Patrick Teoh

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.

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.

1966-1970s: 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.

1984-1986: 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.

1994-1997: 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

1980s - present: Stage and TV acting

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.

Other projects

Awards and nominations