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Dynamic duo sizzle on the air waves
by Marilyn Ten. Posted on July 1, 2012, Sunday
EVER since hitz.fm Kuching hit the airwaves in October last year, radio announcers Meng and Natasha have won the hearts of listeners of Malaysia’s No.1 English Radio Station by connecting with them through their highly engaging repartee.
HITZ KUCHING TRIO: (From left) Meng, Natasha and Kiyoshi.
With their voices blaring all over 95.3fm from Mondays to Saturdays, one would never have guessed the two Sarawakians never had any on-air experience working with radio stations before this.
Known for his quirky attitude, Meng or Tan Ming Chuan never thought of becoming a radio announcer. In fact, he claimed to be quite shy and adverse to the idea of speaking into microphones.
“Back when I used to DJ at small gigs at clubs around Kuching, whenever someone passed me the mic, I would just say a quick hello, then put down the mic and continue spinning my music,” he told thesundaypost.
“So when I first joined the hitz Kuching team, I came in as a hitz cruiser and had so much fun going out to meet people.
“Whenever in the office, I would always pop in to have a look around the studio and it sparked my interest,” Meng recalled, adding that he would approach the radio announcers to ask them questions and learn from them.
However, it appeared Meng was destined to become a radio announcer for when one of the announcers went on sick leave, he was picked as the replacement
“They asked me to give it a shot and though it was really nerve-wrecking, I just went for it.
After all, no one can see me, they can only hear me,” he said.
Golden opportunity
Natasha, on the other hand, has always dreamt of becoming a radio announcer and she grabbed the golden opportunity coming her way after hearing hitz Kuching was setting up camp here.
“I started out as an intern where I did voiceovers and even tried out as a backup announcer,” she said, admitting that being a radio announcer is not as easy as people think.
“Apart from incorporating creativity into our show and having to sound the same all the time, even if we’re feeling a little under the weather, we also have to do research, write scripts and do promos, among others,” she explained.
After trying out as an intern, Natasha, also known as Natasha Albert Juan, went to join the hitz Cruisers and discovered it provided her good training in talking to people while out and about. Later, she was given her own show – Hitz Top 40.
On the air for almost a year now, both Meng and Natasha have now teamed up to host the brand new show – hitz.fm Kuching Drive Thru – from tomorrow (July 2).
Asked about working together, Meng was quick to point out that while both his and Natasha’s styles were different, their combination is “actually a good thing.”
“You don’t want two people who sound the same on air, so it’s going to be two different personalities. Natasha is quite funny but more well-behaved than I.
“She will have to try and contain me though and I think that’s going to be quite a challenge because I’m going to give her a hard time – that’s for sure,” Meng said playfully.
Sharing the same sentiment, Natasha let on that listeners could expect craziness from Meng and that she was pretty excited to be working alongside him.
“With our contrasting styles, it’s going to be an interesting experience for us,” she said.
On every weekday at a new time slot from 4pm to 8pm, catch the duo in the evening for the biggest hits and some crazy banters.
Now that Meng and Natasha are hosting the show together, hitz.fm Kuching’s latest edition Kiyoshi Aihara will be taking over the other time slots – 1pm to 4pm – on weekdays and 11am to 3pm on Saturdays.
Born to a Japanese father and Chinese-Malay mother, the 24-year-old was raised in Kuching before moving to Germany, Langkawi and finally to Phuket, Thailand where his family now lives.
A holiday back to his hometown in Kuching last January became a permanent one when he got a job at hitz.fm Kuching.
“I heard there was a vacancy, so I decided to go for it,” said the charmer with the Justin Bieber-esque flop of hair whose gift of the gab and passion for music has landed him a spot on the airwaves.
Joining the station four months ago and hitting the airwaves over the past two weeks, Kiyoshi said whatever people may think about going on-air, a lot of hard work went into the entire show – before, during and after.
“I have a newfound respect for all the radio announcers out there and I hope to be able to get to their level one day,” he said.
On who he looks to for inspiration, the skateboard and outdoor-loving chap said hitz’s Jin and Ryan had good chemistry together and were natural at what they did on-air.
Having taken on hitz.fm Kuching Top 40, Borneo English Top 10 and hitz.fm Kuching 10, Kiyoshi shared he was looking forward to “injecting some Kiyoshi” into the new time slots to all listeners out there.
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