Sunday April 12, 2009
National pride
By ELIZABETH TAI
This proud Malaysian is eager to showcase the wonderful things in her country.
IN person, Xandria Ooi exudes an unquenchable (and at times, overwhelming) amount of joie de vivre and confidence. Confidence, the television personality says, that she derived from her ever-supportive parents, Alex, 54, and Susan Ooi, 52, who taught her that she could be anything she wanted to be if she just put her mind to it.
“Human beings, if they dare, can do a lot of things; it’s just taking that step,” says Xandria – one of her many pithy quotes during our two-hour conversation in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, a fortnight ago.
Xandria Ooi at a fruit stall in Pasar Besar Seremban. This is why it’s unsurprising, at least to those who know the personable lass, that she set up her own production company, XO (which denotes “extraordinary”) Productions, last year at the young age of 25 and is now producing her own show, Xandria’s Weekend Discovery, which airs on Ntv7 next month.
Being a producer is just one of the many hats that the elder of two children who grew up in Petaling Jaya (she has a younger brother) has worn since she returned from Melbourne, Australia, with a finance and management degree four years ago.
Armed with bright dreams of becoming a jetsetting fashion buyer, Xandria had fully intended to conquer the fashion world. But she took an unexpected detour into showbiz when she was selected out of a pool of hopefuls to be a resident VJ on Astro Hitz.TV in 2005.
This was the start of a prolific career as a TV host (among them 2007’s Life!Session on Ntv7 and 2008’s Healthy Cooking with Agnes Chang on TV2 which she hosted in Mandarin), emcee, radio DJ (Celebrity Weekends with Xandria and JD on Red fm), a columnist for The Star (Sights & Sounds in StarMetro) and most recently, a writer who has just published her first book, Love, Work and Everything in Between. “When people call me an author, I feel like a fraud,” she says with a rueful laugh.
“All I’ve done is publish a compilation of articles – anyone can do that!” she says, but not before adding that she is proud of the work she and her family had put into the book.
But for Xandria, she has had only one job.
“I’d like to think of myself as a storyteller ... but I don’t know whether I deserve the title because the responsibility is huge,” remarks the voracious reader who reads to relax.
Ooi having a ride in an ostrich farm. Going behind camera
Producing a television show is just another way to tell a story, Xandria says, and she caught the producing bug during her 2007 Life!Session stint.
Back then, she would host for three out of five days and spend a day producing content: booking celebrities for interviews, co-ordinating the camera crew and looking for possible shooting locations.
“You think it’s very glamorous, hosting? It’s coolie work!” she says, laughing.
She became fascinated with the production process and, being the kind of person who pushed herself to learn new things, dreamed about making her own show.
“I told my mum, ‘I’m not so sure whether I could do it. I really need someone to teach me,’” she says.
But, unwilling to sign with a company because of her many commitments, Xandria realised that the best way to learn how to produce a show was to do it on the job. And coming from a family of entrepreneurs, she naturally decided to form a production company, and did so on her birthday on July 15 last year.
“I dared because my family and friends supported me. When people believe in you, even if you fall flat on your face, they will still think you’re good – that’s what support is all about,” she says, beaming.
Promoting Malaysia
Ask Xandria about her upcoming TV series and you’ll find the host/producer talking nineteen to the dozen about the 13-episode half-hour food show-cum-travelogue on Malaysia.
“I want people to know about Malaysia. I’m very proud of Malaysia. I see its faults but one can focus on the good or the bad and I choose to look on the good,” she says of the motivation behind Xandria’s Weekend Discovery.
And she thinks the best way to do so is to promote what Malaysia is famous for: weather, food, and people.
“I know Malaysians who’ll drive for hours just to get the best nasi lemak, satay or Ipoh fried noodles,” she says.
Through her show she aims to encourage people to get out and see more of Malaysia.
“There are so many wonderful things in our country – why are we so desperate to fly to Australia, the United States and elsewhere?” she asks.
What makes Xandria’s Weekend Discovery different from the other travel shows out there is the stories, she adds. “For instance, I go to a place and speak to people behind the food to find the story behind it.”
After securing a sponsor (ExxonMobil) and a buyer (Ntv7), her company began shooting in Johor Baru, Johor, on March 9.
And although XO Productions may not have an office yet, Xandria and her crew of 10 are so busy that they will be shooting 10 episodes this month.
It helps that she has her loved ones at work: her mum is the show’s executive producer (and her manager) and her boyfriend, singer-songwriter Yuri Wong, is the sound and music manager.
“The best thing about starting your company is getting to choose who you work with,” quips Xandria.
Hard work
In the show, Xandria will narrate a story or the history behind the hotels and food places she recommends.
There’s the tale of a woman in Malacca who started a now-famous chicken rice store because she needed to support the family. Or the man who has been selling tau fu fa (soy bean custard) at a corner of Kuala Lumpur’s Petaling Street since he was 16.
“Meeting these people reminds me how lucky I am,” says Xandria. “They are often not very well-off and I see how hard they work every day – making kuih, rolling the rice and cutting the chilli.... It inspires me to be a better person.”
Ultimately, the most important thing about Xandria’s Weekend Discovery is the stories and Xandria doesn’t want anything else to get in the way of it. But working around a “limited budget” (Xandria is coy about the figure) can be a tricky affair.
Besides hosting and producing the show, Xandria, with the help of her mum, does research as well. They’d surf the Internet or contact friends and family to recommend good places to visit, hotels to stay in or the best places to eat.
Once done, they will co-ordinate the filming operation, which is often done on a very tight schedule.
“Ideally, if we have a budget we’d have a reconnaissance: check out the options, take some photos, talk to the people, and do a pre-production script so that when we go there, we don’t have to waste time,” says Xandria.
But the reality is that they only have half an hour to survey the location before they start filming, and they only have time to shoot for three hours.
Xandria laughs and then says jokingly: “Ideally, I would have an entourage with me – my make-up artist, hairdresser and someone to carry my bags, perhaps.”
But Xandria has to do everything for herself too, from doing her own make-up and wardrobe to writing the script. “But, in a way, I enjoy it. I like to be in control of how I look and what I say.”
In essence, Xandria is doing the job of several people behind the scenes, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“What I love about being involved in a production is that I learn so much. I get inspired by the hard work of my crew. They don’t complain despite how hard they work, and if they are working so hard you too want to work as hard,” she says philosophically.
It’s not the fame
Despite her moments in the spotlight, Xandria pooh-poohs the idea that she’s a celebrity. “Sometimes people think I’m Amber Chia!” she chuckles.
“Fame is not even real to me. It’s about the work,” she says on a more serious note. “My main aim is not to be famous but to be excellent at my job.”
Though she admits to having to deal with the bitchy side of showbiz once in a while (she’d rather not rehash the incidents in the media, she says), and to be “extra careful” and “make more of an effort” in public, she professes a determination to stay true to herself no matter what.
“In this industry, if you don’t have the confidence it’s very easy to be influenced by things that are impressive, like the glam and free stuff ... confidence is very different from arrogance. If you’re arrogant, a lot of people don’t want to work with you. This confidence has to come from yourself,” she says.
“It’s easy to get swept away into that person that everyone thinks or says you are. You must have a sense of self before you go into this industry,” she concludes.
‘Xandria’s Weekend Discovery’ premieres on Ntv7 on May 7 at 7.30pm, and will air every Thursday.
RSS
