34,960
And obviously, if you listen to your mom and you listen to your dad who say, speak properly,

501
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:35,960
speak from here.

502
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:38,700
I can't hear you.

503
00:27:38,700 --> 00:27:43,000
And when you're reading, why don't you read out loud?

504
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:49,600
So fast forward to primary three class, whenever it came down to comprehension passages.

505
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:50,600
Right.

506
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:51,600
Will?

507
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:52,600
Read.

508
00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:54,200
Stand up and read.

509
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,760
Either me or my boy Terry, it'd be one of us.

510
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:03,480
Because we were kind of ahead.

511
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:08,980
And then producers at the behest of Terry's dad who worked at the corporation were always

512
00:28:08,980 --> 00:28:16,200
looking to make things like documentaries or what was the latest in school syllabi,

513
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,480
would send cameras down to our school.

514
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:25,880
And then on many episodes I've seen of things on shows which are probably defunct and whose

515
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:33,200
copies maybe only reside in the National Library archives or something like that, it's happening

516
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,880
in Singapore.

517
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:40,440
To quote the name of a news magazine type show after the nine o'clock news.

518
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:44,880
I remember this quite well because I had been allowed to stay up to catch the episode that

519
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,720
featured my classroom.

520
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:53,640
The TV cameras had come to film the kids at school and then what was going on there for

521
00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,840
an episode of it's happening in Singapore.

522
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:56,840
Okay.

523
00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:04,840
And then on other occasions, it became quite a favorite resource, a great source of so-called

524
00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:08,440
child talent whenever they needed someone for something.

525
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:10,440
So you started way back then.

526
00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:16,600
Well, I wouldn't say started, but I'm saying that these were the circumstances under which

527
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:22,320
I had my brush, my brush with super stardom.

528
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:23,320
Okay.

529
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:24,880
So that was that.

530
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:33,800
So the fact that the happy confluence of these factors, the importance of speaking loudly

531
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:40,320
and well and from here, the fact that geography will also play the part.

532
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:45,400
It's not what you know, but who you know and who knows you.

533
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:51,920
And obviously the traditions of the schools I attended, which is what they keep saying

534
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:52,920
to us.

535
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:59,040
If I can get my boy into a mission school, he'd be set for, we don't know what.

536
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:04,040
We never hear the end of those sentences, but for some reason they want to get their

537
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:09,120
boys into these schools because of people like Mrs. Shears.

538
00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:10,120
Right.

539
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:11,120
Right.

540
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:15,680
And the three women I admire most, not the father, son and Holy Ghost, but-

541
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,000
And we don't, I don't think the women-

542
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,000
Wife, mother and Mrs. Shears.

543
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,000
Wife, mother and Mrs. Shears.

544
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:24,000
Right?

545
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:25,000
Fair?

546
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:26,000
Sure.

547
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:27,000
Right?

548
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:33,400
Now by that again, I had no, shall we, I'll go ahead and use the word ambition.

549
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:34,400
Right.

550
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:35,400
You know?

551
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:36,400
What am I good for?

552
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:43,360
I think I had to decide that at age eight, but I didn't know, I did not know that not

553
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:45,280
everybody did this.

554
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,240
But you liked it, didn't you?

555
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:48,600
I'm sure you must have liked it.

556
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,520
We were a class of 40 people.

557
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:51,520
Right.

558
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:53,120
Everybody else in the class liked it.

559
00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:57,680
To this day, my classmates from the primary school, they get it.

560
00:30:57,680 --> 00:30:59,240
You know what it was?

561
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:07,320
The fact that it also plugged into my earliest known memory, which was there was always music

562
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:08,320
around.

563
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:13,600
And I didn't realize that not every kid was the same.

564
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:20,960
We sang in class and on the school bus all the time.

565
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:25,960
This was some six year old, seven year old, eight and nine on the school bus doing Lulu

566
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:27,360
and Tom Jones.

567
00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:28,880
Great one.

568
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:30,400
I mean, it was great, wasn't it?

569
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:35,200
We sang all the time with absolute, you know, what did it say about people in this business?

570
00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:36,200
You know what?

571
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:37,200
He's so lucky.

572
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,720
I'll tell you why he's good for this because he's got no shame.

573
00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:41,720
He's not shy.

574
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:42,720
Not shy.

575
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:43,720
Yeah.

576
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:44,720
Not shy.

577
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,480
Remember what I said about confidence?

578
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:49,000
Give me a set of Lulu lyrics.

579
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:50,800
I'll have a go.

580
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:56,440
I won't stick around to decide to hear what your verdict is, but boy, will I give it a

581
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:57,440
go.

582
00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:59,280
You know what?

583
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:00,960
It doesn't matter that you don't like it.

584
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:01,960
Right.

585
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:02,960
Makes you happy.

586
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:03,960
Makes you happy.

587
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:04,960
Yeah.

588
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:05,960
Makes me happy.

589
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:06,960
Right.

590
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:12,800
And so again, full praise to my parents.

591
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:20,240
We'd walk on a Sunday night along the canal that was in our old estate where the pasar

592
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,000
malam was.

593
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:28,180
And pick up $4 vinyls even before cassettes.

594
00:32:28,180 --> 00:32:33,960
And we sang and learned every song that was on both sides of the vinyl.

595
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:40,080
Everything that happened to be the either current or recently current hits of the day.

596
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:45,160
Everything we were hearing on the radio was now on vinyl because we either liked the Tom

597
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,840
Jones more than the Engelbert's.

598
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:54,960
And whether it was local talent, foreign talent, if they sang a song that you liked and you

599
00:32:54,960 --> 00:33:01,280
could get it on vinyl, it'd be playing on repeat for as long as you were sitting on

600
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:06,800
the radio, Graham looking out the window and you passed your baby ducks to the film lot

601
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:08,680
next door.

602
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:09,680
This is the thing.

603
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,260
I thought this was my world and it was.

604
00:33:13,260 --> 00:33:15,520
It happened to be my world.

605
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:22,520
Now whether you can parlay that into a career or a job, it did not matter to me because

606
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:26,720
whether I worked in the industry or not, I would always have this, right?

607
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:30,600
There'll always be music playing regardless.

608
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:38,400
And I knew that the people you saw on the telly or heard on the radio were revered figures.

609
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:40,960
They were probably from another planet.

610
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:45,860
We didn't know where they worked, what it took to do what they did.

611
00:33:45,860 --> 00:33:52,120
It never was a question until the two letters appear in your mailbox.

612
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,920
So I'm coming to you to answer your question.

613
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,520
I'm sorry it's a roundabout way to answer your question.

614
00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:58,520
It's cool.

615
00:33:58,520 --> 00:33:59,520
It's a podcast, man.

616
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:00,520
Yeah.

617
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:01,520
But we're here now.

618
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:02,520
We're here now.

619
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:03,520
Yeah.

620
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:04,980
So it was always my intent.

621
00:34:04,980 --> 00:34:12,840
My favorite other career because my dad served in uniform and so did my mom.

622
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:14,640
I wanted to be a cop.

623
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:16,040
I wanted to be a policeman.

624
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:17,840
I've told the story a number of times.

625
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:19,920
In fact, I put it out there.

626
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:29,120
In fact, I had asked to join the police because that would be the way to the scholarship and

627
00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:31,000
to university.

628
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:36,240
And it was again, a throwback to something my parents taught me.

629
00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:39,920
Once you found your thing, stick with it.

630
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:44,420
There will always be rough days, but there will always be reminders as to why you love

631
00:34:44,420 --> 00:34:45,420
it so much.

632
00:34:45,420 --> 00:34:46,420
Yeah.

633
00:34:46,420 --> 00:34:47,420
Wow.

634
00:34:47,420 --> 00:34:48,420
Profound, right?

635
00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:49,420
Yeah.

636
00:34:49,420 --> 00:34:52,800
But it was just said out the side of their mouth as they were dishing out the devil

637
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:53,800
curry.

638
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,400
Great folks, man.

639
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,800
So it was like that.

640
00:34:57,800 --> 00:34:58,800
And you know what?

641
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:06,160
I took that to mean that your first job, try and spend as much time in your service as

642
00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:07,400
possible.

643
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:12,320
Not to be sidetracked, not the way they do these days, to be sidetracked with hanging

644
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:16,960
out in the army, for example, until you could get your transfer, finish your national service

645
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:19,480
and then join the police.

646
00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,320
I wanted to be a cop day one.

647
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:27,440
As soon as I was available for work, the university education would take care of itself because

648
00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:32,720
when you got in there, it would be officer school, et cetera, et cetera.

649
00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:38,160
And then if you're going to be there for life, they'll take care of you.

650
00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:47,120
They'll send you off because I was very interested in criminal justice quite a lot back then.

651
00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:54,080
Again, this musical background wasn't my job destiny, my career destiny.

652
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:55,760
I didn't think it was.

653
00:35:55,760 --> 00:36:02,720
I didn't think, and part of the reason I didn't think that was is I don't want to be disappointed

654
00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:08,160
that I couldn't get this job that I wasn't good enough to get the job.

655
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:14,040
Because even if I didn't work in this field, if I ended up being a cop, I wouldn't worry

656
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:18,620
about these things anymore because this is the fun part of my existence.

657
00:36:18,620 --> 00:36:20,340
That would be my job.

658
00:36:20,340 --> 00:36:23,640
You come back home, you play your music, and you still have that.

659
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:24,640
Music is my work.

660
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:26,760
Policeman is the job.

661
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:29,280
Job, music is the work.

662
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:30,280
Okay.

663
00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:31,280
Okay.

664
00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:33,160
That is the life.

665
00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:35,960
So whatever makes you happy.

666
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:39,660
This phrase came back many a time.

667
00:36:39,660 --> 00:36:43,320
The nature of my involvement with the armed services, I don't really want to get into

668
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,760
detail about my job over there.

669
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:51,280
But sure you really did get into that.

670
00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,280
This was soldiering, not policing.

671
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:55,280
Okay.

672
00:36:55,280 --> 00:37:06,680
Because before my so-called login date or my enlistment date, and the people in my year

673
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:13,560
in college, we would be serving our national service like three weeks after our final exams.

674
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:19,760
In fact, you would be joining them in the same year that you left school because of

675
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:20,760
that batch.

676
00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:21,760
Yeah.

677
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:23,680
Same as most of us.

678
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:27,840
So the A-level batch would go in two days after Christmas.

679
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:29,640
Bye, mom.

680
00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:30,640
You know?

681
00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:32,800
And dad will say, you'll be great.

682
00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:33,800
You'll be fine.

683
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:34,800
That's a soldier.

684
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:35,800
You'll be fine.

685
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:36,800
Go and have fun.

686
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:37,800
You know?

687
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:43,560
Again, as long as you took it in that spirit, this would not faze you.

688
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:47,360
I had thoroughly enjoyed serving.

689
00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:48,360
You know?

690
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:52,160
There was always mom and dad to come back to.

691
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:53,160
Okay.

692
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,000
There was always the music to come back to.

693
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:56,000
Right.

694
00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:00,640
There was always the good times and the happiness to come back to, no matter what was going

695
00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:03,520
on behind those gates.

696
00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:09,760
So the enlistment date for the police course that I was looking for was in January, by

697
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:14,040
which time I'd already served three weeks in the army in green uniform.

698
00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:15,040
And so on.

699
00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:20,800
My first day, again, as circumstance would have it, a former student of my school was

700
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:22,840
my commander.

701
00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:27,520
And I told him day one, I was hoping that you would write down in my interview book,

702
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:32,520
you know, about my aspirations is that if I could get a chance, if I can make it to

703
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:41,000
the January intake at the police academy, then perhaps I'd like to go.

704
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:46,480
If you could put in a word for me that I'm already in the service and if I got a chance

705
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:51,800
to go to the police academy, I would make a career of it because of what my dad had

706
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:52,800
told me.

707
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:59,240
And I would not have worried about whether I, not that I regret anything I do now, but

708
00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:01,240
that's what happened.

709
00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:09,840
And so I got it written down, but unfortunately I didn't get to go in January.

710
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:18,480
Somewhere along the way, these folks who had actually read my testimonials or the note

711
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:24,880
I had made about joining the police came to my camp just before passing out parade and

712
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:32,280
said, we see from your notes here that you were considered doing police work.

713
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:38,120
We don't have a blue uniform for you, but there's something that we do over here that

714
00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:40,360
I think you might be interested in.

715
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:47,920
And if it was akin to something that you had always wanted to do, maybe we'll be able

716
00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:50,960
to add to our numbers on a permanent basis.

717
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:58,840
Because back then, again, the first 20 years of our independence, we were still building.

718
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:00,800
We were still a developing country.

719
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:07,880
And so army regulars, a standing force was something to be envied.

720
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:14,960
And these people were looking to recruit, train and retain people in their chosen craft

721
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:20,920
as long as there was some kind of career path, something that you could tell them that all

722
00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:25,840
the things that you want to do, you can still do, that sort of thing.

723
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:34,000
So I'll not expound on that, but that was my national service.

724
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:44,000
And because of the nature of the job and the skills we acquired, even shortly after my

725
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:50,240
run out date or my commitment full time had expired, I was back in.

726
00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:54,640
I was recalled to do something with them.

727
00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:56,080
Which you cannot tell.

728
00:40:56,080 --> 00:41:03,160
I don't want to go into all of that, but while I was away, no more than four or five months,

729
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:10,000
six months maybe, six months after I had left, I was back in, already starting to serve my

730
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:11,000
so-called-

731
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:13,000
I am curious, man.

732
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,520
My NSmanship back when they called it them reservists.

733
00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:21,680
So I was called back in and all the time that this was going on, the six months while I

734
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:27,080
was out, I was looking for stuff to do, whether it was going to take a gap year, finish another

735
00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:28,080
year.

736
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:32,040
So back then again, the courses, you couldn't walk.

737
00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:38,280
There was no such thing as signing up to do media and communication studies at the local

738
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:39,280
poly.

739
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:40,280
No such thing.

740
00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:41,280
Not even at university.

741
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:42,280
Not even in my day.

742
00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:43,280
Yeah.

743
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:44,280
Not even in university.

744
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:45,280
So there was no path.

745
00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:46,280
And you know what?

746
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:54,280
I would not have been looking for it because I wanted to do criminal justice or criminology

747
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:55,280
in a uniform, right?

748
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:56,280
Right.

749
00:41:56,280 --> 00:42:00,440
Because that was my job.

750
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:05,080
And so that was the missing piece as it were.

751
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:11,500
What are we going to pursue if those pieces don't fall into place as they have fallen

752
00:42:11,500 --> 00:42:14,080
into place all my life?

753
00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:16,720
This is going to be a major stumbling block for me.

754
00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:17,720
Yeah.

755
00:42:17,720 --> 00:42:18,720
You know?

756
00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:23,040
Because my path had sent me down a kind of a blind alley as it were.

757
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:30,840
And so we were looking for something to do, actually do and view it as a job, not a ways

758
00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:32,840
and means to do anything.

759
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:39,000
There was no pressure to so-called perform or deliver on something at age 20 at that

760
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:40,380
stage.

761
00:42:40,380 --> 00:42:48,000
Before the applications had all gone out, there was the voice test on board Singapore

762
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:52,600
Airlines, which everybody has to perform, which I failed spectacularly.

763
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:55,720
You'll be happy to know.

764
00:42:55,720 --> 00:43:03,800
As has been explained to me, hold on, hold on, Hanson, which has been explained to me

765
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:10,080
is have you looking at the notes so that they can look at you unobserved so that you're

766
00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:16,720
not saying whatever it is or presenting yourself to people who are looking at you in the face.

767
00:43:16,720 --> 00:43:20,800
And so they have you reading so that your concentration is on something else while they

768
00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:22,720
assess you and see the right height.

769
00:43:22,720 --> 00:43:23,720
Is he standing properly?

770
00:43:23,720 --> 00:43:24,720
Does he say too long?

771
00:43:24,720 --> 00:43:26,740
Why does he have a mustache?

772
00:43:26,740 --> 00:43:34,600
That sort of thing, as has been explained to me, because I never give them a, I give

773
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:41,600
them very short shrift and I always berate them for having failed me in my voice test.

774
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:47,640
And so that was the confidence slowly ebbing away.

775
00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:49,740
You see?

776
00:43:49,740 --> 00:43:51,800
You can't get past the testers.

777
00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:54,760
You can't get past the testers.

778
00:43:54,760 --> 00:44:00,380
And so you console yourself, oh, I don't want to be a steward anyway.

779
00:44:00,380 --> 00:44:03,440
That sort of thing, however naive that might have been.

780
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:12,280
And of course, as history tells us now, you know why this guy is not a steward and bringing

781
00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:13,680
you your Bloody Mary?

782
00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:20,880
Well, that's because he's too busy presenting the jazz show on our airline.

783
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:22,760
I'll say that again slowly.

784
00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:28,040
The reason he is not bringing you your next Margarita is because he's too busy on the

785
00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:33,400
jazz channel in your in-flight entertainment station because he's the presenter playing

786
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:35,760
you the latest Michael Bublé.

787
00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,200
How did you get, did you, you did that, didn't you?

788
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:39,200
This is years, years after.

789
00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:40,200
Oh, years after.

790
00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:41,200
Yeah, years after.

791
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:42,760
I hadn't joined the industry yet.

792
00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:43,760
Right, right.

793
00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:45,560
Or this industry yet.

794
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:51,560
And so while I was away serving my country, these two letters arrived in my house.

795
00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:52,560
Okay, here we go.

796
00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:54,980
My latest application.

797
00:44:54,980 --> 00:45:05,960
I had spotted alongside one of my classmates, college mates, an opening for media corp or

798
00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:08,920
rather at the time, Singapore Broadcasting Corporation.

799
00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:09,920
SBC.

800
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:10,920
They were hiring.

801
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:15,520
They were hiring presenters or what they called announcers back in the day.

802
00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:16,520
Okay.

803
00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:20,400
Don't get too technical about this, but that was the requirement.

804
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:29,400
And so I got the forms, got extra copies for my mate and we all applied.

805
00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:34,080
Knowing full well, as I always thought, whether I was watching television or listening to

806
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:40,040
the radio, this is going to be a good job if you can get it.

807
00:45:40,040 --> 00:45:43,840
This is not, this is not go easy to do, but you know what?

808
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:51,280
If I do secure the opportunity, I will never put myself through it again.

809
00:45:51,280 --> 00:45:55,560
I will not attend another interview.

810
00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:58,480
So that was going on.

811
00:45:58,480 --> 00:45:59,800
The applications had gone through.

812
00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:02,040
I was away serving my country.

813
00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:04,600
Five weeks away, I returned on a Sunday morning.

814
00:46:04,600 --> 00:46:06,160
I remember it well.

815
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:10,600
31st of May, 1981.

816
00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:12,480
And I came through the door.

817
00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:15,880
My dad said, these two came for you.

818
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:23,400
Two envelopes, one marked Singapore Airlines, one marked SBC.

819
00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:29,200
And I said, which one do you think I should open?

820
00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:33,920
If these are both good opportunities, which job?

821
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:36,480
Basically I was asking my dad, what job you think I should take?

822
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:40,560
And he says, do what that makes you happy.

823
00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:42,080
You know what would make you happy.

824
00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:43,400
I think I know.

825
00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:49,080
And I think you know too, that Singapore Airlines envelope never got opened.

826
00:46:49,080 --> 00:46:55,840
And I took this one and it said, basically, I don't remember the words now, but I still

827
00:46:55,840 --> 00:47:00,360
have it somewhere in the house.

828
00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:01,360
When can you start?

829
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:02,360
Wow.

830
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:04,760
You know, when can you start?

831
00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:05,760
Start training of course.

832
00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:08,880
You haven't got the job yet.

833
00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:12,760
You know, you're one of the five or something like that.

834
00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:19,240
I realized because I called my mate and she said, yeah, me too.

835
00:47:19,240 --> 00:47:25,440
You know, I said, since I've just come back, I've already got the job.

836
00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:31,000
I'll take four more days off and go on a Friday.

837
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:32,320
That was it.

838
00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:35,200
Three steps to heaven, right?

839
00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:42,800
Then recovered from my ordeal administrations over in the overseas and then showed up for

840
00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:50,560
work one day, the 5th of June, 1981.

841
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:54,000
The rest as they say, Chris Hansen is hysterical.

842
00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:58,280
So there we were.

843
00:47:58,280 --> 00:47:59,280
It was the start.

844
00:47:59,280 --> 00:48:03,080
Five, as I understood, they had filtered out all the time.

845
00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:11,480
We had taken the voice test, the written test, and then eventually there was a board interview.

846
00:48:11,480 --> 00:48:17,800
So we had cleared all those, had gone through all those three stages before they made a

847
00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:23,140
decision whether it was going to be four or five or three or none of the 2000 plus who

848
00:48:23,140 --> 00:48:24,520
had applied for the gig.

849
00:48:24,520 --> 00:48:25,520
So many.

850
00:48:25,520 --> 00:48:26,520
That's what I understood.

851
00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:29,320
Like I said, good work if you can get it.

852
00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:33,160
Back in those days, everything was administered through the public services commission.

853
00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:39,720
So you had to check all the boxes, at least on the admin side, who you are, character,

854
00:48:39,720 --> 00:48:43,160
criminal record, whatever, drug habit, et cetera.

855
00:48:43,160 --> 00:48:45,840
Because everything was done hiring.

856
00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:47,960
We were a government ministry.

857
00:48:47,960 --> 00:48:53,320
We had only just become a stat board the year before.

858
00:48:53,320 --> 00:48:55,560
Again, 10 years out from independence.

859
00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:57,560
It was still government.

860
00:48:57,560 --> 00:49:05,120
The public services commission were the people who did the hiring and they presented us.

861
00:49:05,120 --> 00:49:12,200
These days, the HR department hires you and then presents you to your boss.

862
00:49:12,200 --> 00:49:15,200
That's usually how it works these days.

863
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:19,200
Because they had already done the written thing.

864
00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:23,960
You cleared all your other hurdles before HR has to decide whether they want to hire

865
00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:25,920
you and whether you accept the terms.

866
00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:34,640
It's pretty easy to accept a job like this because it wasn't a job.

867
00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:37,400
It was my work.

868
00:49:37,400 --> 00:49:43,280
And so that's a very easy decision to make because dad had always told me, do the thing

869
00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:45,320
that makes you happy.

870
00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:48,000
I don't have to deal with your sad face.

871
00:49:48,000 --> 00:50:01,520
So long story short, here we are, essentially.

872
00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:07,440
So having made the admin requirements and having been interviewed by everybody from

873
00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:17,920
names you recognize, Lucy Leong, Thomas Jacob, Belinda Sunshine, Charlotte Lim, Greg Rosemont,

874
00:50:17,920 --> 00:50:24,640
Dario, Peter Thomas, people like that who heard me through a microphone opposite the

875
00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:30,600
glass on the other side and said, okay, maybe there's something there.

876
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:36,240
But you know it's going to be, we're going to teach you from the ground up, which I suppose

877
00:50:36,240 --> 00:50:46,320
circling back to your earlier question, because learning properly and please don't speak until

878
00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:50,240
we tell you that you are ready to speak.

879
00:50:50,240 --> 00:50:56,760
And if we see signs along the way that he or she or it may be ready for whatever comes

880
00:50:56,760 --> 00:50:59,240
next, we'll tell you.

881
00:50:59,240 --> 00:51:05,240
And so I bless my trainers.

882
00:51:05,240 --> 00:51:12,880
Because it was a fairly serious job, because you are essentially representatives of the

883
00:51:12,880 --> 00:51:19,240
forces that be, or you work for the national broadcaster.

884
00:51:19,240 --> 00:51:20,720
A certain thing is required.

885
00:51:20,720 --> 00:51:23,440
Of course, we took no interest in what those might be.

886
00:51:23,440 --> 00:51:32,640
But the fact was, I'm prepared to do the job that I'm fully confident in my training, that

887
00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:39,280
if my trainers, my seniors who are currently doing the job tell me that I too can do the

888
00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:45,200
job, I can take on whatever is thrown at me.

889
00:51:45,200 --> 00:51:49,680
So that's not the problem, but it comes back to that confidence thing.

890
00:51:49,680 --> 00:51:55,280
If I say you're ready, don't let me down now, here's your first show.

891
00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:58,280
Something like that.

892
00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:07,160
I also should point out that there was only one real station of record back in those days.

893
00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:14,600
It was radio Singapore, and they were just flirting, beginning to flirt with FM stereo

894
00:52:14,600 --> 00:52:21,280
service, which was mostly classical, but had a little bit of pop there in the daytime hours.

895
00:52:21,280 --> 00:52:32,480
There'd be things you would probably consider to be quaint and ancient about playing four

896
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:38,080
notes on the xyla phone before you read the commercial.

897
00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:41,000
You guys were really playing the four notes on the xyla phone?

898
00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:42,000
That was done.

899
00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:44,480
By the time I got there, they'd stopped doing that.

900
00:52:44,480 --> 00:52:45,480
But it was a thing.

901
00:52:45,480 --> 00:52:46,480
It was a thing.

902
00:52:46,480 --> 00:52:49,720
It was a thing.

903
00:52:49,720 --> 00:52:51,040
So that was that.

904
00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:52,840
People couldn't understand it.

905
00:52:52,840 --> 00:52:53,840
Amazing.

906
00:52:53,840 --> 00:53:00,200
In order to line up your stereo speakers, which not everybody had, by the way, there

907
00:53:00,200 --> 00:53:06,000
would be an actual stereo line up test.

908
00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:15,880
I think it would be the 1K tone to line up your levels, and then demonstrate stereo.

909
00:53:15,880 --> 00:53:24,120
Something to the order of, I'm standing here with a metronome.

910
00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:27,600
You should hear me through your left speaker.

911
00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:32,000
I'm now walking across the room, and here I am.

912
00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:34,200
You can hear the ticking of the metronome.

913
00:53:34,200 --> 00:53:37,200
I should be coming out of your right speaker.

914
00:53:37,200 --> 00:53:41,300
Congratulations, you're ready for stereo.

915
00:53:41,300 --> 00:53:42,300
Something like that.

916
00:53:42,300 --> 00:53:47,600
So that was the way it worked.

917
00:53:47,600 --> 00:53:52,200
And so this was the fledgling FM stereo.

918
00:53:52,200 --> 00:53:56,680
And the rest of us were working in Radio Singapore, which at the time being the only station

919
00:53:56,680 --> 00:54:03,600
there, not even stereo, by the way.

920
00:54:03,600 --> 00:54:05,440
We were all things to all people.

921
00:54:05,440 --> 00:54:11,760
Again, the broadcasters code is never attempt to be all things to all people, but we were

922
00:54:11,760 --> 00:54:16,640
playing to a very diverse audience, English speaking.

923
00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:25,440
And it was our job, our mission to do those things, which any responsible broadcaster

924
00:54:25,440 --> 00:54:33,480
is expected to do, to inform, educate if you can.

925
00:54:33,480 --> 00:54:40,920
There's another I, it's an abbreviation for something I'm not sure about.

926
00:54:40,920 --> 00:54:44,680
There's the other E, which is E-I-E-I-O, right?

927
00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:48,440
Entertain, inform, et cetera, educate.

928
00:54:48,440 --> 00:54:53,680
And others, we were others, people who played music.

929
00:54:53,680 --> 00:54:56,200
That's not the priority.

930
00:54:56,200 --> 00:54:57,200
Remember?

931
00:54:57,200 --> 00:55:05,440
10 years into independence, we were developing, the priorities were news.

932
00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:07,600
What are the development stories?

933
00:55:07,600 --> 00:55:11,600
And so we were the musical interludes in between newscasts.

934
00:55:11,600 --> 00:55:15,000
So the priority was just the news.

935
00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:16,600
And the music was just a by the way.

936
00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:17,600
Right.

937
00:55:17,600 --> 00:55:18,600
Yeah.

938
00:55:18,600 --> 00:55:22,000
That was the music and then there was news and all the other things playing to diverse

939
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:24,280
audiences as well.

940
00:55:24,280 --> 00:55:26,560
We taught educated and informed children.

941
00:55:26,560 --> 00:55:29,080
We did children's shows.

942
00:55:29,080 --> 00:55:31,880
Coming back to that in a while.

943
00:55:31,880 --> 00:55:37,480
And the fact that there were science and technology type shows.

944
00:55:37,480 --> 00:55:39,120
We even played classical music.

945
00:55:39,120 --> 00:55:44,160
We actually recorded the SSO and played them back on a Monday night after I'd done two

946
00:55:44,160 --> 00:55:53,120
or three hours of Thomas Dolby and Duran Duran and the fledgling Spana Ballet.

947
00:55:53,120 --> 00:55:59,440
Because there was no guidelines.

948
00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:06,920
You're in charge of the music between 5.30 and 8.

949
00:56:06,920 --> 00:56:11,560
Send us the list and get to it.

950
00:56:11,560 --> 00:56:12,720
Remember?

951
00:56:12,720 --> 00:56:18,680
The news is coming and when the news is over, make sure you press play so that we can all

952
00:56:18,680 --> 00:56:24,760
listen to the SSO, which we recorded last Friday at the Victoria Concert Hall.

953
00:56:24,760 --> 00:56:26,560
So it was that thing.

954
00:56:26,560 --> 00:56:30,040
It was a completely omnibus programming.

955
00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:31,040
Yeah.

956
00:56:31,040 --> 00:56:32,280
Nothing was formatted in me.

957
00:56:32,280 --> 00:56:33,280
That's right.

958
00:56:33,280 --> 00:56:34,280
Yeah.

959
00:56:34,280 --> 00:56:35,840
So that was the way it appeared.

960
00:56:35,840 --> 00:56:45,000
Now the reason I think part of the thing that got me over the edge in terms of my hiring

961
00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:49,040
was the fact that I had done this before.

962
00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:51,360
Something like this had been done before.

963
00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:56,600
Again, back to primary three, Mrs. Shears' class.

964
00:56:56,600 --> 00:57:07,800
Because of our geographical co-location, producers had come to the school three years into independence.

965
00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:09,360
Remember?

966
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:13,880
We want to educate people in English, spoken and written.

967
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:16,560
This is going to be our salvation.

968
00:57:16,560 --> 00:57:22,440
Speaking proper English and writing it and studying in English, things taught in English.

969
00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:31,840
And this was largely the domain of the better schools, people who got the message, who knew

970
00:57:31,840 --> 00:57:41,400
what was going to be important and best known for being able to deliver on the mission.

971
00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:43,720
So the producers showed up again.

972
00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:49,040
And remember Terry, whose dad works in...

973
00:57:49,040 --> 00:58:00,200
So they had come looking for kids who maybe they would be useful to be part of a children's

974
00:58:00,200 --> 00:58:08,440
literacy project, getting children reading and picking up a library card.

975
00:58:08,440 --> 00:58:14,800
So courtesy of the then National Library Board or whatever they called themselves back then,

976
00:58:14,800 --> 00:58:17,880
we're looking for a couple of kids who can help us with that.

977
00:58:17,880 --> 00:58:23,360
Obviously the magic words which I adore her and thank her for to this day, Mrs. Shears

978
00:58:23,360 --> 00:58:26,960
said these two.

979
00:58:26,960 --> 00:58:28,880
Wow.

980
00:58:28,880 --> 00:58:30,200
Take them.

981
00:58:30,200 --> 00:58:31,200
Take them.

982
00:58:31,200 --> 00:58:35,680
So three years into independence, there was no such thing as the ECA.

983
00:58:35,680 --> 00:58:37,440
We had no idea what that meant.

984
00:58:37,440 --> 00:58:42,920
So while other people became scouts and played football, we became readers.

985
00:58:42,920 --> 00:58:45,120
That was kind of our ECA.

986
00:58:45,120 --> 00:58:51,240
So the task was on Saturday morning, don't come here, go there.

987
00:58:51,240 --> 00:58:56,920
Go to the library and go home with an arm full of books, as many as you like.

988
00:58:56,920 --> 00:58:58,720
Read them cover to cover.

989
00:58:58,720 --> 00:59:09,600
And obviously Mrs. Shears would have sort of specified us saying we were the folks who

990
00:59:09,600 --> 00:59:19,440
could take on the task, acquit themselves admirably and not lose time studying the other

991
00:59:19,440 --> 00:59:26,280
subjects because there was room on their schedule to be able to take this on.

992
00:59:26,280 --> 00:59:32,840
Because it became extracurricular activities and it involved doing things that had to do

993
00:59:32,840 --> 00:59:35,440
without curricular activity anyway.

994
00:59:35,440 --> 00:59:39,560
We were just doing more of it.

995
00:59:39,560 --> 00:59:44,800
And on a Tuesday afternoon, I recall it, a gray van of some sort would show up at the

996
00:59:44,800 --> 00:59:52,920
school and pick us up and take us into the studios in the basement of Caldecott.

997
00:59:52,920 --> 01:00:00,680
And we would read these books, children's books on tape to be played in serialized form

998
01:00:00,680 --> 01:00:01,680
on children's programs.

999
01:00:01,680 --> 01:00:02,680
Right.

1000
01:00:02,680 --> 01:00:05,840
So it was like a story, storytelling in parts.

1001
01:00:05,840 --> 01:00:06,840
Yeah.

1002
01:00:06,840 --> 01:00:10,440
The mermaid and the hourglass.

1003
01:00:10,440 --> 01:00:15,200
So here's chapter two and so on and so on, read by Will Xavier, et cetera.

1004
01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:17,000
So that was the thing.

1005
01:00:17,000 --> 01:00:23,040
I suspect that at least in terms of familiarity, without touting my own so-called skills, I

1006
01:00:23,040 --> 01:00:28,440
had none at the time, that the people, my producers, including my trainer, you know,

1007
01:00:28,440 --> 01:00:33,440
Little Rappaduri, God rest his soul, I know you.

1008
01:00:33,440 --> 01:00:37,080
You're that kid, right?

1009
01:00:37,080 --> 01:00:39,440
Mermaid, Momotaro and the peach, right?

1010
01:00:39,440 --> 01:00:41,640
That would be you, right?

1011
01:00:41,640 --> 01:00:43,520
Maybe a little familiarity.

1012
01:00:43,520 --> 01:00:45,640
He knows how this works.

1013
01:00:45,640 --> 01:00:46,640
Let's keep him.

1014
01:00:46,640 --> 01:00:51,440
Unless he fails spectacularly, if he can get through, he's got a little bit of training

1015
01:00:51,440 --> 01:00:52,440
there.

1016
01:00:52,440 --> 01:00:56,880
You know, there may not be that much that we need to sort of smoothen out.

1017
01:00:56,880 --> 01:00:58,760
The rough diamond is there.

1018
01:00:58,760 --> 01:00:59,760
That's what I think.

1019
01:00:59,760 --> 01:01:02,320
Never confirmed or otherwise to me.

1020
01:01:02,320 --> 01:01:07,080
But that's what I believed because it added to my confidence.

1021
01:01:07,080 --> 01:01:08,800
So that was the background.

1022
01:01:08,800 --> 01:01:11,200
So if you ask me, you know, when does all these things start?

1023
01:01:11,200 --> 01:01:14,840
My answer would be eight years old, right?

1024
01:01:14,840 --> 01:01:17,080
And it was just my first question, man.

1025
01:01:17,080 --> 01:01:18,080
That's right.

1026
01:01:18,080 --> 01:01:19,720
All right, go ahead now.

1027
01:01:19,720 --> 01:01:20,720
Question two.

1028
01:01:20,720 --> 01:01:21,800
Oh man, I've got a ton.

1029
01:01:21,800 --> 01:01:24,480
And it's been, you know, just one question.

1030
01:01:24,480 --> 01:01:27,760
And Mr. X went on for more than an hour.

1031
01:01:27,760 --> 01:01:28,760
Whoa.

1032
01:01:28,760 --> 01:01:31,440
Okay, I need the condensing now, you know.

1033
01:01:31,440 --> 01:01:33,040
And it was a great story, by the way.

1034
01:01:33,040 --> 01:01:36,040
I loved it.

1035
01:01:36,040 --> 01:01:37,040
Mostly true.

1036
01:01:37,040 --> 01:01:39,320
Of course, I don't doubt that.

1037
01:01:39,320 --> 01:01:41,640
But you know, X, I got to say this, man.

1038
01:01:41,640 --> 01:01:47,840
I mean, and I've said this to several people because this show is a tribute show and we

1039
01:01:47,840 --> 01:01:50,480
are honoring you.

1040
01:01:50,480 --> 01:01:55,480
And I did that also with Joe Augustine for this season.

1041
01:01:55,480 --> 01:01:59,120
It's a tribute to SG Music icons.

1042
01:01:59,120 --> 01:02:02,840
And it's not just, you know, exclusive to Musos.

1043
01:02:02,840 --> 01:02:08,680
Guys like you have brought music to this country as well.

1044
01:02:08,680 --> 01:02:12,080
And now we're on that topic of music.

1045
01:02:12,080 --> 01:02:15,240
The ABU Popular Song Contest.

1046
01:02:15,240 --> 01:02:16,240
Mm, 87.

1047
01:02:16,240 --> 01:02:17,880
Oh man.

1048
01:02:17,880 --> 01:02:19,520
The song you wrote?

1049
01:02:19,520 --> 01:02:20,520
Yes.

1050
01:02:20,520 --> 01:02:23,360
I Will Love You.

1051
01:02:23,360 --> 01:02:24,920
Back in Love Again.

1052
01:02:24,920 --> 01:02:25,920
Was it Back in Love Again?

1053
01:02:25,920 --> 01:02:26,920
Or was it I Will Love You?

1054
01:02:26,920 --> 01:02:27,920
Which Bob Fernando sang.

1055
01:02:27,920 --> 01:02:28,920
No, no.

1056
01:02:28,920 --> 01:02:29,920
The other one.

1057
01:02:29,920 --> 01:02:30,920
Wasn't it Ali?

1058
01:02:30,920 --> 01:02:31,920
No.

1059
01:02:31,920 --> 01:02:32,920
Oh, okay.

1060
01:02:32,920 --> 01:02:33,920
Bob Fernando.

1061
01:02:33,920 --> 01:02:36,480
Oh, Robert Fernando sang that song.

1062
01:02:36,480 --> 01:02:37,480
Yeah.

1063
01:02:37,480 --> 01:02:38,920
How did you get into that, man?

1064
01:02:38,920 --> 01:02:43,720
I mean, I know you just mentioned to me, four years old, and you were listening to music.

1065
01:02:43,720 --> 01:02:46,720
And then you started writing.

1066
01:02:46,720 --> 01:02:47,720
Yeah.

1067
01:02:47,720 --> 01:02:50,840
And I always wrote, always wrote, right through school, et cetera.

1068
01:02:50,840 --> 01:02:53,760
But that never took it to the next level.

1069
01:02:53,760 --> 01:02:54,760
Okay.

1070
01:02:54,760 --> 01:02:57,960
There was always songs running around in my head.

1071
01:02:57,960 --> 01:03:05,120
And you know, however conceited or self-centered it may sound, the confidence that we were

1072
01:03:05,120 --> 01:03:11,760
talking about, it's always been backed up with real ability, right?

1073
01:03:11,760 --> 01:03:16,560
Or quantifiable ability as certified by people who knew better.

1074
01:03:16,560 --> 01:03:22,120
In other words, I never said to myself, I was ready for anything unless I had it told

1075
01:03:22,120 --> 01:03:25,520
to me by someone who knew better.

1076
01:03:25,520 --> 01:03:26,520
You know?

1077
01:03:26,520 --> 01:03:27,960
It's your teacher.

1078
01:03:27,960 --> 01:03:28,960
It's your trainer.

1079
01:03:28,960 --> 01:03:29,960
Right.

1080
01:03:29,960 --> 01:03:30,960
It's your inspiration.

1081
01:03:30,960 --> 01:03:33,800
So there was no self-realization that you actually had all this.

1082
01:03:33,800 --> 01:03:39,360
I think that would have been somewhat conceited and arrogant, but because it hadn't been tested.

1083
01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:41,600
Why would it be conceited and arrogant, man?

1084
01:03:41,600 --> 01:03:47,360
In the sense that, you know what, if I don't win, I don't want to play.

1085
01:03:47,360 --> 01:03:52,880
Because I'll tell you what, as I said, I was going to say that however conceited or self-centered

1086
01:03:52,880 --> 01:04:02,240
it may sound, I always call it confidence in the sense that you heard something on the

1087
01:04:02,240 --> 01:04:05,920
radio, heard someone singing a song.

1088
01:04:05,920 --> 01:04:12,600
So, because you were singing all the time, you also kind of have subconscious appreciation

1089
01:04:12,600 --> 01:04:15,960
for the lyric and a sense of melody.

1090
01:04:15,960 --> 01:04:21,200
Now to put those things together and create something new.

1091
01:04:21,200 --> 01:04:26,600
It was always on the basis of whatever you heard on the radio, whatever someone was saying

1092
01:04:26,600 --> 01:04:31,160
on the radio, the way they introduced their records or the way the records were sold or

1093
01:04:31,160 --> 01:04:34,660
the way the songs were written or the way the songs were recorded.

1094
01:04:34,660 --> 01:04:39,880
It was always a question of whether you thought, I can do that.

1095
01:04:39,880 --> 01:04:42,560
Yeah, but didn't you think that way?

1096
01:04:42,560 --> 01:04:43,560
You thought that way, didn't you?

1097
01:04:43,560 --> 01:04:44,560
That's what I mean.

1098
01:04:44,560 --> 01:04:49,080
I never took on something that I didn't think I could do.

1099
01:04:49,080 --> 01:04:52,920
So it became somewhat organic.

1100
01:04:52,920 --> 01:04:56,360
And the reason I wrote the song was because I thought I could.

1101
01:04:56,360 --> 01:04:59,200
Sorry, I got the title wrong though.

1102
01:04:59,200 --> 01:05:00,600
Back in Love Again, Robert Fernando.

1103
01:05:00,600 --> 01:05:01,600
Back in Love Again.

1104
01:05:01,600 --> 01:05:03,600
I've known Bob forever.

1105
01:05:03,600 --> 01:05:04,600
Right.

1106
01:05:04,600 --> 01:05:05,600
Yeah.

1107
01:05:05,600 --> 01:05:07,320
Yeah, great singer, man.

1108
01:05:07,320 --> 01:05:08,960
The James Ingram was singing for...

1109
01:05:08,960 --> 01:05:09,960
Absolutely.

1110
01:05:09,960 --> 01:05:10,960
NDP.

1111
01:05:10,960 --> 01:05:11,960
Absolutely.

1112
01:05:11,960 --> 01:05:12,960
NDP.

1113
01:05:12,960 --> 01:05:14,000
Yeah, it was the...

1114
01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:15,000
You miss NDP.

1115
01:05:15,000 --> 01:05:16,000
Yeah, yeah.

1116
01:05:16,000 --> 01:05:19,720
I said, and he's the one, right?

1117
01:05:19,720 --> 01:05:21,200
There was a time...

1118
01:05:21,200 --> 01:05:22,200
Yeah.

1119
01:05:22,200 --> 01:05:23,200
Right?

1120
01:05:23,200 --> 01:05:24,200
Well, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

1121
01:05:24,200 --> 01:05:25,200
That was Clement.

1122
01:05:25,200 --> 01:05:26,200
There was a time...

1123
01:05:26,200 --> 01:05:28,240
No, that's Robert, wasn't it?

1124
01:05:28,240 --> 01:05:29,240
Clement Chow.

1125
01:05:29,240 --> 01:05:33,240
This is going to end up on the cutting room floor.

1126
01:05:33,240 --> 01:05:34,800
Yeah, that's...

1127
01:05:34,800 --> 01:05:35,800
Yeah, no.

1128
01:05:35,800 --> 01:05:36,800
No, that's Clement Chow.

1129
01:05:36,800 --> 01:05:37,800
Clement Chow.

1130
01:05:37,800 --> 01:05:38,800
What did...

1131
01:05:38,800 --> 01:05:42,320
There was a time on Me, Singapore.

1132
01:05:42,320 --> 01:05:44,800
There was a time when people said that...

1133
01:05:44,800 --> 01:05:45,800
Yeah.

1134
01:05:45,800 --> 01:05:46,800
That's Clement Chow.

1135
01:05:46,800 --> 01:05:47,800
Clement Chow, yeah.

1136
01:05:47,800 --> 01:05:48,800
That's not Colony, Singapore.

1137
01:05:48,800 --> 01:05:49,800
Wait a second.

1138
01:05:49,800 --> 01:05:50,800
There was a time...

1139
01:05:50,800 --> 01:05:51,800
Oh, that's We, Singapore.

1140
01:05:51,800 --> 01:05:52,800
Yeah.

1141
01:05:52,800 --> 01:05:53,800
Ah, that's Robert.

1142
01:05:53,800 --> 01:05:54,800
Yeah, okay.

1143
01:05:54,800 --> 01:05:55,800
Because you look at his pitch, right?

1144
01:05:55,800 --> 01:05:56,800
Okay.

1145
01:05:56,800 --> 01:05:57,800
No one can get up there like Bob does.

1146
01:05:57,800 --> 01:05:58,800
Yeah.

1147
01:05:58,800 --> 01:05:59,800
No one can get up there like Bob does.

1148
01:05:59,800 --> 01:06:00,800
Yeah.

1149
01:06:00,800 --> 01:06:01,800
No one can get up there like Bob does.

1150
01:06:01,800 --> 01:06:02,800
Yeah.

1151
01:06:02,800 --> 01:06:03,800
Right?

1152
01:06:03,800 --> 01:06:04,800
So I remember he was practically yelling...

1153
01:06:04,800 --> 01:06:05,800
Yeah, that's We, Singapore.

1154
01:06:05,800 --> 01:06:06,800
Yeah.

1155
01:06:06,800 --> 01:06:07,800
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1156
01:06:07,800 --> 01:06:08,800
Okay.

1157
01:06:08,800 --> 01:06:14,840
So anyway, I mean, whatever the story was, it was also, again, this confidence I was

1158
01:06:14,840 --> 01:06:15,840
telling you about.

1159
01:06:15,840 --> 01:06:16,840
Yeah.

1160
01:06:16,840 --> 01:06:20,600
I was dabbling in those things that I saw how orchestras were recorded.

1161
01:06:20,600 --> 01:06:21,880
I was set in on them.

1162
01:06:21,880 --> 01:06:27,920
See, the training was absolutely crucial and it was extremely comprehensive.

1163
01:06:27,920 --> 01:06:28,920
Right.

1164
01:06:28,920 --> 01:06:30,920
Because we were the only ones there.

1165
01:06:30,920 --> 01:06:31,920
Right.

1166
01:06:31,920 --> 01:06:32,920
So you want access to a piano?

1167
01:06:32,920 --> 01:06:39,240
It's over there in Studio B. You want access to a studio that can accommodate a choir or

1168
01:06:39,240 --> 01:06:41,520
an orchestra, 35 pieces?

1169
01:06:41,520 --> 01:06:43,520
It's over there.

1170
01:06:43,520 --> 01:06:44,520
You think I could use...

1171
01:06:44,520 --> 01:06:46,520
Of course you can use it.

1172
01:06:46,520 --> 01:06:48,520
You're a producer.

1173
01:06:48,520 --> 01:06:49,520
Just say you want to use it.

1174
01:06:49,520 --> 01:06:56,040
You see, so back then, the facilitation of everything that you chose to pursue was always

1175
01:06:56,040 --> 01:06:57,040
available.

1176
01:06:57,040 --> 01:06:58,040
Available.

1177
01:06:58,040 --> 01:06:59,040
You know?

1178
01:06:59,040 --> 01:07:02,400
The magic words that come out of your trainer's mouth is, you're ready.

1179
01:07:02,400 --> 01:07:03,400
Oh wow.

1180
01:07:03,400 --> 01:07:04,400
Three other words.

1181
01:07:04,400 --> 01:07:05,400
Go get them.

1182
01:07:05,400 --> 01:07:07,280
No, I was saying Mr. NDP.

1183
01:07:07,280 --> 01:07:08,280
You were Mr. NDP.

1184
01:07:08,280 --> 01:07:09,280
Yeah.

1185
01:07:09,280 --> 01:07:11,480
98 was my first full one.

1186
01:07:11,480 --> 01:07:12,480
In person.

1187
01:07:12,480 --> 01:07:13,480
Yeah.

1188
01:07:13,480 --> 01:07:14,480
In person.

1189
01:07:14,480 --> 01:07:20,920
I was on the field at Old National Stadium with Chandran, Dalia.

1190
01:07:20,920 --> 01:07:21,920
Okay.

1191
01:07:21,920 --> 01:07:22,920
That is it.

1192
01:07:22,920 --> 01:07:24,920
And Victor, God rest his soul.

1193
01:07:24,920 --> 01:07:25,920
Yeah.

1194
01:07:25,920 --> 01:07:26,920
Victor Koo.

1195
01:07:26,920 --> 01:07:27,920
And me.

1196
01:07:27,920 --> 01:07:29,600
And that was us hosting.

1197
01:07:29,600 --> 01:07:34,680
And back then, what I do now with calling in the aircraft, et cetera, was there was

1198
01:07:34,680 --> 01:07:36,720
no such assignment.

1199
01:07:36,720 --> 01:07:40,120
There was no one person who did that, made the introductions.

1200
01:07:40,120 --> 01:07:41,120
Yeah.

1201
01:07:41,120 --> 01:07:42,120
That became a hallmark.

1202
01:07:42,120 --> 01:07:45,120
Can I have a sample of that, man?

1203
01:07:45,120 --> 01:07:47,520
Here they come!

1204
01:07:47,520 --> 01:07:50,600
Someone tried to do it.

1205
01:07:50,600 --> 01:07:54,200
It wasn't you who didn't do that.

1206
01:07:54,200 --> 01:07:55,200
Someone else took over, right?

1207
01:07:55,200 --> 01:07:56,200
I cannot thank my colleagues.

1208
01:07:56,200 --> 01:07:59,880
Please make sure this ends up on the cutting room floor.

1209
01:07:59,880 --> 01:08:00,880
Not for me to say.

1210
01:08:00,880 --> 01:08:01,880
Not for me to say.

1211
01:08:01,880 --> 01:08:02,880
Because you know, the thing about that...

1212
01:08:02,880 --> 01:08:03,880
No, come on, man.

1213
01:08:03,880 --> 01:08:04,880
That's a Mr. X hallmark, man.

1214
01:08:04,880 --> 01:08:05,880
Come on.

1215
01:08:05,880 --> 01:08:09,080
It is patented more or less.

1216
01:08:09,080 --> 01:08:11,080
People don't want to hear it any other way.

1217
01:08:11,080 --> 01:08:12,080
Right.

1218
01:08:12,080 --> 01:08:13,080
Right.

1219
01:08:13,080 --> 01:08:16,840
There were years when I had switched to TV commentary.

1220
01:08:16,840 --> 01:08:17,840
Yeah.

1221
01:08:17,840 --> 01:08:18,840
I know that.

1222
01:08:18,840 --> 01:08:19,840
Yeah.

1223
01:08:19,840 --> 01:08:22,920
So somebody else had to take on the so-called stadium announcements.

1224
01:08:22,920 --> 01:08:23,920
Stadium announcements.

1225
01:08:23,920 --> 01:08:24,920
That's right.

1226
01:08:24,920 --> 01:08:25,920
Yeah.

1227
01:08:25,920 --> 01:08:27,480
And I think that's the story about the writing.

1228
01:08:27,480 --> 01:08:28,480
Right.

1229
01:08:28,480 --> 01:08:32,360
You know, like I said, however, I do apologize if it sounds as if self-centered and conceited

1230
01:08:32,360 --> 01:08:34,320
and self-serving.

1231
01:08:34,320 --> 01:08:40,160
The fact that there was a certain confidence that allowed me to say, you know, I could

1232
01:08:40,160 --> 01:08:41,520
be decent at this.

1233
01:08:41,520 --> 01:08:48,080
There's no other reason to submit a song until I could hear it in the form that if it was

1234
01:08:48,080 --> 01:08:54,240
on a record by a singer you didn't know, you could get this played on the radio.

1235
01:08:54,240 --> 01:08:58,040
If it wasn't good enough, I would not have entered the competition.

1236
01:08:58,040 --> 01:08:59,520
If I didn't think I could win it.

1237
01:08:59,520 --> 01:09:00,520
Right.

1238
01:09:00,520 --> 01:09:01,520
That was the thing.

1239
01:09:01,520 --> 01:09:02,520
Because I had a job.

1240
01:09:02,520 --> 01:09:03,520
I didn't need this.

1241
01:09:03,520 --> 01:09:04,520
Yeah.

1242
01:09:04,520 --> 01:09:12,720
But it was to sort of test myself or to put myself to be assessed by a more sophisticated

1243
01:09:12,720 --> 01:09:14,120
public.

1244
01:09:14,120 --> 01:09:20,120
And apparently by that time, of course, I had established myself as being kind of a

1245
01:09:20,120 --> 01:09:30,040
character on the scene and therefore also booked a singer who everybody knew, a writer

1246
01:09:30,040 --> 01:09:35,480
who also a lot of people knew, and an arrangement, a basic arrangement by someone who's worn

1247
01:09:35,480 --> 01:09:36,480
the golden horse.

1248
01:09:36,480 --> 01:09:37,480
You know?

1249
01:09:37,480 --> 01:09:38,480
Yeah.

1250
01:09:38,480 --> 01:09:41,880
So classmates of mine, again, who you know and who knows you.

1251
01:09:41,880 --> 01:09:42,880
Right.

1252
01:09:42,880 --> 01:09:45,800
So that is the songwriting aspect.

1253
01:09:45,800 --> 01:09:48,600
You didn't follow through with that anymore after that, right?

1254
01:09:48,600 --> 01:09:49,600
Yes and no.

1255
01:09:49,600 --> 01:09:50,600
Yes and no.

1256
01:09:50,600 --> 01:09:59,560
Always overtaken by issues of the day and so forth.

1257
01:09:59,560 --> 01:10:04,400
For the record, we'd gone to KL and had a worthy showing but didn't win the thing.

1258
01:10:04,400 --> 01:10:06,120
We won the national competitions.

1259
01:10:06,120 --> 01:10:10,720
Like Eurovision, you win your local contest and then test yourself against the Australians.

1260
01:10:10,720 --> 01:10:11,720
The finals.

1261
01:10:11,720 --> 01:10:12,720
Yeah, the finals.

1262
01:10:12,720 --> 01:10:13,720
Absolute finals.

1263
01:10:13,720 --> 01:10:14,720
Yeah.

1264
01:10:14,720 --> 01:10:15,720
No, Kate Severano.

1265
01:10:15,720 --> 01:10:16,720
People, these are giants.

1266
01:10:16,720 --> 01:10:18,400
They've already got records and albums to be their name, right?

1267
01:10:18,400 --> 01:10:20,280
They become the standard bearers.

1268
01:10:20,280 --> 01:10:26,440
And of course, a style of arrangement and a kind of a musical sophistication, which

1269
01:10:26,440 --> 01:10:33,760
the idea of the Asian festival was to be able to bring others to that level until such time.

1270
01:10:33,760 --> 01:10:34,760
You know?

1271
01:10:34,760 --> 01:10:35,760
You can't end…

1272
01:10:35,760 --> 01:10:41,560
You're going to have a tough time trying to win Eurovision if the British entry happens

1273
01:10:41,560 --> 01:10:45,560
to be Cliff Richard or the Swedish entry happens to be ABBA.

1274
01:10:45,560 --> 01:10:46,560
ABBA.

1275
01:10:46,560 --> 01:10:48,560
Hard to beat.

1276
01:10:48,560 --> 01:10:50,560
Hard to compete.

1277
01:10:50,560 --> 01:10:53,160
It's been 40 plus years, hasn't it?

1278
01:10:53,160 --> 01:10:54,160
42.

1279
01:10:54,160 --> 01:10:55,160
42 years, man.

1280
01:10:55,160 --> 01:10:57,040
Long time.

1281
01:10:57,040 --> 01:11:01,560
You've seen change happen from the very get-go.

1282
01:11:01,560 --> 01:11:02,560
Wow.

1283
01:11:02,560 --> 01:11:04,240
That is their middle name.

1284
01:11:04,240 --> 01:11:05,240
Yeah.

1285
01:11:05,240 --> 01:11:09,880
Can you maybe just cite some examples of changes, man?

1286
01:11:09,880 --> 01:11:10,880
And what do you think of them?

1287
01:11:10,880 --> 01:11:11,880
Your opinion.

1288
01:11:11,880 --> 01:11:12,880
All right.

1289
01:11:12,880 --> 01:11:19,200
This might be difficult to explain, but change is almost…

1290
01:11:19,200 --> 01:11:20,200
Constant.

1291
01:11:20,200 --> 01:11:25,080
It is constant and happening all the time.

1292
01:11:25,080 --> 01:11:28,480
There are broad phases, right?

1293
01:11:28,480 --> 01:11:36,280
If you go back to the start, advancements in stereo, right?

1294
01:11:36,280 --> 01:11:41,440
Advancements in choice, advancements in technology.

1295
01:11:41,440 --> 01:11:47,480
And then as we are sitting here talking to microphones and looking into cameras, advancements

1296
01:11:47,480 --> 01:11:53,440
in choice and forms of media, right?

1297
01:11:53,440 --> 01:12:04,440
And to which, as a media company, we always have to either be to include or adapt, I believe,

1298
01:12:04,440 --> 01:12:07,040
and try to be as good as many things as possible.

1299
01:12:07,040 --> 01:12:11,000
I don't think that there will be one person who'll be good at everything, right?

1300
01:12:11,000 --> 01:12:18,440
Or else I think the nature of the beast is such that there is a democratization of the

1301
01:12:18,440 --> 01:12:19,440
media.

1302
01:12:19,440 --> 01:12:27,440
In other words, there is the national media, there is the traditional media, and then there's

1303
01:12:27,440 --> 01:12:28,440
the…

1304
01:12:28,440 --> 01:12:29,440
Digital media.

1305
01:12:29,440 --> 01:12:30,440
Digital media.

1306
01:12:30,440 --> 01:12:39,280
And of course, everyone who used to be a customer is now a competitor.

1307
01:12:39,280 --> 01:12:40,280
Everybody's a broadcaster.

1308
01:12:40,280 --> 01:12:46,080
Have your individual media if there's such a thing as that, right?

1309
01:12:46,080 --> 01:12:47,080
Yeah.

1310
01:12:47,080 --> 01:12:49,600
I mean, you're in one now.

1311
01:12:49,600 --> 01:12:50,600
You know what?

1312
01:12:50,600 --> 01:12:57,400
I also genuinely believe it's not either or.

1313
01:12:57,400 --> 01:13:04,120
I think there are winners and also rants in every field.

1314
01:13:04,120 --> 01:13:10,120
Let's use an example that we may not necessarily be involved with ourselves.

1315
01:13:10,120 --> 01:13:23,480
Let's say we are a football club and we leave out the EPL because we end up in a food fight.

1316
01:13:23,480 --> 01:13:24,480
Tribal, isn't it?

1317
01:13:24,480 --> 01:13:25,480
A bit tribal.

1318
01:13:25,480 --> 01:13:26,480
Dairy.

1319
01:13:26,480 --> 01:13:27,480
Yeah.

1320
01:13:27,480 --> 01:13:28,480
Let's say we were Scotland.

1321
01:13:28,480 --> 01:13:35,240
There are only two teams in Scotland, but apparently the SPL is full of other teams.

1322
01:13:35,240 --> 01:13:39,000
You only want to know about Celtic or Rangers.

1323
01:13:39,000 --> 01:13:49,680
So it's not as if the other teams, Hibernian and Partick Thistle and those teams in other

1324
01:13:49,680 --> 01:13:51,800
worlds, you can't even remember their names now.

1325
01:13:51,800 --> 01:13:56,720
If it wasn't for them, then you couldn't have these two.

1326
01:13:56,720 --> 01:13:58,440
You get what I mean?

1327
01:13:58,440 --> 01:14:06,960
And every now and again, if you said use the advertising industry, for example, or even

1328
01:14:06,960 --> 01:14:17,320
big tech, there will come a phase where it is all embracing and everybody adopts it.

1329
01:14:17,320 --> 01:14:20,600
Everybody wants a social media account.

1330
01:14:20,600 --> 01:14:26,880
But eventually the law of duality may start to rear its head and you're either Insta or

1331
01:14:26,880 --> 01:14:30,400
you are Twitter or X.

1332
01:14:30,400 --> 01:14:34,680
You wouldn't be MySpace or Snapchat, would you?

1333
01:14:34,680 --> 01:14:41,640
And those things deemed to be at the time the new big kid on the block, where are they

1334
01:14:41,640 --> 01:14:42,640
now?

1335
01:14:42,640 --> 01:14:49,360
So on every level, and I get the question, I think you may ask me later, is AI going

1336
01:14:49,360 --> 01:14:53,760
to replace you at some stage?

1337
01:14:53,760 --> 01:15:00,280
My answer to that would be, we'll have to see, but some may fall by the wayside.

1338
01:15:00,280 --> 01:15:02,920
Some may not find a way to compete.

1339
01:15:02,920 --> 01:15:06,720
Some will find, most will find a way to adapt.

1340
01:15:06,720 --> 01:15:09,760
So it's not either or.

1341
01:15:09,760 --> 01:15:13,640
Now that AI is here, thanks Mr. X, thanks for all the history.

1342
01:15:13,640 --> 01:15:15,120
You know what I'm saying?

1343
01:15:15,120 --> 01:15:21,720
And in the advertising industry, for example, there comes a time when there is a shakeout

1344
01:15:21,720 --> 01:15:27,360
and the big agencies these days are Google and Facebook.

1345
01:15:27,360 --> 01:15:33,480
The Saatchi and Saatchis of the world will just have to bite down on their gums and play

1346
01:15:33,480 --> 01:15:34,480
along.

1347
01:15:34,480 --> 01:15:37,760
You see, the reason why I'm asking, I mean, you're very right.

1348
01:15:37,760 --> 01:15:40,440
I mean, take a look at traditional advertising, right?

1349
01:15:40,440 --> 01:15:49,440
For those big boys in the past, Saatchi and Saatchi, O&M, if they didn't adapt to digital

1350
01:15:49,440 --> 01:15:52,760
early, then they really would be left behind.

1351
01:15:52,760 --> 01:15:56,640
And I think they are, personally, in my opinion.

1352
01:15:56,640 --> 01:16:03,000
And then you have those consumers, that is, that would say, listen, I rather, I already

1353
01:16:03,000 --> 01:16:05,040
have Spotify.

1354
01:16:05,040 --> 01:16:07,120
I can just download my music.

1355
01:16:07,120 --> 01:16:09,760
I don't need radio anymore.

1356
01:16:09,760 --> 01:16:14,040
Listening to, say, 938, for example, there's news, right?

1357
01:16:14,040 --> 01:16:19,960
But then again, I get on my device, I can get all kinds of news everywhere.

1358
01:16:19,960 --> 01:16:22,720
And so I stopped buying the broadsheets, you know?

1359
01:16:22,720 --> 01:16:26,960
I stopped listening to news on radio.

1360
01:16:26,960 --> 01:16:28,840
Why should I do that, you know?

1361
01:16:28,840 --> 01:16:34,240
So you have a lot of young people today, cans on them, you know, in commuting and public

1362
01:16:34,240 --> 01:16:35,320
transport, you know?

1363
01:16:35,320 --> 01:16:37,520
And you see cans on lots of them now.

1364
01:16:37,520 --> 01:16:39,000
Cans, not just earphones.

1365
01:16:39,000 --> 01:16:40,000
Beats.

1366
01:16:40,000 --> 01:16:41,000
Yeah, beats, man.

1367
01:16:41,000 --> 01:16:42,000
But it's more than beats.

1368
01:16:42,000 --> 01:16:46,920
Now, people are actually buying all kinds of great cans.

1369
01:16:46,920 --> 01:16:48,160
And they're listening to stuff.

1370
01:16:48,160 --> 01:16:50,920
But what are they listening to?

1371
01:16:50,920 --> 01:16:54,920
More often than not, I hate to say this, it's not radio.

1372
01:16:54,920 --> 01:16:55,920
So what do you think?

1373
01:16:55,920 --> 01:16:58,040
You've been around so long.

1374
01:16:58,040 --> 01:17:00,600
What do you think the future would be for radio?

1375
01:17:00,600 --> 01:17:01,600
You know?

1376
01:17:01,600 --> 01:17:07,080
I mean, in the past, if you recall the song, video killed the radio star, but it didn't.

1377
01:17:07,080 --> 01:17:09,240
MTV didn't kill radio.

1378
01:17:09,240 --> 01:17:11,480
Videotape didn't kill television.

1379
01:17:11,480 --> 01:17:14,720
Yeah, yeah, it didn't.

1380
01:17:14,720 --> 01:17:22,080
But now, you're really looking at people who don't listen to radio anymore.

1381
01:17:22,080 --> 01:17:23,640
I'm not listening to radio.

1382
01:17:23,640 --> 01:17:24,920
Don't get me the wrong way.

1383
01:17:24,920 --> 01:17:26,200
I just want to hear your opinion.

1384
01:17:26,200 --> 01:17:28,120
I think there are two ways to look at it.

1385
01:17:28,120 --> 01:17:30,600
I think they may both be valid.

1386
01:17:30,600 --> 01:17:39,200
One of which is the people who take on, those who love it will say, the more the merrier.

1387
01:17:39,200 --> 01:17:41,400
More choice is always a good thing.

1388
01:17:41,400 --> 01:17:45,760
Choice is empowering to the consumer.

1389
01:17:45,760 --> 01:17:52,360
You also want to compete to the point of playing up the thing that you are good at.

1390
01:17:52,360 --> 01:17:58,040
And sure, only the strong will survive, then be strong.

1391
01:17:58,040 --> 01:17:59,040
You know?

1392
01:17:59,040 --> 01:18:00,040
Right.

1393
01:18:00,040 --> 01:18:04,400
They will come around like vinyl.

1394
01:18:04,400 --> 01:18:05,400
Vinyl's back.

1395
01:18:05,400 --> 01:18:06,400
Who knew?

1396
01:18:06,400 --> 01:18:07,400
Right?

1397
01:18:07,400 --> 01:18:15,560
Because each of these, if you examine it critically, each of these represents something which the

1398
01:18:15,560 --> 01:18:17,560
others do not have.

1399
01:18:17,560 --> 01:18:18,560
You know?

1400
01:18:18,560 --> 01:18:21,760
And it's very hard to compete with free.

1401
01:18:21,760 --> 01:18:23,480
That's what I mean.

1402
01:18:23,480 --> 01:18:27,440
Because there's a cost attached to each one of them.

1403
01:18:27,440 --> 01:18:33,280
Even if you got the content for free, the platform isn't.

1404
01:18:33,280 --> 01:18:35,520
It may cost you a subscription.

1405
01:18:35,520 --> 01:18:39,440
And it was like streaming services was the end of traditional television.

1406
01:18:39,440 --> 01:18:41,320
Oh yeah?

1407
01:18:41,320 --> 01:18:43,360
Until they raised their prices.

1408
01:18:43,360 --> 01:18:45,080
You know?

1409
01:18:45,080 --> 01:18:50,720
Remember when the last frontier was blogs.

1410
01:18:50,720 --> 01:18:52,200
Yep.

1411
01:18:52,200 --> 01:18:53,640
Blogs?

1412
01:18:53,640 --> 01:18:55,240
Ask any teenager today.

1413
01:18:55,240 --> 01:18:56,560
They don't know what blogs are, man.

1414
01:18:56,560 --> 01:18:57,560
Do you ever have a blog?

1415
01:18:57,560 --> 01:18:58,560
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

1416
01:18:58,560 --> 01:18:59,560
My dad used to have one.

1417
01:18:59,560 --> 01:19:02,040
Yeah, my dad used to have a blog, yeah.

1418
01:19:02,040 --> 01:19:07,240
At the time though, could you think beyond the blog?

1419
01:19:07,240 --> 01:19:09,600
Could you think beyond your Instagram account?

1420
01:19:09,600 --> 01:19:16,600
So do you think radio in general, not just where you work in general, across maybe, okay,

1421
01:19:16,600 --> 01:19:22,520
don't talk about across the globe, let's talk about Singapore, will be able to evolve to

1422
01:19:22,520 --> 01:19:24,520
compete?

1423
01:19:24,520 --> 01:19:27,280
Absolutely.

1424
01:19:27,280 --> 01:19:33,000
Whether that appears to be self-serving or not, but I think there's an evolution which

1425
01:19:33,000 --> 01:19:38,040
cannot be, which will not happen overnight.

1426
01:19:38,040 --> 01:19:40,960
And people will realize this.

1427
01:19:40,960 --> 01:19:48,840
Before I start thinking about taking shots at the audience, the person who is being considered

1428
01:19:48,840 --> 01:19:56,120
to be a consumer of whatever it is you are offering, well, if you know how your intended

1429
01:19:56,120 --> 01:20:02,840
customer behaves or how he thinks or most importantly, what he wants and what he's prepared

1430
01:20:02,840 --> 01:20:14,320
to pay for, then I suppose you would have a pretty good reading as to how you shall

1431
01:20:14,320 --> 01:20:21,360
operate going forward if you choose to retain his eyes, ears or Instagram account, right?

1432
01:20:21,360 --> 01:20:23,720
Or earn his subscription, et cetera.

1433
01:20:23,720 --> 01:20:32,860
I think the wheels of evolution or the wheels of time won't stop turning at any point.

1434
01:20:32,860 --> 01:20:40,880
But if someone were to say to you, is whatever is coming going to be the end game?

1435
01:20:40,880 --> 01:20:46,760
It may be a game changer, but it won't be the end game because somebody's already thinking

1436
01:20:46,760 --> 01:20:50,000
of the new AI.

1437
01:20:50,000 --> 01:20:54,360
But we'll burn that bridge when we come to it, I suppose.

1438
01:20:54,360 --> 01:20:55,360
You know?

1439
01:20:55,360 --> 01:20:56,360
Okay.

1440
01:20:56,360 --> 01:21:05,260
I don't know whether there's a difference between failing to compete or obsolescence

1441
01:21:05,260 --> 01:21:06,840
or redundancy.

1442
01:21:06,840 --> 01:21:12,200
I'm sure that I think regardless of the evolving technology, those things are kind of going

1443
01:21:12,200 --> 01:21:13,720
to happen anyway.

1444
01:21:13,720 --> 01:21:23,400
I think personally, what could stop this in my opinion again is that the people behind

1445
01:21:23,400 --> 01:21:30,040
these things, the people in management, for example, get a little bit complacent.

1446
01:21:30,040 --> 01:21:32,040
You know, because I don't know.

1447
01:21:32,040 --> 01:21:33,040
I mean-

1448
01:21:33,040 --> 01:21:35,080
You won't be able to use this, bro.

1449
01:21:35,080 --> 01:21:36,080
Use what?

1450
01:21:36,080 --> 01:21:37,080
I can't knock the management.

1451
01:21:37,080 --> 01:21:38,480
No, I'm not asking you to.

1452
01:21:38,480 --> 01:21:39,960
This is me talking, not you.

1453
01:21:39,960 --> 01:21:41,800
I'm not asking you to respond to that.

1454
01:21:41,800 --> 01:21:43,720
I'm just giving you as part of our chit chat.

1455
01:21:43,720 --> 01:21:44,720
This is what I think.

1456
01:21:44,720 --> 01:21:46,480
As a consumer even.

1457
01:21:46,480 --> 01:21:48,880
I think that's fair.

1458
01:21:48,880 --> 01:21:59,480
So in my opinion, I think that there's not too many things evolving in our local entertainment

1459
01:21:59,480 --> 01:22:07,380
per se on both fronts, whether it's radio, whether it's TV.

1460
01:22:07,380 --> 01:22:15,800
Even if we were to say increase subscription on the streaming services that's widely available,

1461
01:22:15,800 --> 01:22:16,840
people pay.

1462
01:22:16,840 --> 01:22:21,120
People will pay because there's not a lot more that we have to pay.

1463
01:22:21,120 --> 01:22:23,320
And this is my opinion.

1464
01:22:23,320 --> 01:22:24,640
You don't have to partake.

1465
01:22:24,640 --> 01:22:26,900
Don't worry.

1466
01:22:26,900 --> 01:22:34,760
But then this is where I think this is a critical period in history with digital going so far

1467
01:22:34,760 --> 01:22:42,840
now that it is important for those who have been around traditionally to really step up.

1468
01:22:42,840 --> 01:22:44,360
This is what I think.

1469
01:22:44,360 --> 01:22:45,360
Yeah.

1470
01:22:45,360 --> 01:22:46,360
So anyways.

1471
01:22:46,360 --> 01:22:48,880
No, I think that's right.

1472
01:22:48,880 --> 01:22:54,400
I think that's right to the extent that we've seen it happen before.

1473
01:22:54,400 --> 01:22:55,400
Right?

1474
01:22:55,400 --> 01:23:02,720
But it's the business of those who think it is their job or their work to step up.

1475
01:23:02,720 --> 01:23:05,800
And those who step up will be fine.

1476
01:23:05,800 --> 01:23:11,960
I agree because more and more people out there, I mean the truth, the hard truth is more and

1477
01:23:11,960 --> 01:23:14,800
more people out there stop buying broadsheets.

1478
01:23:14,800 --> 01:23:18,960
More and more people out there stop even watching TV.

1479
01:23:18,960 --> 01:23:23,760
Even in my own home, my wife, my kid, they don't watch really TV.

1480
01:23:23,760 --> 01:23:25,280
They don't really watch TV.

1481
01:23:25,280 --> 01:23:27,480
They're on their phones, man.

1482
01:23:27,480 --> 01:23:32,040
They're watching stuff from their phones and their devices, whatever.

1483
01:23:32,040 --> 01:23:36,080
And I'm the one sitting in front of the TV.

1484
01:23:36,080 --> 01:23:41,920
And the only thing that I watch, again speaking strictly as a consumer, would be Channel News

1485
01:23:41,920 --> 01:23:43,560
Asia.

1486
01:23:43,560 --> 01:23:44,560
I want to know the news.

1487
01:23:44,560 --> 01:23:46,200
I mean we've gone back again.

1488
01:23:46,200 --> 01:23:48,520
Strangely, like what you just said, right?

1489
01:23:48,520 --> 01:23:50,600
You go back, the vinyls came back.

1490
01:23:50,600 --> 01:23:53,960
Now people like me, I want to know the news.

1491
01:23:53,960 --> 01:24:02,760
The same person I think was the one who was touting his Facebook account as being the

1492
01:24:02,760 --> 01:24:05,600
only thing he needs, for example.

1493
01:24:05,600 --> 01:24:11,960
And he may not hold that opinion today when he first opened his account.

1494
01:24:11,960 --> 01:24:13,240
That's what I'm thinking.

1495
01:24:13,240 --> 01:24:18,400
In other words, the nature of the beast is in fact the nature of the collective people

1496
01:24:18,400 --> 01:24:19,400
who support it.

1497
01:24:19,400 --> 01:24:21,000
You know what I mean?

1498
01:24:21,000 --> 01:24:23,720
We created this thing.

1499
01:24:23,720 --> 01:24:25,840
The fact is we don't know what's coming.

1500
01:24:25,840 --> 01:24:35,880
But you see, for me, I enjoy TV and radio, especially 70s and 80s, you know, and part

1501
01:24:35,880 --> 01:24:36,880
of the 90s.

1502
01:24:36,880 --> 01:24:39,920
I did enjoy it very, very much, man.

1503
01:24:39,920 --> 01:24:43,760
And to me, oh that's a job I've always wanted.

1504
01:24:43,760 --> 01:24:47,080
I didn't get into it though, not because I was not selected.

1505
01:24:47,080 --> 01:24:53,440
I just by some freak chance I didn't get into it.

1506
01:24:53,440 --> 01:25:04,400
But today when I listen on radio, yeah, the standards is a little different now.

1507
01:25:04,400 --> 01:25:06,360
I'm not saying better or worse.

1508
01:25:06,360 --> 01:25:08,640
Different from what it used to be.

1509
01:25:08,640 --> 01:25:12,400
I preferred radio back then, way back when.

1510
01:25:12,400 --> 01:25:15,040
Again, that's just me.

1511
01:25:15,040 --> 01:25:18,280
That's just me.

1512
01:25:18,280 --> 01:25:23,280
The people that we had, I mean those big names that you mentioned earlier on, the late great

1513
01:25:23,280 --> 01:25:26,160
Victor Kuhl, Roger Kuhl, you know.

1514
01:25:26,160 --> 01:25:30,400
I mentioned earlier when we sat down, Eric Lim on Rediffusion, right?

1515
01:25:30,400 --> 01:25:33,480
I mean my goodness me.

1516
01:25:33,480 --> 01:25:36,560
Those guys were monsters, man.

1517
01:25:36,560 --> 01:25:37,720
They were monsters.

1518
01:25:37,720 --> 01:25:43,320
I mean I really enjoyed radio then and even TV back then.

1519
01:25:43,320 --> 01:25:48,560
And then I realized something as I was doing, you know, of course I had to do some research.

1520
01:25:48,560 --> 01:25:50,560
William Xavier, then Ikeedon.

1521
01:25:50,560 --> 01:25:53,000
Okay, this is what I get.

1522
01:25:53,000 --> 01:25:54,520
Ikeedon Mr. X.

1523
01:25:54,520 --> 01:25:59,120
I'm still getting the same thing.

1524
01:25:59,120 --> 01:26:03,240
I mean dude, your digital footprint is almost non-existent.

1525
01:26:03,240 --> 01:26:05,240
For someone like you.

1526
01:26:05,240 --> 01:26:06,240
Yeah.

1527
01:26:06,240 --> 01:26:08,440
But you know what I found?

1528
01:26:08,440 --> 01:26:10,680
I'm going to flash this on the screen right now, Kai.

1529
01:26:10,680 --> 01:26:12,640
Can we put that one up?

1530
01:26:12,640 --> 01:26:14,960
Did you see this one?

1531
01:26:14,960 --> 01:26:15,960
I see it.

1532
01:26:15,960 --> 01:26:18,760
This was a picture from when my news reading days.

1533
01:26:18,760 --> 01:26:23,880
Yeah, but did you see the 18 million there below your name?

1534
01:26:23,880 --> 01:26:28,720
There's a site that's called Net Worth Post.

1535
01:26:28,720 --> 01:26:35,600
And then it comes up, William Xavier's worth $18 million.

1536
01:26:35,600 --> 01:26:37,080
Did they clear that picture with us?

1537
01:26:37,080 --> 01:26:38,080
I don't know.

1538
01:26:38,080 --> 01:26:39,080
I really don't know.

1539
01:26:39,080 --> 01:26:40,080
I really don't know.

1540
01:26:40,080 --> 01:26:45,960
But you might well, Net Worth might well say that I couldn't possibly comment.

1541
01:26:45,960 --> 01:26:47,760
That's one thing I found on you.

1542
01:26:47,760 --> 01:26:51,400
But really not much of a digital footprint, man.

1543
01:26:51,400 --> 01:26:52,400
You know what?

1544
01:26:52,400 --> 01:26:54,280
I'm too busy being something else.

1545
01:26:54,280 --> 01:26:56,760
You know what I mean?

1546
01:26:56,760 --> 01:27:01,240
Maybe you could use the word dinosaur.

1547
01:27:01,240 --> 01:27:02,240
But you know what?

1548
01:27:02,240 --> 01:27:09,000
I think if you allow me, I would then say that you know what?

1549
01:27:09,000 --> 01:27:15,960
I still have much to do where I am right now before I take on that other beast.

1550
01:27:15,960 --> 01:27:21,080
In other words, I haven't been completely through my CD collection.

1551
01:27:21,080 --> 01:27:23,080
I've not heard everything.

1552
01:27:23,080 --> 01:27:24,600
I've not heard everything.

1553
01:27:24,600 --> 01:27:25,880
Even if you know what?

1554
01:27:25,880 --> 01:27:36,080
If I did one album a day, I'd take to about 21, 22 before I got through the entire thing.

1555
01:27:36,080 --> 01:27:38,280
And then what's that you said about internet?

1556
01:27:38,280 --> 01:27:41,040
You know what I mean?

1557
01:27:41,040 --> 01:27:46,200
So maybe it's a focus.

1558
01:27:46,200 --> 01:27:50,680
And again, you hear your father or your uncle or somebody who's your senior colleague says

1559
01:27:50,680 --> 01:27:56,120
to you, stick to what you're good at and make the most of it.

1560
01:27:56,120 --> 01:28:01,800
Because technology is the tool.

1561
01:28:01,800 --> 01:28:03,540
It's not the game.

1562
01:28:03,540 --> 01:28:06,720
So you are the game.

1563
01:28:06,720 --> 01:28:08,920
And so raise your game.

1564
01:28:08,920 --> 01:28:11,120
Are you as good as you think you could be?

1565
01:28:11,120 --> 01:28:15,560
Or do you think you are as good as someone expects you to be?

1566
01:28:15,560 --> 01:28:21,720
And until you can say yes to both, stick with what you're good at.

1567
01:28:21,720 --> 01:28:27,520
No disrespect to those who have to operate the digital natives as we know them today.

1568
01:28:27,520 --> 01:28:35,160
Gen Z and the millennials, they have to deal and operate with what is given to them or

1569
01:28:35,160 --> 01:28:37,400
they have at their disposal.

1570
01:28:37,400 --> 01:28:45,360
Get somewhere along the line when they have kids of their own, for example, and then say,

1571
01:28:45,360 --> 01:28:50,640
hear what is being said to them by things that they heard themselves saying to the generation

1572
01:28:50,640 --> 01:28:53,120
before.

1573
01:28:53,120 --> 01:28:56,200
It's not about right or wrong.

1574
01:28:56,200 --> 01:28:58,480
It's about true or false.

1575
01:28:58,480 --> 01:28:59,480
It is what it is.

1576
01:28:59,480 --> 01:29:00,480
It is the reality.

1577
01:29:00,480 --> 01:29:03,640
You have to deal the hand that you're played, right?

1578
01:29:03,640 --> 01:29:08,400
I find it very strange, as an aside, I find it very strange.

1579
01:29:08,400 --> 01:29:15,320
Throughout this entire hour plus we've been talking, I have not been potty-mouthed.

1580
01:29:15,320 --> 01:29:16,320
It's remarkable.

1581
01:29:16,320 --> 01:29:20,640
That may be a job requirement.

1582
01:29:20,640 --> 01:29:22,680
I don't think I've ever sworn on the air.

1583
01:29:22,680 --> 01:29:23,680
No, no, no.

1584
01:29:23,680 --> 01:29:28,840
I mean, I know you guys, you shouldn't because it's national radio.

1585
01:29:28,840 --> 01:29:30,200
These are the prevailing standards.

1586
01:29:30,200 --> 01:29:32,600
Yeah, but podcasts, we don't really care.

1587
01:29:32,600 --> 01:29:37,880
I don't care, but personally, my potty-mouth linguistics are so freaking popular for that

1588
01:29:37,880 --> 01:29:43,880
shit, but I really haven't been potty-mouthed at all with you, and you're the second guest

1589
01:29:43,880 --> 01:29:46,440
I've ever had of all my shoots.

1590
01:29:46,440 --> 01:29:48,640
I haven't been like this, man.

1591
01:29:48,640 --> 01:29:50,440
Like I said, I'm starstruck.

1592
01:29:50,440 --> 01:29:52,200
You're very kind.

1593
01:29:52,200 --> 01:29:53,200
I'm really starstruck, man.

1594
01:29:53,200 --> 01:29:57,080
I mean, you could go on forever and I just sit down here, don't have to really work that

1595
01:29:57,080 --> 01:29:58,480
hard, and there you go.

1596
01:29:58,480 --> 01:30:00,440
Will Zavich is going on and on and on.

1597
01:30:00,440 --> 01:30:02,480
It's like that old Le Mans song, right?

1598
01:30:02,480 --> 01:30:03,480
The ending story.

1599
01:30:03,480 --> 01:30:07,560
The story is still being written.

1600
01:30:07,560 --> 01:30:08,560
That's the nice part about being in this industry.

1601
01:30:08,560 --> 01:30:10,520
So, nobody has said that, but the story is still being written.

1602
01:30:10,520 --> 01:30:14,840
Can I just ask you just a few short little questions before we end the show?

1603
01:30:14,840 --> 01:30:17,640
NDP, will you still continue to do it?

1604
01:30:17,640 --> 01:30:20,600
You're a national day birthday baby as well, isn't it?

1605
01:30:20,600 --> 01:30:21,600
Correct.

1606
01:30:21,600 --> 01:30:22,600
Correct.

1607
01:30:22,600 --> 01:30:23,600
As long as I'm able.

1608
01:30:23,600 --> 01:30:24,600
Really?

1609
01:30:24,600 --> 01:30:27,680
And you will still continue to do it despite all the rehearsals that you've got to do?

1610
01:30:27,680 --> 01:30:28,680
It's a nightmare.

1611
01:30:28,680 --> 01:30:29,680
I know that, man.

1612
01:30:29,680 --> 01:30:31,680
Until the invitation stops coming.

1613
01:30:31,680 --> 01:30:32,680
Wow.

1614
01:30:32,680 --> 01:30:34,640
So, you're happy to do it, huh?

1615
01:30:34,640 --> 01:30:35,640
I'm happy to do this.

1616
01:30:35,640 --> 01:30:40,360
I'm happy to be here, Chris.

1617
01:30:40,360 --> 01:30:41,360
Thank you.

1618
01:30:41,360 --> 01:30:43,640
I'm so glad that you actually did come for the show.

1619
01:30:43,640 --> 01:30:44,640
And one more thing.

1620
01:30:44,640 --> 01:30:46,680
You're going to go on.

1621
01:30:46,680 --> 01:30:49,760
There's going to be, like you said, a never-ending story.

1622
01:30:49,760 --> 01:30:52,080
Story's being still been written.

1623
01:30:52,080 --> 01:30:56,000
So what's next?

1624
01:30:56,000 --> 01:30:57,000
More of the same.

1625
01:30:57,000 --> 01:30:59,160
More of the same.

1626
01:30:59,160 --> 01:31:02,200
Like I said, I haven't heard every CD in my collection.

1627
01:31:02,200 --> 01:31:05,560
So you're not going to try something new?

1628
01:31:05,560 --> 01:31:11,600
The last song I'll ever play on the radio has yet to be written.

1629
01:31:11,600 --> 01:31:12,600
Wow.

1630
01:31:12,600 --> 01:31:15,040
So you intend to go on?

1631
01:31:15,040 --> 01:31:16,640
Until they tell me not to.

1632
01:31:16,640 --> 01:31:17,640
Really?

1633
01:31:17,640 --> 01:31:18,640
Wow.

1634
01:31:18,640 --> 01:31:21,640
Are you listening, bosses?

1635
01:31:21,640 --> 01:31:22,640
Wow.

1636
01:31:22,640 --> 01:31:23,640
Wow.

1637
01:31:23,640 --> 01:31:24,640
Wow.

1638
01:31:24,640 --> 01:31:25,640
Wow.

1639
01:31:25,640 --> 01:31:26,640
Okay.

1640
01:31:26,640 --> 01:31:28,760
You know, you said so much.

1641
01:31:28,760 --> 01:31:29,760
Just one question.

1642
01:31:29,760 --> 01:31:32,320
You went on for an hour plus and you gave so much.

1643
01:31:32,320 --> 01:31:33,840
I mean, I really, really appreciate it.

1644
01:31:33,840 --> 01:31:36,680
I really didn't have to work very hard.

1645
01:31:36,680 --> 01:31:43,800
And until the point where poor old VJ came all the way here and I got to do this, man.

1646
01:31:43,800 --> 01:31:45,040
You got to really try this.

1647
01:31:45,040 --> 01:31:47,320
Please go ahead.

1648
01:31:47,320 --> 01:31:55,000
This is something that I always, always insist it's got to be on my podcast desk.

1649
01:31:55,000 --> 01:32:02,480
And it's Prawn Vade's, probably the fluffiest, crispiest vades you can find in the land.

1650
01:32:02,480 --> 01:32:04,800
And they are from Gordon's Vade's.

1651
01:32:04,800 --> 01:32:05,940
The number's up there.

1652
01:32:05,940 --> 01:32:11,640
You can just give them a WhatsApp or you can order them online at gordonvade.com.

1653
01:32:11,640 --> 01:32:12,640
Look for VJ.

1654
01:32:12,640 --> 01:32:15,840
He'll be very, very happy to serve you.

1655
01:32:15,840 --> 01:32:17,760
And please indulge.

1656
01:32:17,760 --> 01:32:20,080
These guys are great.

1657
01:32:20,080 --> 01:32:21,080
Little munchkins.

1658
01:32:21,080 --> 01:32:23,200
That's what I call them.

1659
01:32:23,200 --> 01:32:24,960
And thank you again, Mr. Rex.

1660
01:32:24,960 --> 01:32:25,960
Thank you for being on the show.

1661
01:32:25,960 --> 01:32:26,960
Really, really.

1662
01:32:26,960 --> 01:32:29,960
Oh my goodness, I'm so starstruck.

1663
01:32:29,960 --> 01:32:37,240
I'm happy to say, Chris, you are a witness or you have the complete record as it were.

1664
01:32:37,240 --> 01:32:42,840
I've told all the stories that I've shared with you in various parts over a very extended

1665
01:32:42,840 --> 01:32:44,040
period of time.

1666
01:32:44,040 --> 01:32:46,920
So it's all been condensed into the one podcast.

1667
01:32:46,920 --> 01:32:47,920
Well played, bro.

1668
01:32:47,920 --> 01:32:48,920
No, I was asked one question.

1669
01:32:48,920 --> 01:32:53,880
I sit back and relax, you know, just listen to you talk.

1670
01:32:53,880 --> 01:32:59,280
I did run the soundtrack of my life in my head before I got here.

1671
01:32:59,280 --> 01:33:01,560
And you're absolutely right.

1672
01:33:01,560 --> 01:33:02,560
It is a story.

1673
01:33:02,560 --> 01:33:09,680
And definitely people in my business definitely appreciate your intention or your desire to

1674
01:33:09,680 --> 01:33:12,240
try and put it on the record.

1675
01:33:12,240 --> 01:33:13,240
Just what it is.

1676
01:33:13,240 --> 01:33:18,600
What are the, however humble they may be, about the building blocks that built this

1677
01:33:18,600 --> 01:33:21,120
behemoth called the industry?

1678
01:33:21,120 --> 01:33:22,120
Yeah.

1679
01:33:22,120 --> 01:33:30,120
I mean, I've always had been of the opinion that, you know, people like you, people in

1680
01:33:30,120 --> 01:33:36,120
the music business, musos especially, not really being acknowledged very much, you know,

1681
01:33:36,120 --> 01:33:37,640
in this land.

1682
01:33:37,640 --> 01:33:44,960
And my little voice through the show, I try and I do my best to bring these guys forward,

1683
01:33:44,960 --> 01:33:48,760
you know, and so that people know that, look, these are the people that were here before

1684
01:33:48,760 --> 01:33:53,000
most and they brought music to the fore, man.

1685
01:33:53,000 --> 01:33:58,120
And these guys were so committed, dedicated to their craft, you know, guys like you, you

1686
01:33:58,120 --> 01:34:00,160
know, guys like Gingerbread.

1687
01:34:00,160 --> 01:34:03,920
I've had them on my show, Jason and Jason Shahoo and Anne Hussain.

1688
01:34:03,920 --> 01:34:06,480
I had Dudley Nones and Leonard Rezel.

1689
01:34:06,480 --> 01:34:09,640
And these are the people to this day, they're still playing this, to this day, they're still

1690
01:34:09,640 --> 01:34:12,520
doing their bit for the music industry.

1691
01:34:12,520 --> 01:34:18,000
And that to me is so important because I think music in Singapore has been dead for a bit.

1692
01:34:18,000 --> 01:34:27,320
And yeah, as far as I can help it, I will not stop trying to get people who are integral

1693
01:34:27,320 --> 01:34:32,520
in our music industry to come on the show as my tribute to them.

1694
01:34:32,520 --> 01:34:39,000
And thank you so much as well, Mr. X, for really bringing music on our airwaves.

1695
01:34:39,000 --> 01:34:41,320
And it's all these years, man.

1696
01:34:41,320 --> 01:34:48,960
I mean, I enjoy listening to the discography, you know, your knowledge of muses, you know,

1697
01:34:48,960 --> 01:34:50,720
and bands across the globe.

1698
01:34:50,720 --> 01:34:52,320
I mean, it's amazing.

1699
01:34:52,320 --> 01:34:57,500
I think I've lived through it, I think basically is the reason, you know, and I know of which

1700
01:34:57,500 --> 01:35:00,840
you speak, you know, I've had first experience.

1701
01:35:00,840 --> 01:35:06,340
I also want to say that it needs to be done what you're doing.

1702
01:35:06,340 --> 01:35:13,600
And in so doing, you then begun to understand the difference as to why we do this and what

1703
01:35:13,600 --> 01:35:15,360
is the motivation for people.

1704
01:35:15,360 --> 01:35:20,840
And I can't say I speak for everyone else, but definitely is, if you get it right, you

1705
01:35:20,840 --> 01:35:26,040
immediately start to see a line emerge between job and work.

1706
01:35:26,040 --> 01:35:27,880
Yeah, man.

1707
01:35:27,880 --> 01:35:28,880
Right?

1708
01:35:28,880 --> 01:35:31,160
And you do this because you want to, not because you have to.

1709
01:35:31,160 --> 01:35:32,160
I want to.

1710
01:35:32,160 --> 01:35:33,160
I want to do this.

1711
01:35:33,160 --> 01:35:34,600
It's important to me.

1712
01:35:34,600 --> 01:35:39,320
You know, besides the UFO stories that I also have in my other vertical, right?

1713
01:35:39,320 --> 01:35:41,400
But this means a lot.

1714
01:35:41,400 --> 01:35:47,480
And there have been muses of us, I must say, who've rejected coming on the show for whatever

1715
01:35:47,480 --> 01:35:51,000
reason that they see fit, which I respect.

1716
01:35:51,000 --> 01:35:55,160
I wish that they would be here, you know, so that we can talk more about how they got

1717
01:35:55,160 --> 01:35:57,720
to where they are, you know.

1718
01:35:57,720 --> 01:36:03,120
And I really, really would want to continue doing this as far and as long as I can.

1719
01:36:03,120 --> 01:36:11,360
I think you think a little like me in the sense that we always want to be, at some point,

1720
01:36:11,360 --> 01:36:15,440
the picture next to the description in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

1721
01:36:15,440 --> 01:36:21,320
So in other words, if you had a term which you had to define or explain as Singapore

1722
01:36:21,320 --> 01:36:26,040
DJ, you want to see my picture next to the description.

1723
01:36:26,040 --> 01:36:27,040
For example.

1724
01:36:27,040 --> 01:36:28,120
For example.

1725
01:36:28,120 --> 01:36:35,640
And so it is always a desire and ambition, if you want to call it a life's work, to be

1726
01:36:35,640 --> 01:36:38,040
the best version of this.

1727
01:36:38,040 --> 01:36:39,640
The best version of this.

1728
01:36:39,640 --> 01:36:46,440
And at least all collected in one place, the definitive story and all the information and

1729
01:36:46,440 --> 01:36:50,080
all the opinions gathered in the one place of what it is.

1730
01:36:50,080 --> 01:36:57,400
In other words, the Chris Hansen remix is the best version of our iconic history of

1731
01:36:57,400 --> 01:36:58,400
the entertainment industry.

1732
01:36:58,400 --> 01:36:59,400
Is that fair?

1733
01:36:59,400 --> 01:37:06,040
Yeah, well, they'll be great actually, but I have to have more and more of the old musos

1734
01:37:06,040 --> 01:37:09,800
and DJs come on the show and then the collection is going to be great.

1735
01:37:09,800 --> 01:37:11,480
I'm pretty sure of that.

1736
01:37:11,480 --> 01:37:15,760
Those of us who do it don't see to it that that is the case.

1737
01:37:15,760 --> 01:37:17,800
We leave that to others.

1738
01:37:17,800 --> 01:37:23,640
But whatever you can contribute, you should or must or please contribute.

1739
01:37:23,640 --> 01:37:27,800
So that the definitive record is in the one place.

1740
01:37:27,800 --> 01:37:29,800
It's always been my desire.

1741
01:37:29,800 --> 01:37:36,520
It's also for the younger generation to understand what it took for these guys, you know, and

1742
01:37:36,520 --> 01:37:38,920
how analog things were.

1743
01:37:38,920 --> 01:37:44,040
You know, when they were playing their music, man, the way they were recording stuff.

1744
01:37:44,040 --> 01:37:47,080
What they managed to do with the limited resources.

1745
01:37:47,080 --> 01:37:48,080
Exactly.

1746
01:37:48,080 --> 01:37:51,200
But done with so much passion.

1747
01:37:51,200 --> 01:37:57,560
And you know, what I've learned from this series, just to end the show, which can go

1748
01:37:57,560 --> 01:37:58,560
on talking forever.

1749
01:37:58,560 --> 01:38:04,300
What I've learned through this series is that there's this one common thread.

1750
01:38:04,300 --> 01:38:13,320
And that thread is the influence I've got was from my folks playing music.

1751
01:38:13,320 --> 01:38:20,440
They play music, they play songs, and then it got to me.

1752
01:38:20,440 --> 01:38:22,400
And then I knew that's going to be my life.

1753
01:38:22,400 --> 01:38:24,760
So a lot of people have said that to me.

1754
01:38:24,760 --> 01:38:27,240
This is one really commonality.

1755
01:38:27,240 --> 01:38:30,320
This is one common thread, even for me.

1756
01:38:30,320 --> 01:38:33,040
And I've said this a few times too.

1757
01:38:33,040 --> 01:38:37,960
If it weren't for my mom and my uncles, I don't think I would have had this joy for

1758
01:38:37,960 --> 01:38:40,160
music because I sing as well.

1759
01:38:40,160 --> 01:38:46,760
And you know, listening to Elvis, listening to Lobo, the Shy Lights, Stylistics, you're

1760
01:38:46,760 --> 01:38:47,760
right.

1761
01:38:47,760 --> 01:38:55,360
I've had this influence, Nat King Cole, Jim Reeves, Charlie Pride, Slim Whitman, Marty

1762
01:38:55,360 --> 01:38:57,240
Robbins, right?

1763
01:38:57,240 --> 01:39:06,280
I don't think I would have had this, I'm going to use the term, passion for this, to get

1764
01:39:06,280 --> 01:39:07,280
behind a microphone.

1765
01:39:07,280 --> 01:39:08,280
Sure.

1766
01:39:08,280 --> 01:39:10,400
It's always been the thing for me.

1767
01:39:10,400 --> 01:39:13,440
And this is this common thread.

1768
01:39:13,440 --> 01:39:15,240
And it's amazing actually.

1769
01:39:15,240 --> 01:39:20,280
Everyone, everybody so far, no one's let me down on that.

1770
01:39:20,280 --> 01:39:22,040
So it's pretty cool, man.

1771
01:39:22,040 --> 01:39:25,600
So when you told me, four years old.

1772
01:39:25,600 --> 01:39:26,600
Yeah.

1773
01:39:26,600 --> 01:39:31,560
That story takes some beating.

1774
01:39:31,560 --> 01:39:35,320
But I can't understand because there's so much truth in that.

1775
01:39:35,320 --> 01:39:39,520
Even for me, I think even probably five, six years old, you know, still remember the music

1776
01:39:39,520 --> 01:39:42,200
and records that we've been playing over and over and over again.

1777
01:39:42,200 --> 01:39:43,640
And you were from SGI Mission School.

1778
01:39:43,640 --> 01:39:45,920
I came from a mission school.

1779
01:39:45,920 --> 01:39:51,680
And this thing about speak right, stand up, read.

1780
01:39:51,680 --> 01:39:54,480
I was that kid too.

1781
01:39:54,480 --> 01:40:01,320
It keeps today's parents wanting to send their kids to these places.

1782
01:40:01,320 --> 01:40:02,320
Right.

1783
01:40:02,320 --> 01:40:03,320
Right.

1784
01:40:03,320 --> 01:40:09,060
And you don't come out, you don't graduate from these schools shy.

1785
01:40:09,060 --> 01:40:14,960
If you are born an introvert, you will still be an introvert, but you will rise to the

1786
01:40:14,960 --> 01:40:16,080
occasion.

1787
01:40:16,080 --> 01:40:17,560
Not when you enter the classroom.

1788
01:40:17,560 --> 01:40:22,200
Leave your introvertism outside.

1789
01:40:22,200 --> 01:40:27,880
So you know, that's where I think, again, you know, the common thread is for most of

1790
01:40:27,880 --> 01:40:34,000
my guests that I've gotten the show, every time I ask them, so why?

1791
01:40:34,000 --> 01:40:35,900
How did you get here?

1792
01:40:35,900 --> 01:40:41,060
And they tell you, yeah, it's, you know, my folks, my uncles, my, you know, my brother,

1793
01:40:41,060 --> 01:40:46,320
my brothers, they play records and then, you know, and I hear the same music all the time.

1794
01:40:46,320 --> 01:40:47,320
And I love that.

1795
01:40:47,320 --> 01:40:49,800
You know, I can't get that so often.

1796
01:40:49,800 --> 01:40:52,840
All those pieces are just looking for an opportunity, quite frankly.

1797
01:40:52,840 --> 01:40:59,520
And these days, the enabling technology makes it very easy to put those things to work.

1798
01:40:59,520 --> 01:41:00,520
Yeah.

1799
01:41:00,520 --> 01:41:01,520
Yeah.

1800
01:41:01,520 --> 01:41:04,840
And I just want the young people to say, hey, come on, whatever you do, don't diss the old

1801
01:41:04,840 --> 01:41:08,200
a lot because without them, you wouldn't be here.

1802
01:41:08,200 --> 01:41:09,200
You know?

1803
01:41:09,200 --> 01:41:10,200
Love me do in mono, man.

1804
01:41:10,200 --> 01:41:11,200
Oh gosh.

1805
01:41:11,200 --> 01:41:16,200
That's the only version of that song I want to hear.

1806
01:41:16,200 --> 01:41:19,200
Love me do in mono.

1807
01:41:19,200 --> 01:41:25,160
Which means music on the left side and the vocals on the right.

1808
01:41:25,160 --> 01:41:26,640
No, everything down the middle.

1809
01:41:26,640 --> 01:41:27,640
Okay.

1810
01:41:27,640 --> 01:41:31,280
In other words, it's not panned.

1811
01:41:31,280 --> 01:41:32,280
Yeah.

1812
01:41:32,280 --> 01:41:33,280
Not panned.

1813
01:41:33,280 --> 01:41:35,800
You're going through one mic and out one speaker.

1814
01:41:35,800 --> 01:41:37,680
You'll hear everything.

1815
01:41:37,680 --> 01:41:38,680
On one speaker.

1816
01:41:38,680 --> 01:41:39,680
Yeah, that's right.

1817
01:41:39,680 --> 01:41:41,800
You don't miss anything if you don't have a second speaker.

1818
01:41:41,800 --> 01:41:46,920
You know, I'm still kind of young, so I don't really recall those years, you know, when

1819
01:41:46,920 --> 01:41:50,640
radio was like that in mono.

1820
01:41:50,640 --> 01:41:52,960
I think in my time, it's already stereo.

1821
01:41:52,960 --> 01:41:53,960
Yeah.

1822
01:41:53,960 --> 01:41:56,480
Though we did have the AM band as well.

1823
01:41:56,480 --> 01:41:57,480
Yeah.

1824
01:41:57,480 --> 01:41:58,480
Sure.

1825
01:41:58,480 --> 01:41:59,480
Yeah.

1826
01:41:59,480 --> 01:42:01,920
Well, anyway, thanks so very much again, Will, for being on the show.

1827
01:42:01,920 --> 01:42:05,360
We have to call time on this because goodness me.

1828
01:42:05,360 --> 01:42:07,200
Kai, you're right, Kai.

1829
01:42:07,200 --> 01:42:08,200
It's already Monday.

1830
01:42:08,200 --> 01:42:09,200
Kai, you're right.

1831
01:42:09,200 --> 01:42:12,200
Chris is going to take two hours.

1832
01:42:12,200 --> 01:42:13,200
Here we go.

1833
01:42:13,200 --> 01:42:15,200
Thanks very much for inviting me.

1834
01:42:15,200 --> 01:42:16,200
No, not at all.

1835
01:42:16,200 --> 01:42:17,200
Thanks for being here, man.

1836
01:42:17,200 --> 01:42:19,200
The pleasure is all mine as well.

1837
01:42:19,200 --> 01:42:24,680
Okay, people, whatever you do, hit the subscribe button and hit that notification bell.

1838
01:42:24,680 --> 01:42:27,000
This is Chris Hansen along with Mr. X.

1839
01:42:27,000 --> 01:42:28,880
Thank you so very much for being here with us.

1840
01:42:28,880 --> 01:42:29,880
I'll see you again soon.

1841
01:42:29,880 --> 01:42:30,880
Bye-bye.

1842
01:42:30,880 --> 01:42:31,880
Bye-bye.

1843
01:42:31,880 --> 01:42:52,880
Bye-bye.