Welcome to CCB TV, the Podcast Factory.
Before I begin the first episode of CHC, the Chris Hansen Conversation, allow me a minute
to thank the following people for making our podcast as possible.
My wife and son for their undying love and belief in whatever I do.
Joel Rodriguez for the super valuable iMac.
Ben and John for entrusting your show to me.
Leroy and Mel for contributing to repairs and hyzer headphones.
Aaron and Pearl for contributing one of my Shure MV7 microphones.
Clarence Edward for donating the all-important acoustic tiles.
Jason Shahoo for his selfless advice on all things that's audio engineering.
Kristen Leena for the telescopic tripod or else I'll have no centric amp.
William Lau and Karen Leung for the great reads.
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And now, here's CHC's first episode.
I hope you like it and if you do, you know what to do.
Tim wants to be a butcher but I've got a better suggestion.
What is that?
SPH radio.
Move him to the morning.
No, don't do that.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Move him to the morning and call him instead of bro on the go, call him the butcher.
So that class 95, there are two animals there, right?
Oh hey, don't.
Right, here we go, here we go, here we go.
Hi everyone, it is so damn good to be back.
This is my brand new show.
It's called the Chris Hansen conversation and after a year and a half, oh Lord, and
all this work, the show is finally on the road.
And before we begin and to introduce my guest for tonight, now you know it's nighttime.
I need to tell you this.
We've got probably the crispiest, the fluffiest vades in the land on display in my studio
and kindly sponsored by Gordon's Vades.
Take a look, see, take a look, see, you can see the EDM right now, right on the screen.
Now let me tell you something, you're going to be missing out on a lot if you don't go
after these vades.
Thank you so much Gordon's Vades and now back to the show.
We know who this guy is.
He has a show called The One Way Home, but today he couldn't get home.
I accosted him, dragged him at the damn ankles, brought him right here into CCB TV studio
and you know him as the bro on the go and he is Tim O!
Oh wow, what an introduction.
Thank you very much for that Chris.
I can make sure I put in a fanfare for you, you know, in post.
Yes, and the best thing about that intro is that you are using your voice of God.
You know Chris has this beautiful, what we in radio refer to as the voice of God.
He's got that deep baritone, that resonance when he talks.
Wow.
And it makes all the difference.
These are the voices that they always use for voiceovers, for you know, TV commercials,
for like the movie trailers and things like that.
So it always makes a huge difference when you've got someone with that kind of voice
actually introducing you.
You know something, you only can see the hair under the hat right now.
But thanks so very much man, it's really kind of you.
That's actually one of the reasons.
I mean earlier on, just before we started, we were talking about why I'm not actually
using my cans, the headphones.
One reason of course is because I just got off radio and I just spent the last four hours
with headphones in my ear, so I didn't really want to wear them.
And another reason is because I knew right, if Chris talking into the microphone, I would
be too distracted by his voice.
Right?
Because he's got one of those voices right, where if he talks, ladies careful, if he whispers
in your ear, you'll get pregnant.
Wow.
The mere sound of his voice.
Pregnant, huh?
Yeah, they call that an eargasm.
Oh eargasm.
I didn't know these things could travel like osmosis right into the ears and then after
that goes on somewhere else and someone gets impregnated.
Clearly you've given this some thought.
You have given this some thought, Chris.
No, as a matter of fact, my mind rolls that way when people, you know, when people throw
things like that at me, you know, my mind rolls that way somehow.
I've got a dirty mind.
But yes, thank you for, VJ the DJ.
VJ the DJ man.
VJ the DJ, he runs or he owns Gordon's Vade.
Oh well, he's one of the franchisees.
One of the franchisees for Gordon's Vade.
Thank you VJ for the wonderful Vades.
And the next time, the next time we should ask him to come here and play some free music
and also I have some accompaniment live when I have my guest on the show.
Do a dance program for 1FM, the station I'm at, right?
Like that kind, yeah.
Well, I don't think he's on anymore though.
No, no, he's not.
But he can come and do on this show.
Yeah, I would.
VJ, if more than just the Vades, we'd like VJ the DJ and the Vades here the next time
around.
Seven minutes, right, you know, during this particular, this particular show, we can stop
for like a seven second dance break.
I want to ask you something, man.
First of all, thank you for being on the show.
Thank you for having me.
In your own words, who is Timo?
In my own words, who is Timo?
I have spent 44 years answering that question, trying to answer that question at least.
He's just a guy, dude.
Really?
He's just a regular guy who never wants to grow up.
I am, I've got that Peter Pan syndrome.
I'm that kid, didn't want to grow up, teenager, still didn't want to grow up, adulthood, still
didn't want to grow up, became father, still didn't want to grow up.
I think, you know, that is probably my wife's biggest gripe is that now she's got to deal
with two kids, right, and sometimes she forgets which one is more mature.
Well, you know, I think it's great for your boy or girl, boy, right?
So he's five.
So for her to even question which one is more mature, that says something about me.
I think your son's probably having a great time, don't you think, if he's a dad that
wants to just keep going on young as the years go by.
It'd be great for him.
I think maybe now, but at some point I think he's probably going to outgrow me, or rather
out mature me.
He'll be a teenager and he'll be like, my dad is so immature.
I'll be that dad that he's embarrassed to bring his friends home to me.
Holy shit balls, that's what my son sometimes think of me, I think.
I mean, to be honest, back to your question about who is Tim Oh, I think I spent such
a long time of my life, you know, with my career and the personality, my work just blending
so much into my personal life.
For a long time, I couldn't draw a difference between the two.
Because I mean, when you are in radio, and I guess specifically radio, I don't like to
use the word radio personality, but the fact of the matter is a lot of what you project
out over the airwaves, that character, a lot of it is going to be based on who you are.
Because that's the easiest thing to do.
Okay, but by you saying then, that's you, that's great, respect, respect.
But how about the others?
Do they portray who they are?
The persona on air and the persona face, you know, as they are.
I think most people do.
Because it takes a lot of, I think, you would have to be a really, really good actor to
be able to just be completely different once you switch off the mic and who you are when
the mic is on.
But what would the broadcaster, any broadcaster for that matter, and they know these guys
work for them.
And wouldn't they tell them, look, listen man, you, we have earmarked you to be the
person for the next two, three years.
Does that happen in the first place before I go on?
I think sometimes, well, sometimes the powers that be, when they bring somebody in, yeah,
they have ideas, you know, they have hopes, they've got dreams, they've got ambitions,
you know, for the person that they brought in.
But I mean, at the end of the day, you don't really know until the person starts, you know,
you may have an idea, oh, this person, he's going to take off with the public, right,
because he's suave, he's dashing, and all this is going to carry on on air.
But this guy, you know, may not necessarily like, you know, being pigeonholed into that
particular facet.
Would he be made to pigeonhole himself into that particular mold that they want him to
be?
So you're asking about how much control, say the bosses have.
Okay, so I don't think, I don't, at least in my experience, I've never really been told,
oh, you must be like this, you must be like that.
For me, it's always been the opposite.
You can't do this or you can't do that.
And for a long time, it was, yeah, but you know, there's more to me than just these three
facets, right?
But they're like, oh, maybe, you know, it doesn't quite suit the station image.
It doesn't suit the demographic that we're targeting.
So supposing, you know, Chris, you've got five different characteristics, okay, that
you're very comfortable.
That's schizophrenia, man.
Yeah, they might say, okay, well, out of the five that you have, let's just go with the
three because the other two might clash with what we're talking about.
Are you kidding me?
You mean, do they really do that?
We've got five personalities and we can only deal with two at the most.
No, no, no, no, no.
They won't say that straight out to you.
For instance, okay, I give you another example.
When I came on board, when I started radio at a station a long time ago, I don't really
want to say which one, but you know, I have always been very corny.
You know, my type of humor, you know, I'm corny, I'm lame, that's me.
You know, I mean, I will, you know, at the same time, I can also be very sentimental,
you know, even in my music taste, but I've also got a rocky, edgy side as well.
There are very few people in life who are just very one dimensional, right?
But you can also understand that when you're trying to portray somebody on air, you know,
or you're trying to push a particular personality, you want to go with simple, right?
You want to go with, okay, this person is this, this person is this, this person is
this.
And you want to make the fact that maybe, actually, you know, people are made out of
many different facets.
I can be this, but at the same time, I can also be this, you know.
And I guess for simplicity, they would rather you just stick to a bunch of core facets,
you know, and then sell you based on that.
Yes.
So basically, when you select someone to be a radio personality, they have in mind certain,
you keep using that term, facets, certain facets.
Or characteristics.
Okay, fine characteristics, right?
And how it exudes out of their personality types, right?
And they have a particular set of these types in mind already.
I think they obviously see it in you first, when they talk to you, before they even feel
that you're a good person.
Sure, but if someone's brimming with personality, right?
I mean, it's very hard to dissect someone with great personality.
That guy's great, he's going to be great on air, for example.
And expect that person also to be compliant to things that the bosses want.
Yeah.
Isn't it?
So it's very hard to have both these characteristics come together.
I think, yes, to answer your question, it is very difficult.
But at the end of the day, it's all moot if the audience doesn't like you.
Because this particular person may have been hired because they spoke well, they had a
great voice, they seemed really charming when they spoke to the bosses.
But the audience just can't stand the guy.
So on paper, this person has everything, everything you would want, not just in a DJ, but in a
DJ in this particular radio station.
So maybe for some reason, I mean, the audience just didn't take to the person.
Or perhaps these characteristics that you see when you talk to someone and go, oh, Chris,
when I talk to Chris face to face, he's brilliant.
You know, he's great.
He's funny, he makes jokes.
But then I put him behind the microphone.
To show my bomb.
Exactly.
My show my bomb.
Okay.
I'm not kidding.
I'm just using an example.
I know, I know.
And now when I'm, I've been tasked with training newbies, right?
I think you've also recognized, you've seen the media in a really long time.
This current crop, there is a current crop of radio DJs who have just been doing this
for so long.
You know, so long.
And you're wondering where is the next generation?
Yes.
Tell me.
Yes.
Yeah.
I think it's also a case of, it's not just because we're hanging on, you know, and we
don't want to leave.
We love this so much.
I mean, that's obviously one, one aspect of it, but I think it is also hard to find someone,
the next generation, for two reasons.
One, maybe you, you, you, you find somebody who you think has all the, has all the skills,
right?
That's the first reason.
Okay.
And then when you bring them on air, they realize, okay, whatever we thought about this
person just isn't translating over the microphone.
This person can talk great face to face, but the moment you take somebody away and, and
I'll go back to how I mentioned earlier on that I was training some people, right?
And when I, when I speak to them face to face, they're, they're wonderful, you know, but
then I go, okay, I'm going to switch on the mic right now, deliver a talk set.
Cannot.
Because these people need to see someone.
There are very few people who can just close their eyes, envision somebody they're talking
to and then, you know, speak as if they are talking and having a conversation.
Yeah, I get that.
The moment they cannot see the person and they cannot read reactions, they cannot follow
up.
Right.
And essentially that's what a radio talk set is.
It's having a conversation with someone, even if you don't physically hear them talking
back.
Well, then I dare say that, you know, radio is going to have a real hard time now.
You know why?
Even harder.
Why is that?
Because you can't hear them well.
Yes.
Okay.
And, um, I have, I have regular students.
As a matter of fact, every week I'm teaching classes and over the past seven, eight years,
um, someone we know well enough, someone that I worked closely with, uh, in this arena of
teaching and training new MCs and new voice, uh, talents.
And it's become more and more prevalent.
Now we're going to have a lot of people who are great, as you mentioned, um, face to face.
And that's already something fantastic, something incredible in this day and age.
The moment you get them behind a mic, that's it.
Dead fish.
Really.
And I've encountered that time and time again.
And you guys are going to have an even harder challenge.
Don't you think?
No, absolutely.
And that's obviously one, one, one part of it.
The second part of it is I think a lot of people have these preconceived notions.
What coming into broadcasting is like, what being in radio is like.
And then they come in and they realize, Hmm, this takes a lot of commitment.
This takes a lot of sacrifice.
The biggest, this is, uh, age or, uh, preconception, right?
Where people are misconception.
People think, Oh, that radio DJs, because your show is only four hours that you only
work four hours.
It's true.
They're like, wow, Tim, you've got a great gig.
You're only four hours a day, but they don't realize that it's not just, I show up and
I switch on the microphone and off the top of my head, I've got so much material.
I mean, I'm sure there are some people who are geniuses who can do that.
I am not one of them.
Okay.
Everything that I say, there has to be a fair amount of thought or research.
Um, and once again, I will say there are some people who can do that.
There are some people who try to do that and fail miserably, but for the most of us who
take our profession seriously, we do put a lot of prep into our show, right?
Whether or not it's just doing research, whether it's doing production, there is a lot of work
that goes into, into putting together your radio show.
And sometimes people, they come in and they're like, Oh, I see somebody just wishes on microphone
and talks.
They do that.
And they see the amount of work that goes into it.
They see the amount of sacrifice that goes into it.
Then they're like, yeah, okay.
Maybe, maybe it's not, it's not, it's not for me.
Because radio, much like a lot of other things, when you, when you start like a hobby, like
a passion, it takes time to grow in it.
And if you're one of those who is into something, instant validation, instant gratification,
you come in and you're like, you think immediately I'm going to get all the perks.
I'm going to be a star.
I'm going to make millions of dollars.
Then you know, you're going to be sorely disappointed.
Yes.
How many hours of prep and average do you put in before the next shift?
Curious.
Okay.
So I made a big mistake a couple of years ago, actually just before I joined SPH.
I decided I was going to have my own setup at home.
Oh, sounds familiar.
Yeah.
Okay.
So I got professional microphones, I got a proper digital audio workstation.
You know, I acoustically treated my, one of the rooms in my house.
Wow.
Sounds so familiar.
Yeah.
So that I could actually record my show.
And the reason why I say this is a mistake, Chris, is that when you are able to, to record
stuff, you never switch off.
You never switch off.
I could be in bed.
I could be watching TV.
I could be watching Netflix and suddenly, Oh, that's really funny.
Yeah, I bet that I could use it, turn this into a talk set.
You know what?
Let's turn this into a talk set.
And then 3am in the morning, I get up and walk over and I start recording and I wake
my wife up, you know?
So unfortunately, because of that, it's very hard.
It's hard to just switch off.
You know what I mean?
But you love it, don't you?
I do.
But I also, as I've gotten older and I've got other responsibilities and all that, I
want to be able to have time with my wife.
I want to have time with my son.
I want to be able to just switch off when I get home, do other things because you need
to rest your mind as well.
I'm not 22 anymore.
Okay, let me get this right.
Let me, let me try to understand this.
You got all that setup at home done and still working as a redo DJ?
Yes.
Okay.
That's, that's, that's mad.
Yeah.
Okay.
I get that.
So the funny thing is, um, I also told myself, I've always been the kind of DJ that likes
to prep a lot in advance, okay?
I always feel that the, the more bored I am when I'm in the studio, the better job I've
done preparing for my show.
You get what I mean?
Yes, I do.
Because everything has already been settled.
There is no unpredictability.
You know, I'm not going to get caught off guard.
I'm not going to run the risk of, oh, that talk set didn't come out the way I wanted
to.
And you know what I mean?
There are pros and cons.
Sometimes there is, there is magic and unpredictability and stuff that is unforeseen.
Uh, but you know, I've also, as I get older and I feel I'm not quite as quick as I, as
I used to be, I like to be certain of what everything is going to sound like when it
actually goes out on air.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
So I, there, there will be times I might ramble and I might go off on a tangent, but more
often than not, I know exactly what I'm going to be talking about when I'm going to be talking
about it to some degree, how exactly it's going to sound in every single talk set over
the next four hours before I even step into the radio studio.
And there's nothing wrong with all that, man.
All you said was sweet.
That's stuff that I would, you know, man, you know, I respect people who come in to
a show fully fucking cocked.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Fully fucking cocked.
Yeah.
Okay.
Fully pumped and prepped and ready and good to go.
Right.
And that's the way it's supposed to be.
What's wrong with that?
You make it sound as if it's wrong.
No, no, no, no, no.
I think there should be a certain amount of prep.
Yeah.
But I think there should also be limits because if you don't put limits on how much time you're
going to be spending on anything, then something else is going to sacrifice.
But it's being professional, isn't it?
I mean, absolutely.
Yes.
But being professional is okay.
So once again, when I was 22 and work was my entire life, I got that, you know, I was
like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's work first, it's work first.
I'd never switch off.
Right.
I'm not 22 anymore, Chris.
I'm 44.
Right?
Still young, bro.
I'm 44.
Yes, radio is still a big part of my life.
Holy shit balls, bro.
Let me tell you something.
Let me wind the clock back to 44.
I would give anything to go back to 44.
Do you know how old I am?
23.
Oh yeah.
First he tells me about the voice of God, then he tells me about my age.
But the more I'm trying to make it.
You just got to love this guy, don't you think?
The point I'm trying to make is that, yeah, I do wish sometimes that I would, I could
switch off.
Yeah, I get that.
I would be able to just leave work at home and come back.
And if not to spend time with my wife, to spend time with my son, to also just work
on other passions as well.
I mean, on my podcast, I got a podcast as well, which I have just neglected for months.
You're talking about the Hantu show.
Yes, yes.
Radio Paranormal is a good podcast.
Because I've had no time to do all this.
Right.
Yeah.
I've been waiting to come on your show, man.
Yes.
It's been months.
It will happen.
And now we might as well just do it in your studio.
Who knows?
Good idea, actually.
Why not?
Yeah.
I welcome you back anytime.
Thank you very much.
Even if it's for your own show.
Anyway, thanks for sharing all that with me.
I mean, it's kind of insightful for people out there.
Those guys in the polytechnics who think you're in mass media today and that you're going
to, life's going to be so fucking rosy.
Sorry if I could just interrupt, right?
Sorry.
I don't mean when I say all those things to try and negate or discount the need for you
to be fully prepped and to work before your show.
Okay?
You should totally put everything that you have into your show.
Okay?
But this is something that I told myself I was going to do when I hit 37.
Actually, when I left the last, when I left my former employer, okay?
And I said, one of the biggest mistakes that I made was that I did not put a separation.
And this goes back to one of the very first questions.
Work-life balance, you mean?
Yes.
To one of the first questions you asked me tonight.
And that is, who is Tim?
Yeah.
Right?
And I said, for a long time, you know, they just, my professional life and my personal
life just blended so much into each other.
And the reason why I say you should never let your occupation and your work completely
consume you and have nothing else outside of work is that when you have, if work is
your life, if your job is your life, if you had a bad day on the job, you would have a
terrible life at the end of the day.
But if you had a, if you separate them and you are also, you know, you're also a person
who enjoys playing video games, hanging out with his friends, you've got a loving relationship
that you've got that you also put, you know, a fair amount of your priorities into, right?
If you have a bad day at the job, you still have other things that happen in your life
as well.
Okay?
Same way for me now, if I have a bad, if I have a bad fight with Sabrina, with my wife,
but I had a great talk set, it kind of evens out.
I don't feel completely miserable when I go to sleep at night.
Right?
Yeah.
I mean, I had a miserable talk set, everything, you know, screwed up when I was on shift,
but you know, my wife made me a great meal when I came home too.
You have balance, you've got something good to kind of even things out.
I mean, sure, there will be days where you have fights with your, with your, with your
partners and you had a terrible, you know, day on the job as well.
But you know, that's less likely to happen than just having one bad thing going on in
one part of your life.
Right?
And I think people realize this only way too late, you know?
And if you only focus, it's like putting all your eggs in one basket.
Right?
If, if everything is bad in that one particular aspect and you made that aspect your whole
life, then it's going to be, it's going to lead to things like resentment, bitterness,
you get tired, you get depressed.
And once again, I mean, you know, as I get older, you know, mental health and mental
well-being are more important things to me.
Okay.
Words of wisdom from Timmo.
But just to let you know, in a nutshell, yeah, for the young people out there, just don't
be a slouch, whatever it is.
Work-life balance, yeah, but don't take that overboard.
Okay?
That's my worry.
Anyways, let's talk about ambition.
Ambition.
When you were in school, which school were you from?
Let's talk about primary school and secondary school.
Okay.
I was, I was in a few primary schools.
No, no, no.
I didn't get kicked out before you came.
I started off in Ross Sath Primary.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
For a couple of years.
Smart kid.
No, no, no, no.
It's just close to my house.
Okay.
But it's Ross Sath.
Ross Sath is one of those, one of those schools, right?
Way out there.
I was only there for two years.
I was only there for two years because my father worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He was a diplomat.
So then I moved.
I went overseas.
I went to Indonesia for a couple of years.
Coming back, just in time for PSLE.
Yeah.
I can imagine years in Indonesia coming back for PSLE is like culture shock.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I went, somehow I went to an international school, which is a little bit more slack then.
At least my experience in international school was it was more slack than our curriculum
in Singapore.
So I did a couple of years, did my PSLE in Serangoon Garden, Serangoon.
Country Club.
Serangoon Garden South School, because I was a Gardens kid, right?
And then after that for secondary school, I went to St. Andrews.
Oh, okay.
We're in St. Andrews.
After that, I went to Nyan Pali, did mass communications.
Yes.
And that's kind of, you know, where my radio journey began.
Okay.
But when you were in school, let's talk about secondary school.
Let's not be ridiculous and go all the way back to primary school.
Have you ever harbored any ambition to be on radio one day?
No, not when I was in secondary school.
I can tell you exactly the moment where I thought I wanted to consider a career in radio.
I was actually in the polytechnic for one year before I went to mass communications.
I went to computer studies, right?
And it was the stupidest reason why I chose to go to computer studies.
I had my option between going to mass communications and going to computer studies.
In my mind, I really thought I would be spending three years in the polytechnic if I went to
computer studies playing computer games.
Yeah, that's what I...
Hey, man, come on.
At 17 years old, you ought to have known better too, right?
I just, you know, I was like, oh, I could be a hacker or something like that.
Please play computer games.
When I go mass communications, it sounds like there's a lot of writing.
You're fucking kidding me, right?
After one year, when I realized I was not playing any video games or computer games,
and you know, I was struggling with math, that's when I chose to go to mass communications.
So you changed course?
Yes, after a year.
But it was during that time where I was listening to radio one day and I can't even remember
which radio DJ was on at the time, but I just thought, wow, this actually, this is a job.
People get paid to do this.
I feel like I could do this.
Okay.
Right?
So when I went to mass communications, I realized radio was a module that you could do.
And I, and from that, from that point, I focused all my energies in learning as much as I could
about radio and excelling in that subject, getting as many internships as I could, get
as much experience as I could.
And you know, so I went, I did my internship in, in class 95.
I went for a radio training course at Rediffusion.
Oh, wow.
Then we went, we went into Nelson back then.
Yes.
I think at that point, yeah.
Chris Ho at the time was actually Chris Ho and John Klaas.
Yeah.
John was there.
Yeah.
Um, and okay.
And then after that, uh, I managed to get myself internships in Cambodia because my
dad was still, you know, a diplomat at the time.
So I was just doing everything.
In Cambodia, do what?
Internships radio?
Yes.
In Cambodia.
Holy crap.
So I went to a radio station and a radio station my dad managed.
It must have been fun.
It was quite.
Yeah.
It was quite.
Any rules governing anything there?
Yes.
Well, actually no, not that there are rules.
There were no rules.
Oh man.
Here in most radio stations and Singaporean radio stations, in fact, most professional
radio stations, you know, that playlist, right?
Yeah.
You know, you shouldn't play a same song within how many hours.
Yeah.
Over there, as long as somebody asks for the song, you play it.
Yeah.
You can play it three times in an hour.
You can play it seven times in three hours.
You know the one song I played over and over again?
My heart goes sha la la la la.
Oh gosh.
Yeah.
Seven times in three hours.
The whole time.
So, but I mean, that was fun.
They've got that going in Brunei as well.
When I was there for NS, right?
When, well, I'm talking about NS man training in Timberong and the radio plays, you know,
in the SCF base that we've got, they're not going to mention names.
And the DJs there, they play the same song, same thing, like three times in an hour.
And at that time it was Destiny's Child.
Good God.
Down, down, down.
Over and over and over again, like it's on a loop.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was nuts.
But it's fun anyway, in a certain sense, because you don't have regulators breathing down your
neck.
Right?
So you could say things, talk about things.
Yeah.
I think it's kind of fun.
Okay.
And I think that's also why, you know, podcasting in general is also exploding, you know, as
much as it is because anyone with a microphone can kind of do a show, right?
And you are not, you're not under handcuffed, right?
You can talk about any topic you want.
I'd like to think you can talk about any topic you want, but I don't know how strict some
regulators are even in this country.
Well, I was speaking for myself.
I do tap on the brakes a little bit on certain things.
You won't find me talking about politics.
You won't find me talking about religion.
Race, well, it depends on the context, you know?
I mean, I'm ultra minority, not just minority.
Devin called, Devin coined that term when I had him on my other show.
What does that mean?
Well, he's chindian.
Yes.
So he considers himself an ultra minority.
And I said, actually, it's kind of cool.
Actually, I look at it the opposite.
I feel he should be a majority because he gets to enjoy both.
That makes sense too.
I mean, he's got, yep, yep.
I know what you mean.
But for me, of course, I'm Eurasian, yeah, mom's Chinese, dad's Eurasian, you know?
But then again, if you take a look at the lineage, it's really a mishmash of a lot of
things.
So yeah, ultra minority.
But I don't talk about, you know, frivolously on a whim where race is concerned.
So I don't touch these areas.
To me, I just think it's, what's the point?
That's not going to be nice.
You know, am I free in my language?
Fuck yeah.
I mean, why not?
Right?
I think for those who squeamish, don't watch.
Yes.
Don't watch the show if you can't take profanity.
So what?
I'm just being expressive, not hurling it at anyone.
You know?
So to me, it's great to express yourself, but naturally be disciplined enough and be
cultured enough not to go too far.
Yeah.
Because you have the maturity to know.
Yeah.
The reason why I ask you all these, all those questions is now I'm so glad you, you really
volunteer a lot.
I hardly had to talk to you, which is great.
Which is great.
And because there are people out there who are wondering, you know, how, you know, I
mean, like you said, four hour shift, you've got such a great gig, man.
Four hour shift.
I wish.
But you know something, when you think about this, you're doing the evening drive time
on the one way home.
And that's a shift from four to eight.
And you're going to miss out on something that you can make extra bucks from.
And that would be shows at night.
Getting on stage to host an event.
I've never been really fully entrenched in the, in the whole MC scene.
To be honest, you really, I mean, when I got into radio, that's really all I wanted to
do.
Never really marketed myself out to do gigs and things like that.
So actually you'd be quite surprised to know I, I am not really all that experienced.
I've done a fair amount of gigs, but nowhere close to what the average media radio DJ does.
Okay.
So that's the reason why you say Tim Oh is an ordinary guy.
Why?
Why is that?
Because you only do radio and that's it.
You don't go out there and do the gigs on stage and stuff like that.
No, and also because, I mean, like you mentioned, I, having done EDT, evening drive time, for
most of my career.
Yes, a lot of the gigs, that's something that I have never really gotten a chance to do.
Because yeah, doing those hours is exactly what I'm saying.
If I mean, for example, if you got a morning slot, right?
And then you have, well, your evenings free, you know, for a couple of hours, you go out
there and do, do, do a short gig for three, four hours, get paid good bucks.
You're a celebrity, you know, you get paid more than people like me.
I really sometimes I wonder, sometimes I wonder about that.
I wonder about that just because, just because a celeb doesn't necessarily mean people like
me can't do a show too, you know?
Oh no, I would hire Chris over at Tim Oh any day.
No, no, no, no.
I'm not, I'm not referring to you, man.
I mean, generally speaking, it's true.
It's true.
Really.
Let me tell you the conundrum in that, in that part, that side of the world, okay.
That side of the business.
Oh, celebrity must be better than the other guy who's not a celebrity, but who's been
around.
That's, that's, that's the reality.
Really?
I feel like it's the opposite these days.
I mean, my impression, I mean, coming from the broadcast side of things, right?
I feel most people would go for, rather than go for anyone who is on radio or on a, you
know, who might even be considered anywhere close to a celebrity, they would probably
avoid them.
Why?
Because they would ultimately assume these people are going to be more expensive.
Well, they do assume that, but the bigger boys-
They'd rather go for someone who is just a full-time MC than someone who dabbles in broadcast.
But they are, they are the big, big boys, you know, the big boys who's got the mula
and they would go and they would spend that money.
You know what I mean?
And I think the biggest mistake they make is that they hire the influencers to host
events.
I mean, come on, right?
So sometimes I wonder, you know, I mean, stop being so shallow and get people for what they
are and how they do their work, how professional they are and how they get the job done and
beyond expectations, especially.
Right?
And not just take on because, oh, he's an influencer.
Do you see how many followers he's got?
That's not the point, right?
The point is, is about the work that people do, that these people do on stage for you
and for your objectives.
And I've been doing this for 37 years, really.
And stage especially.
And I've heard it all, man.
Then there was a period where if you're not Pan-Asian, we're not taking you on.
Yeah.
Is this still like that?
I don't know about now though, you know, because right now I really don't give a shit.
If you want to pay me and if you can't afford to pay me, I'll do the show.
But then again, it all depends on what kind of show.
Right?
But I don't really go out there marketing myself anymore like I used to for years.
And I really don't know how, whether that's still prevalent today when it comes to, you
got to be Pan-Asian looking, exotic, blah, blah, blah.
There was a time it was really annoying.
And I've had Pan-Asian people complaining to me about they're not Pan-Asian enough.
Really?
Yeah.
Oh man.
Plastic, painted.
Really.
I mean, and it's so disgusting sometimes, man.
And what you said just now about, you're so right.
You are married eight years?
Wow.
I think you said eight years.
Like 2014 to now is how many years?
Nine years.
Okay.
And your boy is five.
Like me, my demographic's the same, right?
Wife, me, but we've been married coming 22 years.
Kids can be 14.
And I made a promise because you know why?
You're either a father or you're a dad.
And I've always reminded myself that do not be a father, be a dad.
And I made a promise to myself and eventually to my son who is old enough to understand
that every single day daddy will drive you to nursery, then kindergarten, throughout
the six years in primary up till today.
He doesn't need me, of course, to send him to school or pick him up.
But those are moments, especially if you have a son, when you have a son, dads ought to
have that drive time.
Oh, believe me, fun.
We talk football and the car drives.
We'll see.
You know?
I mean, as in we'll see when he goes to school whether or not I'm still doing drive time.
No, but you think about it, if you're still doing drive time, in the mornings you can
send him to school.
Bro, I'm not a morning person.
I would like to be sleeping in the morning.
It's already a little bit grumpy, right?
Because he's waking me up in the morning at seven in the morning and I only slept at three
a.m. in the morning.
You could kiss that goodbye because you better end up being a morning person.
I was hardly a morning person too.
But when the kid got old enough for mainstream school, yeah, make yourself one.
Get yourself to be one.
Be a morning person.
And you know what?
You'll love it.
I wake up at 5.30 every morning, every day, weekdays, to send my kid to school.
And I think that's one of the best moments you can have.
From one dad to another dad, man.
No, no, no.
I mean, what you say makes a lot of sense.
And here is one of the reasons why I have always, this is the excuse I've always given
when people go, why don't you wake up early in the morning?
And a big part of it is because of my show.
I use my work as the excuse.
Because I always say that I need to be at my most awake when I go on into the studio.
So I mean, for the average person who goes to work from 9 to 6, at what time of their
day are they going to be mentally the sharpest?
Probably optimal.
Optimum probably maybe about 11 o'clock, I would think.
What time would you say would be the optimal time?
Before lunch, after lunch?
You're right.
About 11, 11.30.
Probably about 11.
Then after you go for lunch, you come back from lunch, you're going to knock.
You feel like nodding off about 2 o'clock.
About 4 o'clock you start looking at your watch and go, fuck that, I want to go home.
So basically, if 11 o'clock in a 9 to 5 day is optimal, 4 p.m. when I start my show has
to be my 11 a.m.
Which means, to be honest, if you want to do the math, I should only be waking up at
lunch tonight.
Unfortunately, we know that's not going to happen because we still have meetings and
things like that.
But that is one of my biggest fears.
I'm not one of those who, oh yeah sure, I can wake up at 7 a.m. and then I'll take a
quick nap at 11 o'clock and know.
It'll not happen.
You're right.
Anyway, then again, it's just my little bit of suggestion or rather my little bit of offering
to you.
No, and it makes a lot of sense to be honest.
I think at that point in time, I hope, I don't know if my bosses are listening, when Charlie
starts going to school, I want to maybe move to another show.
Not the morning show, please.
No God, not the morning show.
I've learned that when I make wishes, I must be very specific with my wishes.
Which shift?
10 o'clock?
Maybe a lunch show, maybe a lunch or an afternoon.
That's kind of sweet.
10 to what?
One?
10 to one.
Yeah.
10 to two.
That is the best.
You get the best of both worlds.
You get the mornings, you get the afternoons, you go for movie screenings, you get to host
gigs.
But then I don't know whether I'll be too old to host gigs.
You're too old to host gigs, man.
Yeah, you'll be like, oh Tim, too old for the market already.
Which now that you've mentioned that, and I think it's getting late, so I'm going to
just come to this bit of the show.
Part of my notes anyway.
Life after radio, man.
We have plans for life after radio.
Are you asking me if I have a plan B?
Are you asking me if I have another job I want to do?
I'm asking you whether or not.
Well, no, I'm not even asking about that though.
I'm just asking, is there going to be a time that you will leave radio?
Sometimes people have to make a decision, right?
You can't go on to this until you're 85.
Uncle Brian recently just retired.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
Respect to the man.
Yeah.
And well, what's Tim O's plan?
I don't know.
The funny thing is I have considered leaving radio multiple times.
Really?
Okay.
Tim O is the village bicycle of radio.
He has been everywhere.
Literally everywhere.
Really?
Every station?
Every broadcast station?
Every music English radio station ever, including those that are no longer in operation like
Lush.
You name them.
97, Class, Lush.
Radio Heart.
No way, right?
Well, 91.3.
Oh yeah, that's it.
Yeah.
I've talked about them multiple times.
I have multiple stints at each radio station.
I've even done symphony as well at one point.
Yes.
So I started at Power 98.
So every English radio station, music station, I have been on.
And that means I've been to the three broadcasters in Singapore.
So I started off at SPH.
I mean, sorry.
I started off at Safra Radio.
Yeah, Safra.
Then I went to Media Corp.
And then I went to, and then I'm now at SPH.
Each time I've left a company, I left with no job at somewhere else.
Wow.
All right?
So yes, each time I've left, people are like, oh, why would you leave?
Unless you've got a place in mind.
But for some reason or another, I just didn't.
Whether it was to go away to study, whether it's because I just needed a break.
And each time you leave, you have to be very, very aware.
And you have to be very, very conscious of the possibility that the moment you leave,
you may not come back.
Right.
And that's a plain and simple reason where as much as we would love to think we're the
best DJs and everybody wants us, it's limited spaces in Singapore.
This is a job that a lot of people want to do.
Yep.
And they are limited.
When the shows have been taken up, there's a guy already anchoring the show, or fronting
the show.
You're just not going to have a spot.
Absolutely.
You could be one of the best DJs, but just no opening.
Yeah.
So each time I have left a company, I've had to do so knowing that this really could be
the last time.
Bullseye, man.
Yes.
Some might say stupid.
No, I won't say stupid.
I'll say ballsy.
Because I tell you, when you're entrenched in a place, it's so hard to leave.
And even when you left these stations, that was before you got married?
No.
So I mean, when I left Safra Radio, when I left Power 98, I left to study.
So that was my push.
Because at that time, I had already graduated from the polytechnic.
I got my diploma.
And if you are going to do a degree, a related degree, you usually get some exemptions, right?
Credit transfers.
Right.
But at the time, I don't know if it still applies, you have five years.
Meaning, if you want to take advantage of your exemptions, you need to, within five
years, take your degree.
And my five years was running out.
So I knew, okay, I need to leave.
I need to go and get my degree.
So that's when I left Power.
And I knew I could leave Power and may not be able to come back.
There may not be a position.
Eventually, when I came back from school, I joined MediaCorp, where I was for 12 years.
And I went through all the different radio stations and all that.
And I got married.
I met my wife while I was at MediaCorp.
She was a Channel News Asia presenter at the time.
But when I decided I was going to leave back in 2016 or 2017, it's not like I had a job
waiting for me at SPH.
But at that point, I knew I had to leave.
And I did.
And each time I have left, there's always been a, okay, what are you going to do?
And it's not for lack of trying.
I have sent out resumes, considered doing other things.
But for some reason or other, I always find myself coming back to radio.
I don't know if it's because it feels-
So you had no job in between at all?
Working for any company, any business?
No.
No?
I mean, I did some freelance stuff, freelance writing, copywriting stuff.
But no, no, no.
Wow, ballsy.
Being a radio DJ is the only full-time job I've ever had in my life.
So this is mean that there will not be a day that Tim O will actually call it a day completely
from radio.
I'm sure one day I'm probably going to be too old, or some other responsibility or commitment
might need me more.
If I wasn't a radio DJ, what would I like to do?
Yeah.
Life after radio.
I kid you not.
People all give me that same-
What the fuck?
Look at the expression on his face.
I want to be a butcher, right?
So we've got these like skills future points, right?
I really want to take a-
What's the drive for you wanting to be a fucking butcher?
Because I fucking love meat.
Right?
And I feel, you know, if I'm going to eat meat, I should at least know how to butcher
meat and I should know more about it.
And I really do.
You're not shitting me about this, are you?
No, no.
Really?
In fact, you want to.
You got skills future points, we don't take together.
No, fuck it.
I know I look like a freaking butcher, yeah.
But I have no freaking-
What does he look great in a butcher's apron?
I do not have a call, a calling to go and chop freaking meat up, yeah?
You're welcome to it, man.
I was looking, you know, at one point we were also considering maybe moving to New Zealand,
right?
And when I was looking at being a butcher, I wanted to open a butchery, like a butcher
shop in New Zealand.
That's the weirdest damn thing.
I've never heard of any- you know when I get older, I just want to be a butcher.
I want to go and find little fucking cows and-
They're like, well, I wouldn't be necessarily-
It is what a real butcher does.
No, no, no, that's the slaughterer at the slaughterhouse, right?
I don't want to work in an abattoir, I want to work in my-
No, man, I don't know about New Zealand at all because I know in Italy, they slaughter
the cow too.
And then they, after that-
Yes.
Oh, they butcher it after that?
They rear the cows too.
They slaughter the cows.
Okay, I would do sentimental-
You know, I don't know if any vegans watch this show, you know, and they're going to
go, what the fuck, we're going to get real slimed online.
But that's reality, I mean, butchers exist and Timur wants to be a butcher.
Exactly.
But you'll meet.
But there's no- I don't think there's a cause for-
There is butchery cause.
No way.
No, there is.
Where do you check it out?
Yes.
Using your skillseture.
Yes.
There is definitely a cause.
Oh, boy.
Well, I hope you really spend the time and get that certification to be a professional
butcher.
One day, one day, and maybe I'll do a radio show on butchery.
Butchery FM.
You know, and every talk set will be about a different cut of me.
You know, even I've thought about this, even, you know, my intro instead of how you doing
will be, why are you doing?
Oh, gosh.
Cheesy.
Do I- though I do like that Monica Bro and the girl with Timur.
Oh, thank you very much.
There's a kind of- there's a ring to it, you know.
It's kind of nice.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
And the One Way Home is a pretty good name for the show too.
Thank you.
Did you come up with that?
Yes, I did.
Oh, good.
I was very proud of it actually because I came up with the One Way Home when I first
was brought over to one of them.
And I've always- I don't know, I've always been the kind of DJ where I like the station
name in the show.
You know what I mean?
Because I feel that if you have a good name, you know, and a name with legacy, it doesn't
matter which DJ is on, the name can stay.
You know, and at the end of the day, that show should be more important than the person
who is actually hosting it.
And that is specifically why I called it the One Way Home.
Yeah, but you know, I've always liked the Morning Express.
It's dead now.
Yes, yes, yes.
But that is a good example.
It's dead now because-
So use that, with that particular example, right?
For the longest time, it didn't matter who was on the Morning Express, it was still the
Morning Express.
It didn't matter who was on lunch break, it was still called lunch break.
We're talking about Class 95 by the way.
It didn't matter who was doing, you know, the music marathon, it was always the music
marathon.
And I feel that if you are going to commit to a program, you should build that program
in a way it will have legacy, no matter who is-
And permanence.
Yes.
And so, this is where I come to this part, just to end tonight's show.
Tim O wants to be a butcher, but I've got a better suggestion.
What is that?
SPH radio.
Move him to the morning.
No, don't do that.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Move him to the morning and call him, instead of bro, on the go, call him the butcher.
So that Class 95, there are two animals there, right?
Oh, hey, hey, don't-
Right, here we go, here we go, here we go!
Making me feel sheepish.
See what I did there?
Sheepish.
Okay, everyone, this has been the Chris Hansen conversation.
I hope you guys enjoyed the first episode.
It's really, really, really good to be back and I'm so glad that on the main episode,
I actually have Tim O in the studio with me.
Thanks so much, Tim.
I really don't know what we talked about tonight.
I don't know.
When people look back, or like when I go-
What the fuck were these two people talking about?
What was the show about tonight?
I really don't know what to tell her.
What was the show about?
So it sucks, doesn't it?
We talked about-
We talked about Vade, we talked about being dads, but was there a theme you wanted tonight?
No.
No?
I hardly have any.
Okay.
It's just me sitting there.
I've got questions, sure.
I just want to find out basic stuff.
But my guests start talking and when they start talking and they go on talking-
Hang on, you didn't have-
I don't have anything-
You didn't have alcohol.
I don't need to ask anything.
The conversation would end in another three minutes.
Oh yeah, I had a show where there was two bottles were wiped out in an hour, man.
What was it?
And Bernard was on it.
Of course.
What a show.
There was really no direction.
What was the alcohol?
Is my question-
It was, it was, it was, the alcohol was by the Orientalists.
Michael Lu was one of the guests together with Brian.
Michael brought along the booze.
That's why you invited him, right?
Because you knew he was going to bring the booze.
Well, it was Dennis Fu's idea.
So it was really fun to have him, you know, these two people.
Those three guys were together with me and we were really doing the show.
And no direction, man, but it was good fun.
And I think viewers enjoyed the episode.
I'd rather have this kind of conversations and then it's planned, you know, produced.
And then what?
Yeah.
People will go, oh, this is so produced.
It's so planned.
It's so structured.
It's so formatted.
There's no flare, man.
Well, I think that's also the difference when it comes to, to say broadcasting and when
it comes to doing a podcast is that you have a lot of leeway to stretch out.
You know what I mean?
Because if I need to take a break as a listener, I can pause and carry on.
Exactly.
You don't get to do that when you're on FM broadcast.
That's why we, all the DJs have to keep everything really short, concise, hence produced.
And brevity is key.
Because they need to catch, put everything in those 30 seconds.
Yeah.
Tough man.
Tough job.
But not really true entirely.
But, CCB TV belongs to me.
And we've got, I'm going to be shameless, shamelessly plugged this in.
Okay.
442 Dudes, tonight as a matter of fact, we've released our second episode.
And that's formatted, man.
Oh, is it?
Oh, I formatted that show.
It has to be formatted so that we know what we can do.
We're going to give you match reviews, then we give you match predictions.
And after that we go into football news all over the world, things that's notable to be
mentioned.
And then unpopular opinions in the end.
You know?
Those are the best.
Like stupid referees, you know, three red cards in one freaking game, that kind of thing.
You know what I mean?
So that one has to be formatted.
So not entirely.
I mean, I think it's great when you have the structure and discipline, so to speak, of
radio, formatted radio into a podcast for certain shows.
And for certain shows, we go, hey guys on radio, hey Tim O, look at me, I'm talking
shit today.
You can't do this.
I can do this.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So it's, that's the freedom we get.
Yeah, sure.
For shows like this.
But it doesn't mean that we don't have any, that we don't structure a format.
Okay.
Yeah.
See, I was about to say good night.
Yeah, that's right.
Woo!
Here we go.
I was going to ask for another Milo and then say good night.
Yeah, I can get you another Milo, man.
But right now, we really have to say good night.
And it is nighttime right now as we're shooting this episode.
Do catch us for the next release, okay?
And I'm going to publish the next show of the Chris Hansen Conversation CHC.
Sleep tight because I need to change my underwear right now.
Good night.