November 2007

VJ UTT

By Lennat Mak

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Utt is one happy man. It really shows from his work and his affable personality that he truly enjoys what he does. Since he first joined MTV Asia way back in 1998, the MTV VJ has gone through many different changes, be it the channel format or fellow VJ personnel. Seasons, trends, and people might come and go, but Utt is still here as the face of MTV Asia, heralded by many as an inspiration when it comes to the art of VJ-ing. What is his secret? Did he ever want to give it all up? Find out!

You used to be based largely out of Thailand but now you've been doing quite a lot of work in Singapore. What brought on that change?

For the longest time, I was balancing work between the two countries. I go through stages of focusing on Thailand more than on Singapore. Actually, I would say I've never been through a stage where I was focusing more on Singapore -- it's always "half-half." But now I'm embracing the fact that Singapore is my second home and that hosting is what I love to do most. I did go through a period where I wanted to test out different areas of the entertainment industry, like acting and singing maybe? [Laughs] It's more acting though. I've realized that I can keep that part of my career intact but I should also embrace (the fact) that hosting has always been my main stay.

I think what happens is that when you end up in a certain area of work for too long, you can become jaded. And when you become jaded, you might not enjoy your work like you used to. I went through that whole phase a few years back. When I had some time away from it, I realized that hosting is something I want to achieve and it's always been a dream of mine when I was younger. I went through that whole reflection stage where I shouldn't fight something I love to do in order to break into a different area of work, when I can actually do both at the same time.

Was it a case of "too much, too soon" that made you want to break away from hosting in the first place?

Maybe I was just full-on working and dividing time to different markets - I realized that being focused in one place helps a lot. It's okay to divide (your) time, but you need to be focused on one area. And I mean this in terms of what you chose to do, be it hosting, acting or singing, and in terms of markets for me. For me, if I weren't in just one place, I could do a lot more. But I still can't be going back all the time and divide it like 50/50.

And so, you decided to go with the flow.

Yeah! Before it was like, "It's flowing but I can't do it, I have to go back!" Now I'm going with the flow and putting the brakes on. I've been in the Thailand industry for 15 years. The market is still there for me. For Singapore, there's so much more for me to explore. I've been working a lot more with MTV this year too. There was a lapse where I took a break from MTV. In the past year, I've been more proactive and it's good. It's a feel-good time for me with MTV. I basically have the MTV logo branded on my forehead!

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