Patrick Teoh

Patrick Teoh (born 16 October 1947) is an actor and radio personality in Malaysia. A career in radio, TV, stage and movies spanning more than three decades has earned Patrick the nickname of "Voice of Malaysia", bestowed by his fans and the Malaysian mass media.

Early life

Patrick Teoh was born in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. He attended St. Michael's Institution up until Form 5.

Patrick's father took him and his mother to the movies everyday for the 9.15 p.m. screening. From this routine of watching a movie a day, Patrick learned to speak English by watching actors such as John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Henry Fonda and James Stewart. The habit of going to the cinema everyday stayed with Patrick until he was 24 years old. His personal record was watching six movies in a single day.^[1]

After high school, Patrick remained in Ipoh and became a salesman for life insurance and encyclopaedias for a few years. Finally his father told him to 'get a job'. In 1966, he was having dinner at home when Rediffusion, a cable radio station announced that they had vacancies for radio announcers. Patrick applied for the position, attended the interview and got the job soon after. He was 19 years old.

Career

Rediffusion

In 1966, Patrick joined Rediffusion as an "English Programme Announcer Grade 3", earning a salary of RM$150 a month. For the first three months, he was not allowed to enter the studio. Instead, he wrote scripts and picked out songs for 'Lunch Time Melodies'. At the end of the three months, he was allowed to work in the studio during non-peak hours, where his primary duty was to press buttons to air pre-recorded programmes. After six months, he was allowed to go on air, reading from pre-approved scripts. Within two years, Patrick was promoted to Assistant Programme Manager and a year after that, he was the Programme Manager for Rediffusion. A memorable moment of his tenure in the English Programme Department of Rediffusion was when Patrick was told by his then Department Supervisor that he would never amount to much in the industry because of his physical handicap (Patrick contracted polio when he was 7 years old). Patrick eventually replaced the man as English Programme Supervisor.

A few years later, Patrick was made the Divisional Manager for 'Sound and Film Services', a division set up by Rediffusion to tap into the burgeoning advertising industry. Due to a nationwide demand for Patrick's voice talent, the division did well and in less than 9 months, it was in the black.

The then-managing director told Patrick that according to the terms of his employment contract he was only entitled to a salary and all monies earned from his professional talents (which included being a professional voice talent) rightfully belonged to the company. But as Patrick was a model employee, the managing director would make an exception and allow him to keep 50% of his voice-over fees. Patrick, who was then earning up to six times his salary in voice-over fees disagreed with the new terms, and resigned from Rediffusion.

Voice of Malaysia

During Patrick's last few years with Rediffusion, Malaysia was going through an advertising boom. The government introduced the 'Made in Malaysia' ruling: 65% of the elements in commercials that were meant to be aired over electronic media must be Malaysian, or Malaysian-made. Hence Patrick was called very often to do voice-over work. So much so that at one point of his career, up to 99% of English advertisements aired over electronic media were voiced by Patrick. Thus he became known as the "Voice of Malaysia".

Mobile disco

Patrick was credited as being a pioneer of mobile disco in Malaysia. In the mid-1970s, the disco era exploded in the country. At that time, Patrick was frequently employed to be the DJ for private parties and similar functions. During an annual ball for the advertising industry, he was brought in as a 'support' for the performing band. The crowd reacted positively to the disco tunes that he played, and he was asked to perform for the rest of the night. After the ball, he was asked to perform at more private functions, spinning popular disco tracks. Seeing the popularity of 'mobile disco', Patrick started a company called "The Music Machine" for that purpose.

Newscasting

In June 1984, TV3 began broadcasting in the Klang Valley. Patrick, alongside Mahadzir Lokman, Wan Zaleha Radzi, Robert Lam, and Caryn Lim were hired to be newscasters for the station. On Caryn Lim's last day on the job, Patrick was her co-newscaster. Patrick mentioned that Caryn was leaving the station, then stood up and gave her a friendly farewell kiss on her cheek. Controversy ensued as the press (mostly the Chinese press) created a ruckus over the kiss aired on television.

After two years in TV3, Patrick found out that his news reading schedule was reduced. When approached by Patrick about his reduced reading spots, his editor informed him that from the following month onwards, they would no longer require Patrick's services. Patrick does not know the exact reason for his termination.^[2]

Radio 4

In 1994, the new 24-hour radio station Time Highway Radio proved to be competition to RTM's existing radio stations. Hence RTM decided to re-brand Radio 4, and brought in new DJs such as Patrick and Yasmin Yusoff. Patrick's talk show slot was from 9 a.m. until 12 noon Mondays to Wednesdays. When Radio 4 went for 24-hour broadcast, Patrick also hosted a show in the 12 a.m. until 3 a.m. slot called 'Midnight Magic'. In Midnight Magic Patrick invited listeners to call in and tell ghost stories, a move that proved to be a hit among his listeners.

Patrick's radio slots became very popular, and after a while he felt that his programmes should be taken one step further to be a better talk show. However he was denied the resources to improve his shows. In 1997, Patrick resigned from Radio 4, and until this day has not returned to radio.

Controversies

• January 1996: A listener from Penang called in during one of Patrick's show to relate his recent experience with a member of the police force.^[3] At a roadblock, a policeman had stopped him for allegedly drinking and driving, and asked for a bribe from the listener. When he said that he did not have money with him, the policeman allegedly told him that he could call someone to bring him the money. When he said that he did not have a phone, the policeman allegedly offered him the use of his mobile phone. After the show, SAC Supian Amat lodged a police report against Patrick^[4] under the instruction of Rahim Noor, then the IGP of Malaysia, resulting in Patrick being called to the police station for interviews. The media went to town with this issue; famous local cartoonist Lat drew a satirical cartoon on the incident which was published in the New Straits Times.
• April 1996: For April Fools' Day that year, Patrick collaborated with his friend on a prank about ducks. During his radio show, Patrick took a call from an advertising agency (who was in fact his friend) looking for ducks to be featured in a commercial for a new snack. According to the person who called in, the concept of the commercial was to place ducks on a hot plate, so they would jump about. Other listeners called in the radio show to blast the ad agency, and the SPCA lodged a police report. When it was discovered that 'dancing ducks' was a hoax, the press went to town saying that Patrick was being irresponsible, and some even called for his resignation. Patrick's response to the issue was, "Can't you take a joke? Lighten up a little bit, you know."^[5]
• During a broadcast of 'Midnight Magic', Patrick hosted a show titled "Interview with a Vampire". This was in tune with the recent hit movie of the same title starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. A listener claiming to be a vampire had called in, and wanted to dispel all myths associated with vampires. The show received a very high listener rating. The next day, RTM received multiple complains from other listeners objecting to the 'promotion of myths', claiming that their children and elderly got scared from listening to the show. Patrick took a 2-week vacation to let the furore die down.
• In January 2013, Patrick posted on his Facebook page condemning the PAS-led Kedah state government for then setting up restrictions for the upcoming Chinese New Year Celebration. His personal remarks were poorly received and infuriated some Muslims who accused Patrick of being anti-Islam.^[6] Patrick has since apologised for his remarks and removed the original offending post.

Stage and TV

In the late 1980s, Joe Hasham and Faridah Merican set up The Actors Studio. One of their first projects was an acting course, and they invited Patrick to join. After the course, The Actors Studio staged "A Man For All Seasons" in which Patrick was offered the cameo role of Cardinal Wolsey, his first appearance on the Malaysian stage. Presently Patrick is a full-time actor and a performing member of The Instant Café Theatre Company.

Plays Patrick has acted in include:

Television shows he has appeared in are as follows:

Other projects

• In the 1970s, Patrick hosted a radio show on RTM called "Kee Huat's Fantastic Facts and Fancies".^[7][8] The show format was similar to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. "Kee Huat's Fantastic Facts and Fancies" was the longest, uninterrupted sponsored radio programme in Malaysia history, running for 26 years.
• In 1984, Patrick started a post-production studio, "Addaudio" to be an indirect competition to Rediffusion. The company is in operation today.
• In 1999, Patrick was appointed Dialogue and Voice Director for Walt Disney Pictures first ever venture to dub a major animated feature film into Bahasa Malaysia. The film was Disney's major animated feature for 1999, Tarzan.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 2011: CHT Pursuit of Excellence (Male Artist) Award 2011

Awards nominated

• 2006: Cameronian Arts Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role for We Are Family
• 2006: Chinese Theater Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role for We Are Family
• 2007: Cameronian Arts Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Homecoming
• 2007: 20th Malaysian Film Festival: Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Sumolah
• 2008: 13th Asian Television Awards: Best Drama Performance by an Actor for En Bloc
• 2009: 14th Asian Television Awards: Best Drama Performance by an Actor for Red Thread

References

External links

• Patrick Teoh's blogs, Tokkok and Niamah!!!
• Patrick's wife's blogs, Thinking aloud and Happiness is Homemade
• Damansara Village Steamboat Restaurant, co-owned by Patrick.
• Patrick Teoh on IMDB.com