All my creativity stolen by somebody else. But in the end I said, hey, imitation is the best form of flattery man.
The game is good, that's why they're using it.
Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of the Chris Hansen conversation. I have with me someone rather extraordinary.
And I really mean that. Simply because, you know, I have been an MC for a very, very, very, very long time.
Stopping short of the fifth very, but four verys I think quite enough to really describe and express how long I've been doing this.
And you know, I've been quite a critique.
Well, some fellow MCs would probably hate me for saying this shit, but I'm going to tell you, I am quite the cynic, I'm quite the critique.
And if I have someone who's also a fellow MC seated with me in my studio for this show, it only goes to prove one thing, that this guy is that damn fucking good.
And that's the reason why he's here with me. And I have with me and I call him the MC extraordinaire, Cyril Lim. Welcome to the studio.
Hey Chris, thanks for having me man.
Hey anytime my friend and you as I said, and I meant every word I said, let me tell you man, I have seen MCs and I have seen MCs, but dude, you have got it all.
Thank you for the kind words. I don't know about having it all, but to me, I mean, I've been blessed.
Okay, I mean, it's been a long career. If you talk about very, very, very, I probably can add two more verys to your four or five.
I've had a decent career. I've had the chance to entertain people and then make decent money and it's given me quite a good living.
I don't work every day. I get to work, I get to travel. So I'm glad I have the talent to be able to do that.
And in fact, before coming on your show today, I worked again. It's good to have worked after.
On May Day.
May Day where people rest, I work. But I'm happy to have worked. I mean, you know, I mean, you're an MC.
So you know our plight because of the past, what the pandemic.
The pandemic, yeah.
I mean, basically we had no work for quite a bit and now I tell people I'm happy to have worked.
So it's okay to labor on Labor Day.
It's always good to do.
Okay, today is the first of May. Today that we're shooting this episode is the first of May.
Just so you guys know.
Yep.
Okay. And on Labor Day, you labor and New Year's Eve, you labor.
Not really.
Oh really?
Not really. I mean, in the past, yes. But I kind of think these days, I mean, New Year's Eve,
there are a lot more, I don't know, street parties and parties like on the beach and all that.
So the only people really kind of doing New Year's Eve parties maybe are the associations and the hotels.
Yeah.
And then for, the truth is for the longest time, I've always thought that the New Year's Eve gig is the harder gig to do
because, hey, look, say a normal corporate gig, what time would it end?
What time does it end these days as people don't dance anymore?
Yeah, and just corporate gig, corporate gig. Don't say DND, corporate gig.
Okay, corporate gigs. Okay. Now there's a differentiation now. It's called corporate gigs.
Okay.
See, that's how long I've been out of the game.
All right.
Okay. So corporate gigs probably, I would think somewhere in the tune of about say 10, 10.30.
Yeah, you got it spot on. Sometimes even nine plus because we're talking about people coming into work.
They start early, you know, those like retailers and partners sometimes they have these.
So maybe even 9.45, 10. But you got it around the ballpark 10, 10.30.
You talk about, I mean, hey, what's standard for some MCs, the DNDs, the dinner and dances.
Way back then, hey man, you could even work till midnight in a midnight draw, but these days is less.
So these days, I would say even these DNDs, the N10 plus 11, hardly.
But there's a D now. There's no second D there. It's a dinner, no dance, man.
That's a joke. I heard it from other MCs, maybe even it was Justin.
It's no longer, hey guys, it's not a dinner and draw, but it's a dinner and dance.
But you know, people don't dance. You mean it's not a dinner and dance, but a dinner and draw.
It's the other way around, right? We're trying to tell people, please, guy, DND stands for dinner and dance, not dinner and draw.
Okay, come on. No draw and go home. Stay and dance.
Why do you think that's a phenomenon today?
I think maybe because the kids and all, I mean, kids, they want to hang out with maybe when they go out,
you know, to the clubs and all that. That's one thing.
The other is unless it's a smaller crowd where everybody knows everybody and then the culture, then yes, maybe.
Well, I've had Kenneth Mark and Party Man with me on one of my episodes.
And it's clearly quite a phenomenon because people don't party the way they used to party.
They don't party that hard anymore. Maybe drink, yeah, but party, really, really party.
So, I mean, even in the club scene, man, I don't know whether that's really happening,
whether people are really dancing, you know, having a great time on the dance floor.
I don't know because I've not been out to a club for a while now.
I mean, the only time I've been probably was to, you know, where you talked about Party Man because, you know,
when he always has some program running and sometimes one of my personal DJ spins there,
I go in support, but I leave at 10 plus because these days, no choice, man.
I got to wake up at 5.30 to send my son to school.
You, me, both. You, me, both, man. 5.30 in the morning, man. We're up, right?
So, coming back to this, I want to, so it ends 10 plus 11.
And I find New Year's Eve always, you have to work till at least about 1 a.m.
Because first and foremost, you got to get to New Year's, which is midnight, right?
Yeah, of course, yeah.
You got to get to New Year's, which is midnight, countdown.
And then after that, with the online sign, you still want them to party a little bit.
And maybe there's a draw at the end of it all. I don't know.
Okay. So, that you got to work hard till about, I don't know, minimum 12.30 a.m., 1 a.m.
Then, then I say, on New Year's Eve, everything costs at least double.
Right? So, you're talking about your sound system. People, they'll cost double.
The performers will cost double. So, so.
So, is your fee.
So, my fee. So, I agree. But you see, most of the time, sometimes, hey, we've got Cyril.
He's a game machine, right? And then we have him and him alone.
And I got no performers, no nothing.
And you do the whole night.
And I've got to do the whole night. And you sweat.
Yeah.
Because imagine people coming in at 7.30.
Yeah.
Okay.
And you, and say, dinner, eight, eight, dinner starts.
Yeah.
Right? So, 8.30.
Uh-huh.
8.30, 9.30, 10.30, 11.30 to 12.
Uh-huh.
I mean, okay, let's, let's, let's just say it till 11.30.
Because half an hour, you put them on a dance floor.
Right.
To usher in the New Year.
Right.
That's a lot of games.
Yeah, well, yeah. But you know, it's, it's, to me, sitting here, listening to what you,
what you just said.
Yes.
I, I wonder what I've been doing wrong, man.
Because you know why? For almost, I mean, it's been what, 30, God, 30 plus years I've
been doing this.
And, and, you know, I mean, of course, not as much as I used to.
Okay.
Okay, by choice.
Yep.
By choice.
Yep.
But hey, you know, my average gig, yeah.
Yep.
I am the only performer, like, nine out of ten.
And, and I play games, right.
I do the protocol part of the program, the early, start of the night, followed by games.
From your group games to your couple games to your individual games.
Yeah.
Then I sing.
Right.
And I do the draws.
Yep.
And my, the average time I would end the show, it's two in the morning.
That's why you see you've got talent.
You can bloody sing.
That's not the point.
You can't sing.
The point is, is that I, I, when I see the other performers in the program, I go, thank
goodness for that, right.
Because it takes a lot of labor off me.
Yep.
But that was quite, there wasn't many of those, you know, back, way back when.
We used to just go on and on and on and on, man.
So I agree.
I'm like same with you.
So, and performances, let me give me my, my, my take on it.
Performances also sometimes is hit and miss.
You bring a crowd to a certain level.
You need at least a decent performer coming in that keeps the crowd at that level or brings
it higher.
Yep.
That is easy for you to carry on.
Easy for the work.
Yeah.
Imagine you have a performer come in and bam.
Yep.
The whole thing comes down.
That performer or the team I've had, and you thought, you know, some dance and then they
come in and then, you know, they're crap.
Yep.
You've got to start building the crowd, the atmosphere all over again.
All over again.
So that's why it's hit and miss.
Yep.
And then what I'm saying is New Year's Eve, I work harder.
Then I decided, then I decided, hey, I, I should just charge premium.
Yeah.
So I, I used to charge premium.
I mean, I, because my, my rate can go up to like five figures.
Right.
And so for many years, nobody hired me.
And then now that is the time of the year.
Yeah.
I kind of go on holiday.
Okay.
So you bring the rates up so no one would want to take you in.
No, no, no, no.
I put it out there, man.
My premium is there.
You want me to work?
Fine.
Well, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
So if people, if someone was willing to pay zero lim, the fee that you're asking for,
for New Year's Eve, you would work.
I would.
You would work.
So you say, you'll kiss goodbye to the holiday.
No, I'll come back on the 30th, man.
Okay.
So my holidays, so, so, so, so this also is different from back then.
Back then on, even on Christmas, you, you get gigs.
There were, there were companies that had Christmas day parties.
On Christmas day.
Right.
But more and more, the corporate companies will never, will rarely do anything during
the Christmas week.
All the bosses take leave.
Uh-huh.
So even Christmas parties are a little bit before Christmas.
Yeah, but you do Christmas parties.
I don't.
You don't.
Me too.
Christmas parties, if they are like, I don't know, a week before Christmas.
Yeah, that's fine.
But on Christmas day.
No, that's my favorite time of the year.
Exactly.
I refuse shows on Christmas day.
I don't know.
I've always been away.
I've always been away, man.
So yeah.
I've always made it a point though.
You know, Christmas Eve, Christmas day, I don't do gigs.
Okay.
Though admittedly there were the odd one or two occasions that I did for, that I have
for Christmas Eve at least, but Christmas day, no way.
Wow.
Yeah, no way.
No, no way.
New Year's Eve, we have begged for it, man.
Used to beg for it because as you said, you know, premium rates.
Yes.
And it's New Year's Eve, so why the hell not?
But I'm, I'm, I'm curious because you know, we've had our conversations before, of course,
off camera, and you said that by nature, you're an introvert.
I have to correct you.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
In the beginning.
Did I read you wrong?
No, no, no, no.
All I'm saying is when I was a lot younger, you know, I was, I was super extrovert.
Okay.
Which I feel that's me.
Right.
You know, I've always wanted to be the life of the party.
I was always, you know, I was always, I was always huge in the dancing, you know.
So if I'm in a club and my song comes out, I could be on the stage, I could be on the
bar, you know, because I know I kind of move good and people, you know, so I mean, I wasn't
that good a looker, but I move well, so people look at me.
I've always been that way.
But because of the nature of my job, which is now 30 odd years, you know, so now I'm
a bit different, you know, because at your job, you are, you have to be the life of the
party.
You have to be that guy.
You have to be the man.
Right.
So much so that these days when, when in my off time, more often than not, I'm a little
bit more laid back.
Laid back, huh?
Laid back now.
It's called getting old.
Why the hell am I on this stupid podcast?
I come here and I get, I get called old.
Fuck that bro.
It's about getting old.
Okay.
I mean, it's like, you feel like you want to move.
You go, even if you, if you listen to a good song, you feel like you want to move, but
you're like, fuck that, I'm not going to move.
Right.
This was, this was going on.
That's kind of true, because I still can party like a rock star, but the next day you see
me walking.
Exactly.
I look like an old fart.
I don't know, man.
You walk in these legs are aching, feet are going, you know, that kind of shit.
So when you, but what made you, honestly, I mean, let's, let's go to the beginning.
Okay.
Sure.
The life of Cyril Lim, the story is that you must have.
Okay.
From the time, I know for a fact that you were, you were an SGI boy.
Yes.
Okay.
Let me correct that.
Okay.
It's the same thing for all Asalians.
Okay.
Once an SGI boy, always an SGI boy.
Am I right?
Yes.
So I always a sin fans boy, that doesn't change.
But from there, after that, when you started life, did you, I mean, talk about, let's talk
about school.
After SGI, what do you do?
Where do you go?
Well, I made it to junior college somehow.
No shit.
Yeah.
And, and.
I'm only fucking with you.
Okay.
Which, which JC was that?
Catholic Junior College.
Oh, you were in CJ.
I was in CJ.
Wow.
Okay.
I was in CJ.
I'm not going to go for it in that.
Not bad at all.
You were in CJC and then you got your A levels.
CJC was the, was the peak of my life, bro.
It's been downhill since then.
What?
That's the truth.
Okay.
When you say downhill, it's downhill academically.
Both.
I mean, I think that's a high point of my life.
I mean, maybe if I made it to the university, but I didn't, I mean, but, but CJ, I was like,
man, I was super jock.
I was school soccer captain.
I played rugby for school, a canoe for school.
Wow.
I ran for school.
Jock, man.
I'm not going to tell you the girls who leave messages on the board, but back then I was
a, back then I was a one girl man.
Oh, stupid me.
Anyway, so it's been downhill since then.
So you didn't go to university.
No, man.
What happened after that?
What was life like after that?
So I, okay.
Within, I mean, hey, within the year ended and within a few months I was, I was conscripted
into the army, NS.
Yeah, yeah, of course.
Yeah, so NS came and then, and then because my story is my dad passed away when I was
really, really young.
Okay.
And it's, and it's, it's based on football as well.
He was queuing up to buy some pre-Olympic, I don't know, some tickets at national stadium
at Kalang, you know, and then somehow there was a, there was a massive crowd.
People push and shove.
He fell over.
He had a heart attack.
He passed away at 33.
Oh my Lord.
That's young.
Look, I mean, look, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm,
look, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm 55 now.
Right.
So I, so you can't imagine I was primary three.
The age my boy is now.
Yeah.
So, so, so with that, and then my mom was a housewife.
Came out to work.
So, so thinking back then, you know, I couldn't make it to any university.
I ended with my, with the, you know, the financial status of my family.
Right.
There's no way I can go overseas and all that.
And I just say, Hey, then I kind of did well.
I went to OCS.
Okay.
Kind of did well there.
wanted to sort. Back then, I mean, back then only the top 10% or top, I don't know.
Sword winner.
Well, your sword winner. So, I mean it changed. I mean, I know back then only the
sword winners got sword winners. Then after that, a few batches later, all
officers got swords.
Got a sword, yeah.
So, I was a sword winner. So, I thought, hey, why don't I, you know, become a career soldier?
I signed on.
Okay, so you became a regular.
I became a regular.
An officer. You signed on.
I signed on, yes.
Okay.
So, that took me to, I mean, I was an instructor in OCS. I became like, I was, I did a tour as a staff officer, career counselor in Army Recruitment Center.
And then also I was like a company to IC in the guards and all that. So, that was my career.
And then somehow, after reaching about six years, you know, after the end, I mean, my story was
longer. Normal people sign six years. I signed a short term three year contract at the end of my NS.
Was there such a thing then?
Yeah. Yeah. So, I was at the end of my two and a half years.
Right.
Then they offered me, but I thought, I'll take, I don't know how it feels to become a regular.
I thought I'd do a short contract.
Right.
Three years, which I did. And I did relatively well. And I thought I'll be promoted, which I didn't get promoted.
And then so somehow with that, I decided to leave.
Okay. So, three years did and you left.
Yeah. So, two and a half plus three. So, actually, almost one contract.
Yeah. Okay.
Almost one contract.
If you include in two and a half years.
Yeah. But normally you do. Normally you do. Because when you sign, they kind of backdate it and all.
Oh, they do. They backdate it. I didn't know that. Never signed on. So, I don't know.
So, you left because you didn't get what you wanted.
I didn't get what I want.
Right. Then what happened after that?
I stumbled into your career, my friend.
Oh, let's not go there. Okay. That one, the other one.
Yeah. I stumbled into your career.
Yeah.
As in financial services. I was an agent for a while.
Right.
And somehow my boss then wanted to, I don't know, he wanted to raise his own social profile within the company.
Okay.
And he knew because he was my superior in the army as well.
So, he knew I was always like a...
You mean the one that wrote the book?
Oh, yeah.
The drop in the ocean, that guy?
Oh, he was your boss.
Exactly. He was my boss.
So, and even that book, I can tell you, I probably helped him with the English and all that way back then.
Oh, shit. Okay.
So, anyway, he wanted to raise his social profile. So, he knew that when I was in the army,
in the office mess, I was always taking the mic and just fooling around.
Really, back then, I never knew that I could be anywhere or anything. I was just having fun.
I would take the mic, you know, back then there was vanilla ice with ice, ice, ice.
Yeah.
I could rap it.
All right. Stop collaborating. Listen.
Yeah, yeah. You got it. All right. I could even, I mean, even on the weekends when we were at some Europa,
somewhere with live band, the band can play that song. I'd be invited on stage to rap that song.
I just, I told you, man, I was an extrovert. I mean, I just had, I liked the fun.
Okay.
So, he thought, hey, why don't I suggest to like the up echelon of that financial advising company
when they do one of the, you know, the ra-ra events, I'd be the MC.
Right.
He pitched it to me and I said, why not? For the fun of it, I'll do it.
Right.
And so somehow they said yes. And instead of hiring a professional MC, myself and a training
department girl, we both co-MCed a huge conference at, there was a convention center at the place
where Vivo City is now.
Okay. Harbor Pavilion.
Exactly. So Harbor Pavilion, I think the crowd size, maybe, maybe 3000.
Yeah.
Way back then.
Yeah.
And so, I mean, they gave me instructions. I did whatever there was supposed of me, you know.
I obviously nervous before going on stage, but when I was on stage, I felt like I was on fire.
I had fun. And so the, the event company, the production company that ran that.
Right.
The boss of the event company is Leslie Pillay, if you know, Leslie Pillay.
Oh, yes, of course. Emily.
Exactly.
Leslie and D.V.
So Leslie, after the event, reached out to me and said, hey, Sero, you're quite a decent MC.
Could we get you to work as an MC once in a while? That kind of just blew me away,
opened me up to the thoughts that I could be an MC. I never thought, once thought, you know.
Although when I, even when I was in OCS, when I had like the dining in and the passing out,
you know, we, I remember hiring, I mean, not me, but we hired like Hamish Brown,
Ray Montero. I watched them, but I never.
Hey Hamish, you're being mentioned. Hey Rod, you too, huh?
Yeah. I never once thought I could, I could, I could, I mean, it never,
it never occurred in my mind. I'm totally not from the industry.
Right.
So not like a lot of them who started out DJing and they say, no, I'm really.
Not from the fraternity in the beginning.
Exactly.
So somehow they reached out to me and oddly enough, the same time, because back then,
I mean, soccer, I was a, I, I, I captained my school in CJC and then we, we, you know,
we went all the way to A division.
Wow.
A division finals and we lost to Sundaram Muthi's team.
One, zero.
Really, bro? So, so, so I was a decent soccer player and I was playing soccer with another guy
who also had a really, really solid event company called The Event Company, TEC.
Rings the bell somehow.
Okay. Anyway, his name is Ronnie.
So I had two good companies, all of a sudden say, hey, why don't you try and MC first?
And that's how I started. I didn't not, I did not have a video.
I did not have like a resume I sent out to people.
Somehow they saw that I could hold shows and then they had their own stable of clients.
And every time when they had an event, I was probably first on that list.
Right.
And then I started doing shows.
Funny how life is like.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know. I mean, the, the story is kind of familiar as well.
Well, Leslie, man, let's say you're being mentioned too.
MLA, you remember.
Do you remember how, where did we meet for the first time?
Well, I remember you being on a convention.
No, you see, that's the thing. I, I thought so.
No, no, no.
Okay.
The very first time we met was along China square in a place.
It's not, not around anymore called Mama Africa.
Oh, no. Now that you tell me, yes.
Yeah. And you were there with Sheldon.
Yes.
I was there to meet Sheldon and you were hosting that gig.
And we were introduced by Sheldon for the first time.
Ah, okay.
And then you said to me, oh, you are Chris Hansen.
Ah.
Then that's when I, that's when I heard that you were the guy that does shows for MLA.
Ah.
I used to do shows, but for Lexington, which was a subsidiary of MLA back then.
Oh yes, yes, yes.
Yeah.
So, so now, now that you say, I do recall that that time I met you, because I was
the first time I met you because yeah, Mama Africa, because the boss of Mama Africa.
Sebastian.
Yeah.
Met me somewhere.
Yeah.
And then there was a time he used me for, for, I mean, Rara.
Yeah, yeah.
In his joints.
Yeah, yeah.
All African joints.
Yeah.
Actually, I remember, I remember him well enough.
Okay.
Yeah.
So that was the first time we actually met.
My apologies then.
No, it's fine, man.
It's fine.
I mean, well, it's fine.
But I actually expected for you to remember, recall that the first time we met is probably
at a convention.
Yeah.
Um, how difficult is it finding work, man?
How difficult is it finding work?
You're talking about now or you're talking about?
In general, let's not, let's not talk about, let's talk about pre-pandemic.
Let's go there.
Okay.
Um, pre, the truth.
Of course, the truth.
I've, I've led a pretty charmed life, Chris, from the start because two really good event
companies, they had their own stable of clients and top, top multinationals.
Yes.
Okay.
We won't mention all these names, but top multinationals through and through.
So, so, and back then, obviously you have things like your D&Ds, but you will have things
like your road shows and road shows were huge back then.
Yeah.
These days you, you, you don't see the kind of road shows anymore.
Back then road shows were huge.
So imagine like, like the open space in front of Nian City.
Yeah, Civic Centre.
Yeah.
So you can have a whole weekend there.
Yeah.
And then every weekend you are at Orchard Road doing.
But bro, those are not road shows, man.
Back then, when you talk about Civic Centre, right?
This is like you got the centre to yourself.
That's a show.
Yeah.
Okay.
Road show, wouldn't it be like, oh, a bank hired me and I go there and I start, you know,
hawking their wares and stuff.
Okay.
I mean, that's a road show, right?
They're lay-along people.
Okay.
So, so you, you, maybe, maybe it's just terminology to me, but to me, that was a road show, a
huge road show, okay?
Compared to the road show where people are selling SIM cards on the side.
Well, let's put it this way.
I mean, okay, pardon me.
I mean, fuck that.
You know, I mean, the reason why I say it this way is because I've had great times
along Water Road.
For me, in my day, in the Civic Centre, right?
When I'm in the Civic Centre, if you call it a road show, I mean, I was singing the
Sallier in the Civic Centre, you know?
And that was definitely not a road show.
Broke records for the body shop across the road at a paragon, twice.
Singapore Booker Records for the largest street caroling.
And I was recruiting people walking along the damn pedestrian walkway to sing.
That kind of shows.
Now less and less.
You hardly see this level.
I don't know.
Maybe because it does, maybe, look, I mean, this is all about marketing, right?
This is all about marketing to dollars.
And the landscape has changed.
Back then, that was the way to go.
But these days, you have social media, you have your influencers and all that.
I mean, we can go on another show just to talk about this.
But landscape has changed.
So maybe that marketing dollar doesn't transcend that well for them anymore.
Back then, every weekend, you will see a huge show like that.
And not just one.
Maybe in a few places, you know, Raffles City Atrium.
But, you know, let's not wait till another episode to talk about this.
Let's address this now.
You know, okay, I mean, fair enough.
Of course, I know this, you know.
This is a podcast.
Yeah.
But the vibrancy of our streets in general, not just our streets, in general, across this
island, is kind of stymied.
I mean, it's so muted.
You know, it's getting to be a fucking boring place.
Man.
I mean, look, influencers are not otherwise, whatever.
I think a good shout out to all the multinationals out there and all the people in the marketing
departments.
I mean, come on, guys.
You can go both ways.
You can go online, go digital.
You can do this as well.
Bring back, play a part to bring back some vibrancy in our streets and in our halls.
What do you think?
And back then, you had all these events that people crowd around and, you know, it added.
I'm quite sure it added.
Whether you are locals, you know, tourists walking by, I agree with you totally.
Yeah.
Now, I mean, hey, you probably see, like I said, somebody selling SIM cards to maybe
our migrant workers.
That kind of, but those things are boring.
You know?
Back then, we had huge, huge shows, whether it was, I don't know, a street futsal tournament
for things, but it was held there rather than in a purposeful cage.
We would have, I mean, hey, the radio had that put your hand there for the longer side.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Things like that.
Doesn't it add to the landscape?
The Subaru challenge.
You got a Subaru challenge.
So those things, you know.
It's so much, there's so much hype going on.
It's so fun, right?
You know, funny, funny we're talking about this because yesterday my son and I were at
Sentosa.
All right.
I'm going to fucking say this.
You're going to be happy because you're a little, little, don't even want to upturn
the name of that.
You did so, like I said, I told you, I never hated you.
Okay.
I mean, I am brand aside, but yesterday there was this, I love you, not you.
United thing.
I saw it.
Yeah.
It was raining somehow, right?
I saw your-
Dude, let me tell you what the fuck happened, okay?
What?
First of all, let me just start from the beginning.
I've got, I've balloted to the Men United app.
Okay.
To get two free tickets.
Yes.
And I never thought I would get it.
Yeah.
And then I saw your Facebook.
But I got it.
Yeah.
Thanks so much.
Yeah.
You saw you.
Yeah.
I know you read my Facebook.
So I got two tickets, right?
Okay.
And then?
So my boy and I was excited about it.
Yeah.
But every time something happens for United, in Singapore, the two of us were there.
Sure.
Since he was a real small kid.
Okay.
Yeah.
So it's something that we do.
Yeah.
So there we were.
The event supposed to happen in South Point, which is at Siloso Point, Siloso Beach on
Santos Island.
Okay.
And we were told to park our cars.
There's no parking there.
With the parked our cars, the nearest parking lot would be at Beach Point Car Park.
Yeah.
That's about, I think, well, you know, we had to take, I'm not going to say distance,
but we had to take a 15 minute walk.
All right.
Okay.
To get there.
Okay.
Which is fine, you know.
When we got there, it started to storm.
And we got into the shelter with the rest in the queue.
Okay.
That was about probably 545 around there.
And it was really, really pissing down.
And the two of us were huddled like with the rest of the people, chest to back, back to
chests, you know.
Yeah.
Bumper to bumper sardines, you know, under a narrow shelter.
And it was storming as hell.
And then we waited and we waited and the crowd grew bigger and bigger.
And then the security, fair enough, they didn't want people to get caught in the storm.
And they've told them, get out of the queue, go into the other shelter across where the
cable car station is.
So lots of people were congregating there.
And I was breathing in carbon dioxide, breath from other people, right?
My son and I.
And we were just standing there and six o'clock the gates were supposed to open, didn't open.
Six fifteen didn't open.
Six twenty didn't open.
Six thirty I got uncomfortable.
And I said, you know something, this is not right.
Because what were the damn organizers doing?
Here you have people stuck in that, it could be a super spreader event.
Yes.
Bumper to bumper.
Packed like sardines under that narrow sheltered walkway.
And we decided, fuck that, for the benefit of my son's safety as well as mine, forget
this.
Let's go.
And we broke out of the queue and we walked away and we started walking in the rain back
to the car park.
OK.
Now that was the nasty part of it.
Because I've been told anyway, just just to let you know, I've been I heard from friends
who were there because I saw them.
They waited with their kids and the kids are younger.
Yeah.
They waited there to eight, eightish to almost nine before the game.
The match started last night.
Then they were allowed in.
That's three hours.
Dude.
From the designated time that you were told.
Exactly.
So can you imagine if we had stayed in that queue, it would have been nuts.
Never mind.
We walked back in the rain to the car park at Beach Point.
And along the way, there's a couple of bars and clubs, right?
Of course.
You know, rumors and oh, shucks.
I can't remember all.
Of course, our coasts and of course, we're party man is I saw party man yesterday, a
sandbar.
Right.
And you know, it was a hive of activity, man.
It was like music pumping, pumping, pumping.
And it was great.
Walking down that boardwalk back to the car park.
It was like, whoa, this hive of things happening here.
This music pumping, the people smiling, people having a great time.
And when you talked about this, what's happening along Watcher Road, for instance, this is an
example.
And that's just only one place I can think of where there is something happening.
And that's in Tulsa, where the bars are, you know, and it's not about all drink culture,
whatever.
It's not about that.
It's about having that vibe that Singaporeans can actually have a good time.
You know, and that's something that I know the only place I can think of that exists
here in Singapore today is St. Josiah Island.
Along that stretch anyway.
I agree with you, but what were the organizers thinking?
So no music, no nothing.
This is nothing to do with Manchester United Football Club.
Yeah, it's got to do with local freaking organizers.
No, no, no, no.
I know, I know.
You're cool.
I'm saying the other IAM brands, all the other scousers watching this show will go, oh, you
know, you see, you see what kind of a football club is that?
Bollocks.
So now that you know, all these things have lessened for us, for you.
And you know, of course we all have to make a living, right?
You have to make a living.
Do you have any other side gig, man, besides this?
Oh man.
I have.
That's what I told you.
I've led a charmed life.
You're asking me, is it hard to find jobs through the years?
Actually, no, man.
I never had a video done.
I've never had a website done till recently.
I'm going to tell you why.
It's just, I mean, because back then, every weekend I was in a major show, not a teeny
weeny row show.
Okay, I agree with you.
I was in a major show that was proper visibility to people walking around, the vibrancy of
Orchard Road or wherever I was.
And people were always coming to me and okay, back then, hey, you know, you're good.
Can we hire you?
I mean, they could be an organizer for their D&D, it could be whatever, family day.
So I was just giving out name cards.
And then with that, I just had work and work.
People were just reaching out to me.
So all the time it was people calling me.
I truly am lucky.
Never thought about that.
And that kind of made me lazy.
That's the truth.
Made me lazy.
I was lazy all this time.
So much so that now, but the pandemic came.
And then all of a sudden from earning decent living, bam, everything shut down.
So hey, man.
So what did you have to do?
No, it was tough.
First, obviously, you're depressed.
You think about what else you can do.
And then you realize there's nothing you can do.
I only have A-levels.
I don't even have a degree.
Who would pay an A-level?
What do you think an A-level monthly pay is for anything out there now?
Shit, I don't know, man.
I got four O-levels.
So I'm slightly better than you.
But basically, I mean, now I've got advanced diploma in adult education and all.
Well, good for you, bro.
I've done that.
So I've got a trading cert.
And also because of the pandemic, it forced me to go and take courses to earn some money
because that was what the government was.
So with that, I learned how to build a website and I built a website on my own.
So the website we see now is built by you.
Yes.
And I procrastinated about it all these years.
I always thought of hire some polytechnic guy to come.
In the end, I built it on my own, man.
Well, awesome, bro.
Yeah.
So that's why I have something going.
And then the social media thing is also because you learn and you realize that, hey, these
days that's currency, that's branding.
If you don't have that, you have no choice.
That's why I know for a fact being an influencer is no joke.
You got to think about content.
I don't have that.
But I know I have to be on social media because these days the people they are hiring looks
at social media.
Just something I'm curious about, man, when you say content is something that you don't
have, content is created.
But when we go on stage, guys like you, guys like me, we go on stage, we're creating content
all the time.
I mean, look, I just don't think about content for social media.
I'm weak in that.
Already I'm lazy.
Okay.
So you think that there's a fundamental difference between content.
I know it's two different things, what we do on stage live or face to face audience.
Now we've got to say things like that, not face to face audience.
You know, when we do things live, when we run the program, it's all going to be based
on what the program calls for sure.
And that's all the greeting client and event company and the entertainers, right?
For sure.
But if you know that you can actually create content on the fly, on stage, right?
And yeah, you're a great games master, dude.
Some of the things you come up with, jeez, I just ask myself, where the fuck does this
guy get his ideas from?
Really man, I mean, really, kudos, really.
Because games is a real bugbear for everyone, yeah?
To come up with new stuff, that is.
But see, this is the thing, you come up with new stuff, you have content.
I have.
So why don't you, why do you see yourself as not being able to come up with content
for social media?
I don't know man, maybe there's a blog somewhere, but when it comes to, I mean, just this morning,
I came up with just a segment to warm the audience up.
There you see?
That I did.
That shit I can't do.
I don't know man.
I can't do this.
Like I said man.
No, that shit I can't do.
This is what I mean.
Cyril Lim, games master.
He's got a games master show.
You know, he comes up, listen guys, I've got myself this new game.
Check this out.
What do you think?
You know?
And then of course, the funny part about DMC World is that, and I've heard this, I've heard
this many times, yeah?
Why you copy my game?
You know, I mean, sometimes I scratch my head, dude.
I'm like, I'm not going to do this.
I'm going to do this.
I mean, the early days, the first time I,
because hey, I came out the game, right?
Then other MCs were copying.
Obviously they said, hey, why?
Because it's good.
No, so that came to me because it's good.
Because it's good.
Yeah, so that's why, you know,
but in being in the first, my first reaction was shit.
Shit.
All my creativity stolen by somebody else.
But after in the end I said,
hey, imitation is the best form of flattery, man.
The game is good, that's why they're using it.
Then in my mind, I always say, all it takes,
I'm not afraid of it anymore because in the end,
I tell the client, if you've seen the guy do it,
you should see me do it.
And then always in my head, don't worry, man.
When you hire me, I can always think of something new.
Yeah, so that's what I'm saying.
It could be an idea for Cyril to take on board, you know?
Something he can do, because you know something,
not many people can do things like you,
where you can come up with a game like that, man.
And I know you do.
I don't think like that.
Shit, dude.
I mean, I shit break sometimes
because I've hosted for this corporate client,
I don't know, five, six, seven,
I have to think of something new.
New all the time because he cannot be repeating games.
I don't want to repeat games.
I know.
Because you know, as an MC, you know,
when you repeat a game,
It's not professional.
You feel like you're cheating.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
I never want to.
That's why I always tell the clients, come on, you know,
we're going to have a meeting,
we talk about what games you did.
Not just me, the MC before me.
Yeah, but bro, how long on average
do you think you take to come up with a new game?
How do you work?
I mean, I would say this is like,
I don't know, people writing songs.
Some people write, I mean, I just read Ed Sheeran
writes a song, I mean, a few songs in a day
because he has a fast process.
I don't know if with me, it doesn't work that way.
I mean, sometimes it comes,
but sometimes the game is crap.
Because you know, it's all trial and error in the beginning.
But I think when you are under pressure,
you will find a way.
If you don't, if there's no show coming up,
I say, hey, go and think of a new game.
I probably won't do it.
I'm lazy like that.
And these days I also spend, I mean,
the sun is more important.
Of course, of course.
Less time.
Yeah, yeah, but you have to,
it's part and parcel of the work for you
to sit down and work out a new game.
Or anyways, so why don't you just do this, man?
Film yourself doing it.
I don't know.
I mean, but the point I'm driving at is this,
there's some MCs are supposed to be multifaceted, right?
And not just about getting on stage alone.
As you said, when the pandemic, like what happened?
And when it hit, everyone's starving.
But there's no other avenue or area of work
where they can actually derive an income out of.
You know, like, excuse me, guys like me,
we end up in studios.
So no gig doesn't matter.
End up in studios and you do voiceover work, you know?
And during the pandemic, geez, I had a lot.
Good for you.
You know, I'm not bragging, I'm just saying that
we need to have MCs to be more multifaceted, you know?
And if it's gonna be the social media game, then fine.
You know, I mean, content.
There's no way MCs can't come up with content.
It's a question of whether we want to come up with content.
Isn't it?
On that note, the marketplace,
whether it's pre or post pandemic, doesn't matter.
The reflection of the MC in general to the marketplace,
whether they are event companies or direct clients
or people generally in the audience,
what do you think their opinion of the MC is like?
Whoa.
That's a loaded question, man.
Loaded, really?
I don't know.
So, what?
Hit that by me again.
So you're asking about?
What are people's opinion in general
from within the industry and outside the industry?
Okay.
In general, would be, do you think of MCs?
Is there one?
Is there an opinion?
Opinion of MCs?
Yeah, if you weigh it all throughout your years
of experience, if you weigh it all in general,
what do you think the general consensus would be of MCs
from within and from without?
It's a clear thing that MCs are a necessity.
Is it clear?
It's up to me.
Okay.
And then to anybody who has had some way of,
or in part, has been in organizing an event.
Right.
An MC is a necessity.
Unless you tell, I mean, even these days,
there are people who, there are clients that say,
hey, no, we can use in-house.
But once you use a professional, you will, there is-
A stark difference.
There's a stark difference.
We're not even talking about me.
I would say, you know, a standard MC.
I feel I am a little bit above that.
There's a difference.
Okay.
It's a skillset.
But people still do that?
Do you think more and more people are using in-house,
well, not in-house, they like to call them in-house talent.
In-house people.
Okay.
And you throw them with this, okay, now you're a staff.
I'm going to tell you, you're going to do this
and you have to get it done.
And, you know, and is it more prevalent, do you think?
You ask me, what I feel now in the industry is,
after the pandemic, now there is a blur,
the lines are blurred.
So influencers think they can be MCs as well.
Somebody at home who has done a Facebook Live,
unfortunately, because of the pandemic,
they needed to make bucks, they sell something,
they think they can be MCs too.
Right.
And then-
The live sellers you mean?
All kinds, anybody.
Right, right.
Anyone who's done a bit of Facebook Live,
I'm not even saying-
Even the guys heading the mop of the market
of a makeshift portable PA system.
They think they can be MCs.
And then they're putting themselves out there.
And then, you know,
where have you ever heard MCs charging per hour?
Now you hear of this.
It's all from people like them.
So there's a blur of lines
and some of them could even be this in-house people
that we're talking about.
So that is why I think it will take a bit of time
because you will see that in an event,
you need a professional MC.
Sure.
But then again, now that you've raised this,
do you think that a person could be trained
to be an MC?
Yes.
I mean, I've not attended your wonderful course.
I've seen your Facebook posts.
I've seen, I think,
some of your graduates.
I do believe that any normal person
can be trained to be a decent MC.
But to be...
A cut above the rest.
A cut above.
Yep.
Somehow, it's like soccer players.
You have soccer players and you have the stars.
Yeah, you have soccer players and the stars.
You have like, I mean, a Frank Lampard,
a James Milner, and you have the Messi.
Yeah, you have the presenters and the personalities.
Exactly.
So you can train someone to reach a certain level.
Right, but being to be a personality,
you require a lot more work on your own.
Now this cannot be trained.
Yes.
So it's not about talent then.
It's not about innate, natural, I'm born with it talent.
I mean, I had it in me, but obviously with that,
you do have to hone it.
You do have to see for yourself.
Yeah, it's not just about that.
No, no, no.
Right, it's not just about that.
I mean, for myself as well, looking...
I mean, me and Leslie play
total different, stark contrast kind of MCs.
But I see the way he hosts, you know.
Different events, yeah.
His formal shows, you know, his style of presentation.
Oh, you know.
Different, yeah.
Yeah, but that's where you pick up things.
Yes, yes.
You know, you may not reach his level,
but you start to pick up.
And then you also self-critique yourself after an event.
You sit down and say,
hey, what could I have done better?
Right.
And then you obviously look at, I mean,
it's out there these days, whether it's on YouTube,
whether it's a program, whether it's at the Oscars.
You know, obviously it's still different
because what we do here.
Hey, I think in Singapore,
we're the best Rara MCs in the world.
Really?
I think so.
Why do you say that?
No, because the style of entertainment is different.
Hey, look, I mean, in places like Europe,
there's no, they have to, when they're serving food,
there's no, you think MCs work?
No, they don't.
No.
MCs are basically announcers.
Exactly.
Right?
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, they're not entertainers, they're announcers.
Yeah, but here, because we have a Chinese 10-course dinner,
eight-course dinner,
people eating fish bone in their mouth,
we are going full on.
Yeah, yeah.
So that's why I'm telling you,
any, you tell me any country in the world,
they come and attend one of our dinner dances,
they'll be blown away.
This is for the people from all over the world
who wonder about what Cyril is saying.
This is Singapore, okay?
And we know how to run parties.
You know, funny you used to say that,
because there was a time, long ago,
I can't remember the event entirely,
and I hosted that event.
And of course, you know, ra ra games,
blah, blah, blah, singing and all that,
and the American big boss happened to be in town.
And he was quite pissed.
He was quite pissed, you know?
He was complaining.
Not to me, but after the show I heard about this.
This is rubbish.
How is it that you have an MC that does all these things?
It's just not right.
I mean, look at the state of your country, dude.
Okay, anyway, yeah, yeah, like, like,
get the fuck out of here, man.
You know, this is how we have fun.
So get lost.
But it's really, I agree with you.
I mean, to them, it's unheard of.
You know, that we can play games,
and we can ra ra people.
It's so multifaceted.
And I think, and I tell you, man,
that's why I feel MCs should not be lowballed.
No way.
Okay, should not be lowballed.
And we shouldn't go out there to lowball others as well.
You know, we should give each other mutual respect.
And we shouldn't be worried about sharing
what we do with each other.
And, you know, and we, yeah, just don't be selfish, right?
Because we are different.
We are different, you know?
Look, fellow MCs are my competition.
But I can tell you, you know,
you can do your best sometimes.
They might want somebody else the next time around.
It's just a part of life, you know?
They won't repeat you every year.
Exactly.
I don't know, NTUC has been...
Mayday, mayday.
That's a call for help, anyway.
So all I'm saying is that, you know,
I mean, there are junior MCs that reach out to me
to ask me about, hey, you know, I've got this,
what kind of games got, I share openly.
Yeah, yeah.
I have never, I have never once said,
no, this is my domain, you go.
I've always shared openly because I believe that,
you know, when you give, somehow you receive.
And that's the way it is.
It makes the world go around.
So as long as we keep our standards there, you know,
why are MCs charging per hour?
There was never a per hour charge, man, come on.
Can you an MC per hour?
Can you shut off after one hour?
No, you gotta be there for the whole event.
And the whole event is, hey, that event.
And if you take one event,
you can't take another event at night.
Yeah, but let's talk about radio.
Yes.
Because if we look back years ago,
years and years ago when we have great radio DJs, right?
Most of them were also MCs.
Yes.
But today, you hardly, hardly find that.
If they're either radio DJs, they'll become personalities.
And then after that, of course,
their own talent management from whichever broadcast
they're there with would sell them out there.
And then they do gigs out there.
But they were radio DJs first.
Yep.
And not MCs second.
Yes.
Right?
But way back when, we have a lot of people
who were either MCs first then radio.
You know, and you see the fundamental difference, man.
The way the content even, I mean, come on,
radio need content.
Even from way back when, it's always, till today,
all about content.
Yes.
And these guys were doing great.
Yeah.
Right?
I mean, I don't want to really name names,
but one is like the Flying Dutchman.
He's MC first.
Yes.
But of course, he wasn't really fusioned enough
that he went over to radio.
Right?
And he's still on radio today,
and he's still doing shows on stage, right?
Yes.
He's one example.
And if we want to really quote some more,
we had Hamish Brown.
Yes.
Right?
He does shows too.
Yep.
Right?
And that was for, I think, TMF way back when,
then he had Journey Promotions.
And I think we are so multifaceted
that we can do all these things.
But you know why I ask that question about MCs
and whether or not we're being lowballed,
whether or not how people in general think about us,
whether or not there's going to be a future, okay?
But you said people need us.
Yes.
I recently realized in the voiceover marketplace,
clients everywhere, not just for voiceovers,
but also for the MCs in my mind,
clients everywhere will always find a way to cut cost.
So when they do that, right,
who knows for the MC world,
because it's happening in the VO world,
voiceover world, where they start,
where the companies that they hire
to come up with their, say for example, the corporate videos.
Yep.
Start doing it in a fashion, producing these videos
in a fashion where the VO artist is no longer needed.
Meaning there's no voiceovers at all.
It's all video, graphics,
information that you can see in texts, right?
And then music in the background,
and then after that transition into okay,
now opening address by so and so,
and then there's no one speaking it,
no one announcing it,
and then the big shot comes on and he talks.
Yep.
No voiceovers at all.
So I've seen people now producing videos that way,
so they don't have to pay the VO fee to the VO artist.
Likewise now with AI,
I mean you can tell if it's a voiceover from an AI.
Dude, it's so flat, it's so fucked up, it's crazy.
Yeah, but what if there's an AI one day
that takes over the role of the MC?
Wow.
I would think if the voice is realistic,
the VO work, that's tough.
That's really tough.
But I mean MC work, I still think,
you know it's like when you have an event
and you do a VO, people don't listen.
Some do, some do.
Just like asking them to sit themselves down,
we're gonna start the program.
I mean it happens to every event.
Before, you make an announcement like that,
nobody gives a shit.
60% will listen.
There'll be 30, 40% will be standing up.
Yeah.
But it takes somebody coming onto stage,
eyeballing them, that's the difference.
Or getting off the stage and eyeballing them.
But that's what I mean.
And then an MC has to gauge the crowd.
You have to see what the audience is.
It's like me.
I mean I might think about doing a game.
But if the game is not translating,
I mean it doesn't translate to success in my eyes
because I'm not trying.
I'll change the game on stage straight away.
I can do that.
But an AI probably cannot.
I don't think so.
For the moment.
For the moment obviously.
But I'm hesitant to think where this will develop, man.
I don't know.
It's scary enough because I think,
listening to you, this VO world where you come from
which you are great at, it's scary because I think,
I've heard some AIs that are mimicking
what you call it, the people that call to make appointments?
Yeah, the...
Telemarketers. Telemarketers.
Telemarketers.
Some of them are quite realistic, man.
Yeah, yeah.
So that's why I'm saying, hey,
but I still believe you need voice in there.
It changes the entire, I don't know, video.
But the trouble is that the world's embracing AI.
Look, don't get me the wrong way, man.
I've embraced chat GPT.
Okay. Okay.
It does great work for me.
I'm training my own chat GPT to do the stuff I really want,
give me the outcomes I'm looking for.
It's helpful in terms of aid me in my productivity.
Sure. Yeah.
But the trouble here is that when the world begins,
and I think they're beginning to,
start to embrace AI way too much,
to the point where it replaces everything.
I had a conversation with my son.
It was an interesting conversation.
For someone his age, it was pretty remarkable.
I know for a fact that he's got some good friends,
classmates of his.
Okay.
I just like one who wants to, when he grows up,
he wants to go into the aerospace industry.
Okay.
And he was very hot about it because his dad's in it.
And then one fine day, I'm not the blue one,
just having conversation with my son
on the drive home from school.
And when I asked him, have you been thinking
about what you might want to do when you grow up?
And he went, well, I can tell you this.
There must be, it must be a job that's future-proof.
And I raised my eyebrows.
And then I've had this conversation,
actually the same conversation in one of my episodes
with Dr. Geraldine Tan.
I told her this story, I'm telling you now.
And he told me his friend decided not to go into aeronautics.
And I said, why?
And he says, because it's not future-proof.
You know?
So now begs the question,
since the world's embracing
and they're really hugging it tight, and that's AI.
So someone like you, man,
and our friends and compatriots who are younger,
maybe lesser time in the profession, yeah.
What do you think shelf life is gonna be like?
Let's talk about you.
Me.
I think I've got a good 10 years more.
65.
Yeah. Okay.
Because now look at me, man.
That's the new me.
Those of you who see me in my younger days,
I was twice my size.
And now I'm fit.
My energy levels is, I mean, still the same,
maybe even more.
I believe that AI can't take over the role of DMC.
Really? Yeah.
Really. Okay.
I mean, some other roles, you know?
Perhaps.
But not DMC.
So in 10 years. Yep.
In 10 years, say Cyril Lim, 65 years old,
decides to hang up the microphone.
Okay.
I don't know how the hell anyone can actually do that,
because you know, I'm like addicted to mics,
but I would just say, you know,
take a look at this, man.
That's the reason it shows.
So I will just say, I mean, you know,
10 years later, 65, you hang up your mic.
Yep.
What are your plans?
I don't know.
I mean, I'm exploring training
in a way that you've done.
I've got training certs.
I don't know what I want to train.
Some SMU reached out to me to conduct a master class.
I said, yes, we'll see where that leads,
because I mean, the older you are, you know,
you've got more experience, you can always,
I'm willing to share.
So that's something I'm thinking about.
Other than that, I don't know, man.
Hey, man, I tell you what, when you're 65 and I'm 63,
we better sit down and have a chit chat about that, though.
Yeah, well, invite me back for more of your shows every week.
I got one more.
I would have you back anytime, just to answer your question.
Yes.
I got one more question to ask you before we say goodbye.
All right.
As a very experienced entertainer,
do you think on the whole, this industry,
have to make changes to improve livelihoods of MCs per se?
Singapore is weird.
All right.
Unfortunately, our market is small.
I think this has been talked about again and again.
I mean, we even, there was a time they tried to start Star.
Is it still around?
I don't know, man.
It's- Star Association?
Yeah, I think it's quietened down in the beginning,
maybe because of the pandemic as well.
Yeah, yeah.
The problem with the industry in Singapore
is everybody does their own thing.
Right.
There's no, but it's hard.
I mean, I for one, can't give you advice on this
because I don't see where we can come together as one
because everybody has different views.
Who do you think is a major stakeholder of the industry?
As in first and foremost, I mean, the event companies, man.
So shouldn't they be the drivers?
More so than the MCs in a sense
because the event companies, I think they should take,
but I think a lot of them are selfish.
So it's a kaki-kokaki.
And it's also extra work, you know?
Well, yeah.
So I don't see anybody in our industry that wants to,
I mean, look at some of the other industries.
The people have to take the lead.
People who are of somewhere in that industry,
they have to take the lead.
I don't see that in events.
Yeah.
So you're actually saying they're selfish, huh?
I would think so, most of them
because they're doing their own work.
And MCs in a way to them is, I mean,
it is needed for the artists.
Yeah, see, that's the thing I can't stand.
I've heard this before.
Whether or not it's in the event industry
or whether or not it's in the media industry, right?
If you're just the artist,
you're only the artist.
And that's the reason why I asked you that question just now.
What's the general opinion of people
within and without the industry of people like us?
Or even to be, you know, if I want to spread it out,
entertainers per se.
See, that's the thing.
I've had different, Chris, you know,
it all depends on who you're working with
and all depends on, you know, I've got-
Because you've been blessed.
You've had guys, the event companies
that take care of you very well.
But for me, I'm also, I go down there,
I never acted like a star.
I go down there, I'm there to work.
No, no, let me give you a Chris Hansen original.
If you heard it anywhere else,
that's bullshit, because it came from me.
You can copy, it's fine.
I'm not gonna grumble about.
The saying, the glue that binds the glitter, brother,
that's what we are.
Yeah.
We bind everything together.
And I tell you, even if the event company, okay,
doesn't do their job, if you have one of us,
the job gets done.
And nobody can see the gap.
Through whatever fuckups it may be.
Exactly.
Because nobody can tell them what's a fuckup.
Because if you're a pro,
and you're proud of what you do,
no matter what happens, you don't screw the show.
Because you, however good you are, right,
you're only as good as your last event.
Correct.
You're only as good as our last event.
And that's why I've had the career I've had so far.
Because every time I go on stage,
whether I have the, if you have the backing,
it becomes a joy.
You have a great audience, you've got the backing of the,
and then every time you turn around, the support is there.
You've got wonderful sound.
Hey, it's play.
Is that the reason why on even,
you know, wherever you're marketed, I see this,
because I do my research, I check on YouTube.
Serolim comes, must come,
does not use in-house sound systems.
You must come with your own system and your own DJ.
Oh no, no, DJ.
Not sound systems.
Which means that you always insist.
On my own.
Yeah, but that the sound system must be hired
from a contractor.
No, you're really using the house systems.
I've used house systems.
Yeah.
Would you believe I had to host a wedding dinner
with ceiling speakers, bro?
Yeah, I know.
And that's the problem, right?
You know, you can, however good, how good you are,
when the audience can't hear you.
Exactly.
And then they expect you to do games.
Yeah, I know.
Okay, but do people accede to your request
that you do not use in-house systems?
When you have a certain brand, like B,
in the past, yes.
I don't know about, I don't know as I go on
because there are new people coming up,
but because when you hold a certain brand,
they see you differently.
And yes, they see my reaction.
Just to let you know, man, I understand
how you're coming from because I do the same thing.
I don't want to use in-house systems too.
And I tell clients the same thing.
If you want to use that, you're not getting me.
You can pay me whatever money you want
to get the fuck out of my face.
I'm not doing the show.
There you go.
Yeah, I understand.
I understand.
Just wanted to ask and see what you have to say about that.
How confident are you of the future?
Well, for future as an MC?
Well, yeah.
Well, I mean, hey, it's great.
Since pandemic, it opened up.
It's been great for me.
Like I told you, man, now,
I feel there's a bit of blur of lines,
the influencers coming in this,
but I know my worth and I know what I can give
and I think it's bright for me.
Great.
I'm happy to hear you say that.
And I've been really happy having you here
in the studio.
I'm just, like I told you, man,
I'm just an old, boring old fart riding into the sunset.
Thanks for having me.
I don't know, episode seven, right?
This is episode seven, man.
Well, thanks so much.
You've been watching.
See, I wanted to say something else now.
You've been watching the Chris Hansen conversation
and with me, Cyril Lim, MC extraordinaire.
I hope you've enjoyed this episode.
Don't forget, don't forget,
next time any one of you guys have got a deal with an MC,
be nice, okay?
We really work very, very hard
and we can do things that you certainly cannot.
Until next time, I'll see you again on CHC.
Bye-bye.
Mm.