Do Hardcore Jewellery The Softboy Way

2020 for a lot of people is a year of missed opportunities given the whole pandemic

- Asaph Low

Thursday, 19 November 2020 2:33 pm

I WANT TO START BY WISHING YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY! YOU JUST TURNED 27 A COUPLE OF DAYS BACK. A YEAR OLDER BUT A YEAR WISER — WHAT IS ONE THING YOU GAINED OR LEARNT WHILE YOU WERE 26 AND ARE PLANNING TO BRING INTO YOUR 27 TH BIRTHDAY?

[Deep exhales] That’s a very good question. There were a lot of things I needed to learn and internalise as a full-time artiste.

One of them is accepting a lot of things you do — no matter how passionate you are or how much effort you put in — will not be recognised. If you release a video, there’s a high chance no one watches it at all despite the time and effort spent. You need to deal with your definition of success, what’s worth spending resources on.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE SUCCESS THEN?

Unfortunately, you can’t escape hard metrics such as the number of people watching a drama production or the views, shares and likes of social media content.

Here’s where it gets tough, do you stop doing it if the response isn’t good? That’s when you need to find an alternative definition of success — are you proud of your work, have you lived up to your expectations, have you learnt something or you feel you have grown?

It’s not healthy to always peg your sense of success to external validations, especially in this [entertainment] industry, because it is out of your control. If you always rely on that, you will be left very bruised after some time.

WHO HAS BEEN THE GREATEST INFLUENCE IN YOUR ACTING CAREER SO FAR?

[Pondering] Greatest influence…?

MENTORS OR FIGURES IN THE INDUSTRY YOU ADMIRE AND LOOK UP TO?

Not anyone specifically. I may not have a mentor but every production I’m on, I’ve met actors and actresses who have been instrumental to my growth.