Wednesday

4 NOVEMBER
2009

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL ON STAGE

thestar.com.my/lifestyle

MUSIC

Holiday gift guide >14

rage.com.my

Joshua Bell, voice

of the violin >16

Songs from
three movies >5

Double
duty
It is possible to hold a
full-time job and still
pursue other interests.
> 2-3

T2

YOUTH

STARTWO, WEDNESDAY 4 NOVEMBER 2009

YOUTH

Agent of change
Young people from all over
South-East Asia, converging
in Putrajaya in a fortnight for
the Youth Engagement summit,
are determined to make their
voices heard. >4

HEALTH

Meat allergy
Research sheds light on a
sudden food allergy. >9

MIND OUR ENGLISH

Saying it right

Grant Barrett discusses the

pronunciation of words. >10

PARENTING

Artistic artistry
With his parents unwavering
support, Clement Ooi is making
his mark as an artist. >12

MUSIC

The best of
both worlds
By NIKI CHEONG
niki@thestar.com.my

F YOU are familiar with the blogging scene,

you might have heard of Jason Goh. His
name might not sound familiar at first, but
perhaps his monicker SmashpOp would
ring a bell.
Jason, 26, started blogging in 2002. Today,
his blog (www.smashpop.net) is most known
for its pictures, the product of a hobby he
took up in 2005. The success of his blog has
led to many requests for Jasons photography
services.
These days, SmashpOp is almost synonymous with photography. It is rare to see Jason
at an event or public function without a
camera in his hand. As a popular Malaysian
blogger and photography enthusiast, you
would imagine that this was all Jason did for a
living.
But no, Jason has a full time job as a web
designer for a multimedia company.
Jason is part of a new generation of young
working adults who make time in their lives to
pursue their passions outside of work. And for
many of them, these extra-curricular activities are more than just hobbies; many are paid
gigs.

Moonlighting
In this age of holistic living, people are not
content to just slave away at their day jobs.
They want to explore other interests; be it
pursuing a hobby, maintaining a blog, contributing to social causes.
Some find that they excel at these pursuits,
but are not ready to do them full-time.
Fortunately, there are employers who do not

On the right note

The KL Sing Song 2009
festival was a mixed bag that
managed to keep the audience
happy. >17

StarTwo

EDITOR: LIM CHENG HOE

CONTACT
e-mail: startwo@thestar.com.my
tel: 03-7967 1388
fax: 03-7955 4039
ADVERTISING:
Peter Hoe
peterhoe@thestar.com.my
(03) 7966-8236
Pearly Tan
pearly.tan@thestar.com.my
(03) 7966-8272

EDITOR: IVY SOON

CONTACT
e-mail: alltherage@thestar.com.my
tel: 03-7967 1693
fax: 03-7955 4039
ADVERTISING:
James Lam
jameslam@thestar.com.my
(03) 7966-8226
Mandy Seah
mandyseah@thestar.com.my
(03) 7966-8263

rage.com.my

Not camera shy: Jason Goh is the popular blogger and photographer more commonly
known as SmashpOp.
view their workers side interests as being in
conflict with their full-time jobs.
Sarah Chan, the events editor for KLue magazine, works for employers who are fully
supportive of her endeavours. Sarah occasionally spins music at clubs as one half of
SalahWrong, alongside her former colleague
and friend Joyce Wong.
They know about it and are quite cool
about what I do on the side. Theyre definitely

encouraging, Sarah, 24, says.

Sarah is aware of the demands of her fulltime job, and is careful to not allow her deejaying gigs to interfere with her work performance.
I cant really afford the time to be really
serious about it (DJ-ing) as my day job keeps
me pretty occupied, says Sarah who does not
take on too many gigs.
Davina Goh, who works for live entertainment company Yvent!, too is very selective
about the jobs she take on outside of her fulltime job. The 26-year-old events manager
loves performing and dabbles in acting, voiceover work, dancing, singing and comedy
whenever she finds the time.
I have to be selective about the jobs that I
do out of passion, Davina shares. There have
been times when I have sacrificed good opportunities because it clashed with full-time
commitments, or because I just feel too burnt
out.

Not about the money

Although they get paid for many of these
gigs, Jason, Davina and Sarah insist that they
are not in it for the money.
Sometimes we dont get paid at all, says
Sarah, referring to SalahWrong.
We do some gigs because we think itd be
fun ... were pretty new so we get like a few
hundred ringgit for one gig but its definitely
not enough for me to quit my job!
The same can be said for Jason who claims
that what he is currently doing earns him
enough money to buy food.
I dont earn that much on the side since I
am not a super top blogger nor am I a popular professional photographer, he says. It is
definitely not enough to sustain myself.

Working girls: Sarah Chan (left)

with Joyce Wong spinning music
during one of their DJ-ing gigs as
SalahWrong.

STARTWO, WEDNESDAY 4 NOVEMBER 2009

YOUTH

T3

For them, all the extra gigs is really about

their passion.
I do the SalahWrong gigs purely for fun.
Its more like an avenue for Joyce and I to
share the music we love, and if people like it
too, awesome.
For someone like Davina, however, her
passion for performing is more than just
merely fun and cannot be defined as just a
hobby.
Hobby is too muted a term to describe my
active interest, neither do I do it for the
money. I suppose I do it as a form of motivation to live out my life including both hobbies
and career, whatever they may be, says
Davina, who is currently busy rehearsing for a
play scheduled for December.

Passion to career
There is, however, the big difference
between doing something for the fun of it and
doing something that you love.
For someone like Davina, her full time job
as events manager is what pays the bill
because her other area of interest cannot
guarantee her financial stability.
The kind of money you get is different
from job to job, she shares, referring to
performing. Acting in television commercials
offers the most attractive pay but competition
between talents is very stiff, so its not
anyones best bet out of financial strife.
High-paying contracts to appear regularly
in a TV series or as a TV presenter are also few
and far between.
At Yvent!, Davina helps organise and bring
to Malaysia international stage productions
such as Grease, My Fair Lady and Disneys
Beauty And The Beast The Broadway Musical.
It may not have been her original career
choice the Communications graduate wanted to go into publishing but she has taken
to the task of bringing in musical productions
to our shores.
I actually went into event management as

Ready for her close-up: Budding

actress Davina Goh is also an events
manager and has handled shows like
Disneys Beauty And The Beast The
Broadway Musical (right).

Full time: Sarah at her regular work.

a stepping stone. As I learned the ropes of
event management, the dynamic nature of
the job grew on me, and now, Im enjoying
what I do, Davina says.
Still, she holds her love for the arts close to
her heart and says that given the right
chance at the right moment, I would quit my
full-time job and pursue my passion in a
heartbeat.

On the side
Eventhough they really enjoy what they are
doing on the side, Jason and Sarah have no
plans to leave their current jobs. For them,
the fact that they are able to enjoy the best of

both worlds their full-time jobs and gigs on

the side is enough to keep them going.
Jasons current job as a web designer is
fulfilling one of his passions. He had graduated with a degree in Computing and
Multimedia from APIIT which focussed more
on programming and networking, but his
interest has always been in designing.
Designing has been my passion and interest since college. I love to look at nice things,
and I love creating nice things. I have all my
working hours to spill out my creative juices
and I love it, says Jason.
He is aware that his combined interests and
skills in design, photography and blogging
would allow him to venture out on his own.
However, for Jason, starting his own business
is not an option.
My theory for this is very simple. You can
have a day job and get paid consistently, or
quit your job and risk not getting paid for a
few months, depending on how well your
business does, he says.
Sarah, on the other hand, prefers to keep
her work and leisure interests separate.
When asked if she would consider quitting
her job at the magazine, she shares: I
wouldnt. DJ-ing is fun when you do it
occasionally. I dont know if Id enjoy it as
much if it was a job. And I love my job,
really.
Jason, Sarah and Davina are living in a
world where they are able to have their
proverbial cake and eat it too. All three are
pretty lucky to be able to venture into different areas of their personal interest while still
being fully employed.
In the end, its all about exploring your
potentials and living life to the fullest.