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Adam Bakthiar
"I'm a September baby, a Virgo," proclaims Adam, the five foot ten hearthrob of Malay-Australian parentage.
He was born in Australia but he spent most of his childhood in Johore Bahru and went to school in Singapore. Then his family moved to KL and he studied at the Garden School before going back to Melbourne for his tertiary education. He finally came home in 1992 with a degree majoring in accounting and economics, 'square' subjects in his opinion.
He had wanted to be a pilot, and he never lets me forget that he still does, but he wasn't good at maths and physics. When he was 18 he spent three months working in his father's account -ing firm and he found it boring but he pursued the course all the same on his father's advice.
While he was studying in Melbourne he used to fly home as many as three to four times a year and that was when he started doing commercials.
"The first one was with Andy Lau and I didn't even know who he was," he reminisces. "All I was told was I would be working with this big time star from Hong Kong."
They had lunch together Andy in a robe with his name emblazoned on it and Adam in his cap, T-shirt, shorts and slippers.
"I asked him what he did and he was quite surprised that I didn't know who he was. I felt so bad because he took a lot of pride in his status as a performer but we got along really well and the next time I saw him was years later at a party in Hong Kong. When I mentioned the commercial he remembered me."
Adam was quite proud that he could support himself during the holidays with the work he was doing but he was still very ambivalent about going into it fully. He never went on to the catwalk because he didn't feel comfortable strutting in front of an audience and the money was not attractive.
With commercials, Adam feels he is better with action shots than still shots. He claims that he isn't good at holding a pose.
On his return to KL, Adam bumped around for a while with a group of friends until they were approached by a nightclub owner to cater food for his establishment.
"There was a lawyer, two accountants and a hotel management graduate in our group and we had zilch experience about the catering business," he says.
With a lot of hard word the guys managed to make it work. There was an occasion when Adam himself had to make 12 trays of lasagna in his kitchen. After that he decided it was time to employ a cook.
He became an administrative assistant with a stockbroking firm and spent his evenings in the catering business until it was sold a year later.
In January, 1995, he got a call from an old family friend, Ramona Rahman, the executive producer of Articulate Television. She wanted him to go for a screen test for a television programme. They were looking for someone who looked good in an Armani suit, who could converse well in English and who was likeable. She thought Adam fitted the bill but he wasn't keen. Anyway, he did trundle down to the studio and took the screen test.
"I attended an interview after that and then everything was quiet," he says. "Just as I was thinking that was that, Ramona called to say that I had got the job. She said I was a natural and I thought she was kidding."
Adam's mum was aghast. She thought the entertainment business was shallow. He consulted his boss, colleagues, and friends. Those are the people he turns to when he needs advice.
"I was just waiting for one person to say it was ridiculous but none did. In fact a lot of people were envious of the opportunity."
By then, Mum had also come round to the idea and was very supportive so he gave it a long hard think.
"I had nothing to lose and if it didn't work out I could always go back to stockbroking. Moreover, life's short and I believe in experiencing an array of things, otherwise you'll never know and you'll always be wondering if you could have done that thing or what would have happened if you had. I hate to feel like that and that's why I try to do everything I can."
It was an exciting proposition and financially rewarding. And even back then he was not thinking in terms of stopping at being a host of a show but moving into other avenues of media broadcasting. Having pondered over it, he decided to give it his best shot. He quit his job and immediately began training.
His parents watch his shows all the time but Adam rarely has the time to do so. It was the strangest concept to him when he watched himself on TV when Gold Quest went on air.
"I can't really put into words how I felt but it was something I had never felt before," he struggles to explain.
"There was a little bit of apprehension, a sort of nervousness. I was thinking, is that really me?"
By his own admission, Adam had been an avid critic of game shows at a younger age and he was very critical of himself but his family and friends thought that he had pulled it off quite well considering he was so raw.
Now when he watches the show, he is pleased that he has improved in his delivery.
"But it doesn't end there," he tells me earnestly. "I've still got a way to go. I definitely don't think I've arrived at the pedestal and I'm the top gameshow host in Malaysia.
"But I'm happier with what I see now. I told myself, Wow! What an improvement from July. And that's nice. I would have been worried if I had thought, Gosh, there's no improvement. Then I would have called up Ramona to tell her I was getting out of it."
When Adam watches his show he notes down the things he will consciously correct on the next batch of shows. But one thing he doesn't like to do is to compare himself with other game show hosts, especially foreign ones.
It frustrates him when people voice their opinions based on a wide scope of programmes, foreign-based mostly, and he is very vocal about it."You can be critical but criticize from the right point of reference. If you want to compare shows, go ahead and compare them with others that are in the same league but don't compare our show with Double Jeopardy, for instance. You're talking about a sophisticated entertainment industry produced in a country that has been developing it for decades. Besides, we have a different culture here, a different target market. It's very arrogant for someone to flippantly say that Malaysians want Wheel of Fortune. Is he saying that he is the sounding board of society?"
So don't ask Adam why isn't he like Pat Sajak. He doesn't want to be him and he doesn't even like the guy.
One of the criticisms of Gold Quest apparently is the questions are too easy but Adam has a different way of looking at it.
"When we're at home and we can answer the questions but the contestants can't, we say: Aiyah..., so stupid! That's not right as they're certainly not unintelligent but some of them feel quite ambivalent to be up there with the lights and the cameras. It may sound strange but in such circumstances, anyone can go blank, even on the simplest questions."
To Adam, a game show isn't just about answering questions but it has entertainment quality as well. There is a contestantviewer psychology. When contestants are too self-conscious, viewers think they're boring. So he tries to prompt them into opening up and making the most of their moment on TV.
"I tell the contestants that if they answer a question correctly the camera goes in for a closed up shot of their face. And we have a voice that goes 'Yeah...clap...scream...shout...' and you're looking like something else. So what would you do? Have a facial expression, show your elation to the viewers."
The shows are shot live and cuts are kept to a minimum, usually only when someone slips up with a regrettable word. On an average it takes an hour to shoot a show and that's how Adam likes it.
"If it takes too long and there are too many cuts contestants lose momentum. It becomes tedious and that robs the fun of doing the show."
Adam is also involved in the interviews and briefings all contestants have to undergo.
For Adam, assimilating into a different kind of life on the set was a slow and gradual process. His parents have been very protective and he has always had a very thick cocoon around him. Therefore breaking out of it was quite difficult. And the huge career move was akin to breaking out of a safety net. However, his years of living on his own in Australia stood him in good stead and looking back now he feels he has matured along the way.
He is more willing to take risks and be a little more openminded. He is terribly flexible now and can adapt himself to a different environment very quickly.
Adam may seem to have lived a charmed life but just like anyone else, he has had his bad times. His worst was in 1994 when he made some bad investments and lost the shirt off his back at the ripe old age of 23.
"It wasn't only monetarybut socially too," he says.
"Everybody in my group had a tough year as we were in the same boat and I had problems with some of my close friends. When you have money and suddenly lose it, when you have friends and suddenly lose them and it has never happened before, it wrenches a lot out of your heart."
Adam was so demoralized that he seriously thought of leaving the country to spend some time completely on his own. He didn't want to go to another comfort zone where he knew people. And if not for a curious twist of fate, he would be working overseas now.
He was supposed to meet a fund manager about a job in France but since he was still not very experienced he wasn't confident. A few months back while he was on a trip to Paris, he finally met up with the gentleman and they had dinner together.
"He mentioned about not meeting me when he was in Malaysia and I told him about my very limited experience. But he said I should have gone to see him because he eventually employed a fresh graduate from the Philippines. When he told me what her salary was, my mouth dropped to the table!"
But Adam has no regrets about letting go of that opportunity or going through that single biggest learning experience of his life because it has propelled him into another league in terms of personal development. He looks at it differently and in a way is glad it happened when he's still young and can learn from his mistakes.
"If you don't go through some bad times you don't know what the good times are like," says Adam philosophically. "You don't test the barriers and there is nothing to look forward to. And if you don't know what's behind you and it hits you later on in life, the effects are worse."
As was predicted by a fortune teller he consulted when he was at the height of his financial and social woes, 1995 was not only an about turn but Adam went on to greater things in the media industry. He was made the managing director of Articulate Interactive. The company provides computerized television shows for various TV stations.
Instead of using conventional cameras and filming with talents, materials are fed into a sophisticated computer system to formulate a show.
Since I'm a total moron when it comes to computer tech Adam obligingly explains.
"It's very much like the CD ROM. For example, if it is a quiz show, the questions are in text and there are appropriate graphic images. This is displayed on screen and people interact at home by using the telephone to dial a number. All you need to do is to answer the questions correctly in the fastest space of time and you stand to win a prize."
Naturally Adam is having a whale of a time learning the ropes of his new job but don't let his fancy title deceive you.
"I'm also the errand boy, the coffee man, and I work with every department including finance, marketing and production."
With so much happening at the moment Adam is content with concentrating on Gold Quest and taking Articulate Interactive to international level. Already some countries are keen to sign up with them.
Working long hours at the desk and in the studio has left him little time to think of romance. He has had one or two special relationships when he was younger and he hopes to repeat that in the future.
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