Speaker 1: the mutton sandwich podcast. Alright, welcome to the mutton sandwich podcast.
Speaker 1: This is where we use it as an excuse martin
Speaker 1: to catch up with our famous friends. That's right. And
Speaker 1: we have quite a few we've made over the years
Speaker 1: that we've been on radio and there's one friend that,
Speaker 1: that we're going to chat with today, that that
Speaker 1: kinda, you know, I'd like to give credit to the
Speaker 1: men responsible for putting the two of us together. Today
Speaker 1: is one is special because if not for him, there
Speaker 1: would be no mountains in the morning. Exactly. But we'll
Speaker 1: get to that story in just a while. Mark Richmond,
Speaker 1: How are you?
Speaker 2: Hello? Hey
Speaker 1: man, you haven't seen it for a long time. Exactly.
Speaker 1: It's been a while. It's been a while. How's the
Speaker 1: how's the family first of all,
Speaker 2: family is good. All of them um negative in terms
Speaker 2: of covid, positive attitude. That's very good. I don't like
Speaker 2: this covid stuff and all that kind of, you know,
Speaker 2: because I mean, I'm Eurasian already a minority and now
Speaker 2: I'm one of the few who don't have covid as well.
Speaker 2: So I'm also minority. I think this minority report going on,
Speaker 2: which I
Speaker 1: don't like. Welcome to the club. Actually, all three of
Speaker 1: us so far so far, I haven't I haven't had
Speaker 1: a choice. Choice, choice, choice, choice. Sorry. Speaking of family?
Speaker 1: Just digress before we we we talk to you about you,
Speaker 1: you know, did I see on facebook that your son
Speaker 1: is now a pro golfer?
Speaker 2: No, he's not a pro golfer. If he's a pro
Speaker 2: golfer or whatever retired. really.
Speaker 1: Uh
Speaker 2: No, no he's not, I mean he is uh an
Speaker 2: enthusiastic golfer, I think that I call him a high
Speaker 2: performance golfer, so he's probably, I think by the end
Speaker 2: of the year he might be pursuing golf at a
Speaker 2: higher level, but to call him a pro golfer at
Speaker 2: 15 years old, I know he's not there, he's not
Speaker 2: even close to that yet, but he does work very hard,
Speaker 1: he dreams of
Speaker 2: becoming a pro pro golfer, but I think vernon will
Speaker 2: know that vernon and I also used to have dreams
Speaker 2: together and all that and here we are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. Right. Yeah, sometimes dreams don't come true, but
Speaker 1: but but you know at least at least the little
Speaker 1: man taking after the dad who in case you didn't
Speaker 1: know this martin Mark is a
Speaker 1: very good golfer. Yeah, so there you go, following in
Speaker 1: the footsteps. I'm just saying this in comparison because I
Speaker 1: mean we were we were there when when Saul was
Speaker 1: born and now he's so accomplished. Is he taller than you?
Speaker 1: Yeah,
Speaker 2: He's 15 years old, he's 1.86 m. Remember that time
Speaker 2: we used to be able to carry him in one
Speaker 2: hand and the size of your arm. Right? Yeah, and
Speaker 2: all that, not everything, I mean a better golfer than
Speaker 2: me and you almost taller than me. So you, your
Speaker 2: Ego is almost shot down. I don't even want to
Speaker 2: know you know what's between the legs and
Speaker 1: as well, but those are the words of a proud daddy,
Speaker 1: you know, Exactly. Um obviously got something right there, so yeah, fantastic. It's,
Speaker 1: it's nice to see saw growing up to be a
Speaker 1: better man, so a better man than yeah, I was
Speaker 1: about to be a better man than all of us,
Speaker 1: but yeah, you've been out of the industry for, for
Speaker 1: quite a while now, I mean, you know everybody, you know,
Speaker 1: when you mentioned the name Mark Richmond, you know, everybody
Speaker 1: immediately thinks, oh yeah, you know the radio DJ who's,
Speaker 1: who's had a very illustrious career in radio coming from
Speaker 1: a radio superstar dad as well, and, and not just
Speaker 1: following in the footsteps, but you know, being on par
Speaker 1: with your dad as well. And then all of a
Speaker 1: sudden you decided, okay, I'm done with radio and I'm
Speaker 1: going to move on to something else. So, so for
Speaker 1: the less initiated, let's let's talk about what you did
Speaker 1: after the radio and where you are right now man,
Speaker 2: where I am right now is I'm running away from
Speaker 2: the law and trying to find
Speaker 1: I, so
Speaker 2: I'm hiding in a cave, but actually, I mean, like,
Speaker 2: I think that I came to a point where I
Speaker 2: just felt, you know, and I usually follow my heart
Speaker 2: and I just felt that, you know, I fell out
Speaker 2: of love with radio. Unfortunately, I hate to say this
Speaker 2: because you know, when I first joined, I mean, in
Speaker 2: terms of the, those red infusion days and all that,
Speaker 2: it was a device that I absolutely love that because
Speaker 2: it got me in touch with people and got me
Speaker 2: getting to know people a little bit better. But I
Speaker 2: think that I just fell out of love with it.
Speaker 2: I mean, I didn't fall out of love with my
Speaker 2: sports commentaries. That's why I'm still doing it until today.
Speaker 2: So after after radio, I think that what happened was
Speaker 2: that I also had, um and you guys know this,
Speaker 2: you know, I had a son was newly born and
Speaker 2: I wanted something stable and my, so that my wife
Speaker 2: could pursue her very own dreams as well of being
Speaker 2: a director and an actress. So I decided to take
Speaker 2: on full time jobs. I joined the youth olympic games
Speaker 2: and then after that I set up my own company
Speaker 2: for a while and after the company uh, which is
Speaker 2: now under my wife's care, I joined the Sports Singapore,
Speaker 2: the old sports council. So I've been a public servant
Speaker 2: after radio until today. I, and I think that stability
Speaker 2: was needed in the family to ensure. And then my
Speaker 2: son of all things had to choose the product of
Speaker 2: sports by saying, I want to play golf. So,
Speaker 1: I
Speaker 2: know exactly, I mean, it's like why can't you just
Speaker 2: pick something else? Like, you know, can't you just do
Speaker 2: running running is like just change your shoes like
Speaker 1: Once every three months, I
Speaker 2: must you choose goal where the clubs alone cost that much.
Speaker 2: A country club cost that much, but he chose it
Speaker 2: in the end. And then that, that's how we, we
Speaker 2: ended up needing a lot more stability in our lives.
Speaker 2: And I think as well that I saw the industry change,
Speaker 2: I could never be the modern DJ that a lot
Speaker 2: of you require this day and age as well. I
Speaker 2: belong to the old school DJs where I could just
Speaker 2: go on the mic and speak to people and I,
Speaker 2: and I look at people like both of you, you know,
Speaker 2: I mean the good jobs that you guys are doing,
Speaker 2: especially the personality that you have acquired as a duo altogether.
Speaker 2: And I was looking at myself and saying that, I
Speaker 2: don't think I was able to do that without still
Speaker 2: having to do the traffic news and everything else that
Speaker 2: comes along with it.
Speaker 2: So, um,
Speaker 2: it was, it came to a point as well of
Speaker 2: self realization that, okay, I might have passed this boat
Speaker 2: already and this boat has shifted to a different direction altogether.
Speaker 2: It's more personality driven device and medium these days and
Speaker 2: perhaps it's something that I wasn't comfortable doing as well.
Speaker 2: And that's the reason why I left it.
Speaker 1: Oh well, I mean you don't, don't, you want to
Speaker 1: come back because now every day you're to film a Tiktok.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, man, surely, surely, surely, you know how to
Speaker 1: do that. Mark loves dancing and I don't know. But honestly,
Speaker 1: you know, since you brought it up, my friend, you know,
Speaker 1: I've known Mark since I was in secondary school, so
Speaker 1: that's how far relationship dates back. But but you know,
Speaker 1: over the years becoming colleagues and then working under Mark's
Speaker 1: tutelage and it's been a long road. And this man,
Speaker 1: like I said, when we started this podcast is responsible
Speaker 1: for putting the two of us together. So, so let's
Speaker 1: let's talk about the chronology, let's talk about the rational
Speaker 1: or irrational behind behind that, putting Justin and myself as
Speaker 1: much as sir stamford raffles. Since the Singapore, Mark Richmond
Speaker 1: is the martins in the morning, because
Speaker 1: the year was 2005. Ladies and gentlemen, where a 23
Speaker 1: year old boy just joined Perfect 10, the grizzled veteran,
Speaker 1: vernon a was there at the station as well. And
Speaker 1: then we were doing different shifts, were doing different shows, right?
Speaker 1: I was doing lunch, you were doing evenings, evenings,
Speaker 1: and then Mark Richmond would take over as program director
Speaker 1: of the station and make some changes, you know, shift
Speaker 1: people around as happens in radio all the time.
Speaker 1: And one day you set us down and said, okay,
Speaker 1: you and you you're doing the morning show together,
Speaker 1: explain that strange psychotic decision. Why did you decide that
Speaker 1: these two fellas, I don't even think we've asked you this,
Speaker 1: you know, so now we're on, on, on, on record,
Speaker 1: you know, what made you decide to put these two
Speaker 1: people 10 years age difference together
Speaker 1: to do a radio show
Speaker 1: drugs? I knew it, I knew too much Panadol is
Speaker 1: bad for you guys, I
Speaker 2: took too much Panadol and
Speaker 1: what a buzz! Oh my God! Oh,
Speaker 1: to be, to be honest with
Speaker 2: You, when I first took over 987, and I mean,
Speaker 2: you guys are probably the
Speaker 2: The best thing that I did down there, I mean,
Speaker 2: when I first took over 987, I was personally a
Speaker 2: huge fan of
Speaker 2: VErnon, I've worked with Vernon before, I just feel that
Speaker 2: he's got all the tools of being a perfect international
Speaker 2: radio DJ, not just Singapore Radio DJ, ah and then
Speaker 2: I first heard Justin, of course, on 987, I mean, like,
Speaker 2: I know he was on another station before that, but
Speaker 2: I I hadn't heard him on the other station, so
Speaker 2: I first heard him all night, and I just thought that,
Speaker 2: you know,
Speaker 1: he
Speaker 2: needed all the help, so, and I slipped him some
Speaker 2: kind of, after pairing you guys up, I think vernon
Speaker 2: was the one who needed the most Anyway, I mean,
Speaker 2: I just felt that, you know, because I've worked with before,
Speaker 2: I knew that he was a great partner to have,
Speaker 2: I knew that he had very little ego and that
Speaker 2: he would make things work,
Speaker 2: you know, uh, and then, you know, and basically with partnerships,
Speaker 2: you just got to find two people with very little
Speaker 2: ego to come together and to people who really want
Speaker 2: to make it work. So, you know, and that's when
Speaker 2: the other management has asked me, he said that, you
Speaker 2: know what you plan to do with Justin and vernon, alright?
Speaker 2: And I said plan to pair them up together and
Speaker 2: all of them scratch their heads, and
Speaker 1: so
Speaker 2: I said, no, let's let's give it some time. All right.
Speaker 2: I know that the energies of these two guys are
Speaker 2: totally different, but they'll meet halfway because they don't have
Speaker 2: the egos, and I just sat down with you guys
Speaker 2: and then it started with the show and then it
Speaker 2: started with me sitting down with you and saying that
Speaker 2: you guys, I think that you need a bit of a,
Speaker 2: a little bit of a signature somewhere and all that.
Speaker 2: And then of course you came in the next morning
Speaker 2: and you both have bleached hair and I was like,
Speaker 1: that's not what I what the hell I
Speaker 2: mean? Like, you know, I think that what I really,
Speaker 2: really liked about your show, whether it was the morning
Speaker 2: or the evening that you went to a little bit later,
Speaker 2: was just the fact that, you know, you guys had
Speaker 2: a lot of, uh, had a lot of, you know,
Speaker 2: I mean, it's like just the fact that you were
Speaker 2: willing to
Speaker 2: put it out there as a show that was rather
Speaker 2: in the slapstick side and you know, that some people
Speaker 2: are going to like it, Some people are not.
Speaker 2: I think that's fantastic. And that's something that was very
Speaker 2: refreshing for radio because for a long while, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's like, especially on that radio station that we're talking
Speaker 2: about 987 if we just played it very, very safe
Speaker 2: and it was something that wasn't safe, there was something
Speaker 2: that was out there and it was either you like
Speaker 2: it or you didn't like it at all, and you
Speaker 2: guys were both willing to
Speaker 2: be the ones who weren't liked, but I did promise
Speaker 2: you as well. I said, no, stick to it, and
Speaker 2: after about two or three years people get used to
Speaker 2: it and who knows, you might get a lot of
Speaker 2: people actually, you know,
Speaker 2: putting you guys together and you get a lot more
Speaker 2: endorsement deals that you have now, and I certainly hope
Speaker 2: that you have had over the years and it's great
Speaker 2: to see the success that you've had, and that was
Speaker 2: the fact that you've actually stuck to each other. That's um,
Speaker 2: it was kind of worried that in my mind at
Speaker 2: that time, so I just hope these two guys would
Speaker 2: stick together. And of course my wife said, yeah, of
Speaker 2: course they would means like, what else do they have?
Speaker 2: She said? I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I I
Speaker 2: think that was probably the best, the best thing that
Speaker 2: I've made because I just it was really
Speaker 2: of a feeling of a feeling that it was something
Speaker 2: that could work and something that could be long term.
Speaker 2: Ah and look how long this has been. It's like,
Speaker 2: it's almost 20 years already, my goodness, you guys almost
Speaker 2: 20 years already.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know, like, like, like your wife be
Speaker 1: interested then, you know, we have nothing else. Right? Exactly.
Speaker 1: I think, I think I think we are now the
Speaker 1: longest running
Speaker 1: preparing
Speaker 1: Yeah, in radio, you know, it's it's been that long.
Speaker 1: So we just want to take this opportunity to say
Speaker 1: thank you again. Yeah, exactly. Well, if we've never gotten
Speaker 1: to say thank you before, I mean, you know, really
Speaker 1: it sometimes we sit down and we we we think
Speaker 1: about the whole journey that we've been through and all that, right?
Speaker 1: And the couple of the people who are involved in
Speaker 1: and
Speaker 1: obviously you're the main man, man, you you actually put
Speaker 1: this crazy show together and
Speaker 1: look where it's taken us right now and valentine's day coming.
Speaker 1: So expect some flowers in the mail and chocolates, but
Speaker 1: it will be melted and half eaten because this fellow
Speaker 1: likes
Speaker 1: the half eaten part. I believe you've
Speaker 2: never given me
Speaker 1: anything yet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I apologize for that, but no thanks, thank you again.
Speaker 1: Thank you again. But let's let's talk about, let's talk
Speaker 1: about your journey. Let's talk about radio first because you know,
Speaker 1: you were such a big part of radio for so
Speaker 1: many years again. You know, if if not for you,
Speaker 1: there wouldn't be us. But you yourself did a lot
Speaker 1: of very iconic
Speaker 1: radio programs. You had many different partners and all that.
Speaker 1: I believe you you you did all the Big three, right?
Speaker 1: You did 987, You did class, You did gold,
Speaker 2: right? Yeah, I did all the
Speaker 1: Big You did all the Big Three, which which was
Speaker 1: your favorite part of it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I if you think about it, I probably did
Speaker 2: the Big five, if you ask me because it was
Speaker 2: there was also ready fusion and I started at the
Speaker 2: old radio one as well. That's how,
Speaker 1: you
Speaker 2: know, that used to be a canteen there beside the
Speaker 2: radio station and you know, it started out. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: um I would say that if you ask me, I
Speaker 2: would say
Speaker 2: probably 987, perfect 10. Because you know, the energy of
Speaker 2: the team then was just absolutely brilliant. We had a
Speaker 2: really good boss Florence again and then, you know, we
Speaker 2: had no lights of like
Speaker 2: Bernard Glenn joined us later but hubert tang and gang,
Speaker 2: but I mean the energy of the team was just unbelievable.
Speaker 2: We worked really hard, but we played just as hard,
Speaker 2: probably played even harder. We hung out with one another.
Speaker 2: We really liked each other's company. We partied with one
Speaker 2: another all day long and a lot of times, I
Speaker 2: think that we made that mistake as well when we
Speaker 2: went into management people like Bernard and myself to try
Speaker 2: to recreate that same sort of atmosphere and energy within teams,
Speaker 2: but people change and moved along and I had a
Speaker 2: conversation with Bernard as well, so we, we can't replicate
Speaker 2: what we had ever again, We just were lucky that,
Speaker 2: you know, we actually got together and liked each other
Speaker 2: and I think that there was a sense of freedom,
Speaker 2: not just in the way that we, you know, we
Speaker 2: were off air, but even on air as well, Florence
Speaker 2: gave us as long as we knew the boundaries and
Speaker 2: we knew the lines that were drawn in playground, she
Speaker 2: gave us the
Speaker 2: um you know, choice and also the license to play
Speaker 2: by the edges and that's why we had a lot
Speaker 2: of DJs with different personalities and you know, also for her,
Speaker 2: for her is like, you know, I, I used to,
Speaker 2: you know, be part of this and join this like
Speaker 2: freestyle rapping competitions and all that, and I told her,
Speaker 2: I said,
Speaker 2: would you mind if I throw down a few bars
Speaker 2: and she's like, yeah, sure go ahead, you know, and
Speaker 2: probably in her mind, she said later on, she was
Speaker 2: thinking of like different kind of bars and all that
Speaker 2: kind of stuff, I thought that was for her or
Speaker 2: something
Speaker 1: like that, you know,
Speaker 2: sorry man, it's just wrapping
Speaker 1: right?
Speaker 2: I could rap about the traffic and the weather and
Speaker 2: all that kind of stuff and it was fine as well.
Speaker 2: So I think that we were allowed to, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's like, even though it's like personality driven, we were
Speaker 2: also reminded to do the normal thing every day, which
Speaker 2: is to give them the news, the weather. And I
Speaker 2: think at the end of it, a bit of it
Speaker 2: all is that we always realized at the end of
Speaker 2: the day that we worked for
Speaker 2: the listeners, we never worked for ourselves. So I think
Speaker 2: that that was still based on my beliefs in radio,
Speaker 2: which I liked very much I had fun doing it.
Speaker 2: So I think that my time at 987 was probably
Speaker 2: the best um if you asked me who my best
Speaker 2: partner was on radio, I would say your current partner
Speaker 2: Justin because vernon and I mean, we had a lot of,
Speaker 2: we had a very, but so we had a lot
Speaker 2: of fun. I mean, we the same thing, we broke
Speaker 2: all the rules, it's like, you know, when we first
Speaker 2: sat down together and we said, let's let's just go
Speaker 2: on and and fight.
Speaker 1: I
Speaker 2: think vernon knows that, you know, and so it became
Speaker 2: so stupid and so silly that, you know,
Speaker 2: and then we used to read all these listeners complaints
Speaker 2: and said that, you know, okay. And you guys stop
Speaker 2: fighting and it's like no end up like I'm telling,
Speaker 2: turning around the burden and saying, see that it's your
Speaker 2: fault and your
Speaker 1: fault. It
Speaker 2: was that sort of thing. And, and, and, and that's
Speaker 2: how I knew as well, that burden was, was a
Speaker 2: person that was makes a very, very good
Speaker 2: radio DJ partner and I knew that, you know, you
Speaker 2: guys could work. I think that he was, he was
Speaker 2: my favorite partner because all along we could just, you know,
Speaker 2: call out with one another and say, okay, let's do
Speaker 2: this right now. And we picked it up straight away
Speaker 2: and it was, we used our years more than we
Speaker 2: used our mouths. I know that DJs were always told,
Speaker 2: you gotta use your voice, you gotta use your mouth.
Speaker 2: But I think as partners, the years are more important
Speaker 2: than the mouth and that's what happened then.
Speaker 2: Mhm.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, you know, I remember feeling a bit
Speaker 1: short changed and almost gutted actually when, when they told
Speaker 1: us that, you know, you and Mark can't do the
Speaker 1: show together anymore. And you know, because I've always felt that, hey, we,
Speaker 1: we had a good thing going and you know, we
Speaker 1: were really enjoying ourselves. How long was your show together?
Speaker 1: Wah Mark?
Speaker 2: Less than half a year?
Speaker 1: Yeah, about half a year. And, and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden it was what happened, why was the whole
Speaker 1: company change and people have different roles and yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: they needed
Speaker 2: something to remember, Burning was shifted to the morning
Speaker 1: into the morning show. Yeah,
Speaker 2: yeah, that's right because they think someone left and he
Speaker 2: was needed down there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. So, so yeah, I was really gutted. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, it was one of my favorite things to
Speaker 1: do every day when I wake up, I look forward
Speaker 1: to our show and and that really, you know, put uh,
Speaker 1: how you say, it puts a perspective on on how
Speaker 1: you wake up and enjoy your work when, when you
Speaker 1: have a show like that, you know? So yeah, I was,
Speaker 1: I was really sad, but oh, well, what to do right?
Speaker 1: I gotta, I gotta tell you a story mark. I
Speaker 1: can't remember if I ever told you this before um,
Speaker 1: about your rapping because I was in secondary school very
Speaker 1: like maybe secondary one. And somehow some way I got
Speaker 1: tickets to this thing called the Perfect 10 Awards, Oh,
Speaker 1: at the, at the indoor stadium. Remember this? And I
Speaker 1: think that the headline act was like, Michael learns to
Speaker 1: rock or something. They actually came down and accepted the
Speaker 1: award and all that. And, and you know, of course we,
Speaker 1: you know, I was a big fan of all the DJs.
Speaker 1: I knew who all of you were,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden you and Dawn, your brother went
Speaker 1: on stage and you started doing a rap and the
Speaker 1: and the stadium was like wow I didn't know you
Speaker 1: could do that you know and it was a full
Speaker 1: pack stadium just like literally you were you were onstage
Speaker 1: conducting
Speaker 2: a concert. Remember that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course I remember that. I mean I enjoyed
Speaker 2: it very much and it all came about only because
Speaker 2: I mean you guys worked with Don before and you
Speaker 2: know my brother is a very talented musician. Yeah for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah and I mean he just came back from Australia
Speaker 2: and he was looking for gigs here and there to
Speaker 2: perform and put his name out. So I thought this
Speaker 2: is a fantastic
Speaker 2: you know occasion to do it. So I just told
Speaker 2: the lawyers who was the program manager then I said
Speaker 2: I was supposed to be introducing Michael learns to rock
Speaker 2: I think or something like that and I said look
Speaker 2: I wanna perform. You know I remember it was regulated
Speaker 2: by Warren G or
Speaker 1: something. I
Speaker 2: remember doing that so I said I want to perform
Speaker 2: and he's like you know I don't perform perform Michael
Speaker 2: and I said yeah you know I mean let's do
Speaker 2: it you know during our T. G. I. W. S
Speaker 2: and all that. I used to go down and do
Speaker 2: like you know boom shake the room here and there
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff with my own lyrics. So he
Speaker 2: said okay and then that's where we went but mainly
Speaker 2: I chose that song because there was a singing part
Speaker 2: which could showcase Dons amazing vocals and then it just
Speaker 2: took off from there and I think that, you know,
Speaker 2: he he came up to me after that Don was
Speaker 2: because initially he was like, no, no, I'm not going
Speaker 2: to perform, I mean, why do I want to be
Speaker 2: your sidekick? You know, everybody is only going to remember
Speaker 2: you and all that kind of stuff, it's just to
Speaker 2: put your name out there after that. He said, thanks
Speaker 2: very much for convincing me because that was one heck
Speaker 2: of an experience because yeah, you're right, Justin was like,
Speaker 2: you know, it was packed out and because that song
Speaker 2: was hot, you know, everybody was just into it and
Speaker 2: those were the days where,
Speaker 2: you know, they just put their hands up in the
Speaker 2: air without us asking them to or you know, throwing
Speaker 2: their hands up and down like what you do these days.
Speaker 2: So it was really, really fun. It was probably one
Speaker 2: of the best experience I've ever had as well because
Speaker 2: when the lights finally shown at the audience, we suddenly realized,
Speaker 2: bloody hell, it's not sound effects
Speaker 1: as well. I know it was until today, it was
Speaker 1: one of the coolest experiences I've had at the indoor stadium.
Speaker 1: So remember that was that was a really, really awesome thing,
Speaker 1: we just don't do stuff like that anymore. Yeah, well
Speaker 1: that we can't right now, but yeah, you know things
Speaker 1: like that just don't happen anymore. I know
Speaker 2: I know
Speaker 1: well you know you know Mark your your life has
Speaker 1: obviously you know the progressed and gone forward from from
Speaker 1: an exciting youth in radio and then you know into
Speaker 1: adulthood managing radio as well and then now with a
Speaker 1: full time position with your your your current job and
Speaker 1: all that. What what what are some of your your
Speaker 1: your
Speaker 1: how you say your your high points and low points
Speaker 1: in this this long career of yours not just not
Speaker 1: just radio of course tv exactly. You've done a lot
Speaker 1: of tv as well commentary by the way. Triple Nine
Speaker 1: reruns are on our on netflix on netflix man we're
Speaker 1: talking to a netflix style. You can binge the whole
Speaker 1: series of Triple nine if you want. You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah it's cast in stone to remind my son how
Speaker 2: embarrassing his father
Speaker 1: was. A he came to me that dad you remember
Speaker 1: what a meme
Speaker 2: is in mommy
Speaker 1: him. No no no I mean it's
Speaker 2: not a bad thing, it's not a good thing either.
Speaker 2: I mean like I mean like I really enjoyed my
Speaker 2: life you know I really enjoyed I if you asked
Speaker 2: me I wouldn't put it down as a high point
Speaker 2: but I would say that my sportscasting career is something
Speaker 2: that I take a lot of pride in. It's something
Speaker 2: that
Speaker 2: probably in Singapore. It's unprecedented. I do know the achievements
Speaker 2: that I've had, I mean, it's like, you know, I've
Speaker 2: been doing it since
Speaker 2: do the math in 1987 88 you know, and if
Speaker 2: you think about it in the number of years that
Speaker 2: I've rolled by already, um I looked at it, it's
Speaker 2: like I passed like 1000 over commentaries for like football
Speaker 2: and it's all over the world, it's not just in Singapore,
Speaker 2: it's taken me international, I've done eight olympic games, have
Speaker 2: done numerous asian games and like, you know, you just
Speaker 2: come to a point where sometimes you take that for
Speaker 2: granted and even until today, you know when I'm doing
Speaker 2: a match, you know, I do a lot of japanese
Speaker 2: football these days, but even doing a match before the
Speaker 2: start of the match, I still get butterflies in the
Speaker 2: stomach because I still enjoy doing it. I still get
Speaker 2: nervous before the start of games, you know, whether it's
Speaker 2: a swimming event or football event, so I, I am
Speaker 2: extremely proud of what I've done in, in terms of
Speaker 2: sports and that ability to also spot the talent and say, well, okay,
Speaker 2: I think this boy is going to be really, really special.
Speaker 2: I think this guy is gonna be really good, you know,
Speaker 2: just by watching it for the first time,
Speaker 2: um low points, I don't, I don't think I had
Speaker 2: a lot of low points, like what I said, I
Speaker 2: really enjoyed the career perhaps maybe, you know, at the
Speaker 2: start of it all because my dad didn't know that
Speaker 2: I got into this at such a young age alright
Speaker 2: so
Speaker 2: It was a little bit fractious initially with my dad
Speaker 2: and then it didn't help as well that I was
Speaker 2: replacing him for the Olympic Games in 1992 which was
Speaker 2: my first Olympics. So I think that also didn't help
Speaker 2: matters much. But
Speaker 2: I mean it's like I can understand exactly why I
Speaker 2: mean it's like you know I can always look back
Speaker 2: now and say being a father myself, if you ask
Speaker 2: me do I want my son saul to be part
Speaker 2: of an industry that is uh
Speaker 2: you know very very I don't know how you call
Speaker 2: it fragile, vulnerable at the same time as well. You
Speaker 2: know you have a name now not just a father
Speaker 2: but a grand
Speaker 2: father. Where people are going to compare you with. My
Speaker 2: answer would be no I want him to stay as
Speaker 2: far away as possible from it. And I don't know
Speaker 2: where my dad comes from because you know he didn't
Speaker 2: want me to have that baggage over me when I
Speaker 2: first started so he didn't want me to be part
Speaker 2: of the industry and then when I was finally part
Speaker 2: of it I felt the baggage I really did you
Speaker 2: know in the early part because you're always saying that
Speaker 2: he probably got the job because your dad's there. So
Speaker 2: I had a lot more. I mean that's why you know,
Speaker 2: you start throwing down wraps and all that kind of
Speaker 2: stuff and it made me work a lot a lot harder,
Speaker 2: which I never regretted. But at the same time it
Speaker 2: also I I suddenly realized that I put in a
Speaker 2: lot of work only because
Speaker 2: of the baggage that came along with it. I never
Speaker 2: wanted anyone to feel that way. But I think through
Speaker 2: the years you kind of like you know, shake that
Speaker 2: off and prove it, but the hard work never leaves you,
Speaker 2: which probably I'm really proud of,
Speaker 1: you know, and so you should you know, I mean
Speaker 1: you've done so much in this industry and you know,
Speaker 1: and you've definitely differentiating yourself from yourself from your dad. Sorry,
Speaker 1: I just want to go back to this low point
Speaker 1: in you should be our man is not the I
Speaker 2: I how many of you get a chance to do
Speaker 2: a character called, click click.
Speaker 1: Exactly. Right. We tried but cannot I click
Speaker 2: click because you played with your pen so much you've
Speaker 2: became click click I mean it's like you know when
Speaker 2: that first I remember the first time I read that script,
Speaker 2: I read it as a comedy and then the guys
Speaker 2: are like looking at me
Speaker 1: what are you doing this drama? But but okay, all
Speaker 1: this this this fun as I write, I martin, I
Speaker 1: don't know if you know this about Mark because because
Speaker 1: I was around when he was still a very active actor. Yes,
Speaker 1: and
Speaker 1: this guy takes his acting very seriously. Mark is almost
Speaker 1: like a method actor now now delve into the madness
Speaker 1: of that Mark, because you know, you you were doing
Speaker 1: all sorts of roles like like for instance, Triple nine
Speaker 1: where you are this, you know, edgy, hard nosed cop,
Speaker 1: how how do you begin
Speaker 1: thinking about method acting to, to play a role like that?
Speaker 2: Uh to be honest with you, it was because I
Speaker 2: wasn't trained as an actor and I that's why I decided,
Speaker 2: you know, to put everything into it and become the
Speaker 2: character because that was the only way I knew how
Speaker 2: to and it was something that I might have regretted
Speaker 2: doing because there's some roles that I shouldn't have put
Speaker 2: all of myself into it, especially on stage, but because
Speaker 2: I'm not trained, it was like the only way I
Speaker 2: knew how to do it. Uh and that's the reason
Speaker 2: why I chose to do it that way. Looking back now,
Speaker 2: I wish I would have taken it differently, but then again,
Speaker 2: it would have required some training, but I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: I
Speaker 2: there's some parts in some roles where I didn't take
Speaker 2: myself too seriously and also the enjoyable ones, but I
Speaker 2: think that when you actually have to dive right into it,
Speaker 2: especially when you're on stage and the audience is right
Speaker 2: in front of your face, That that can be pretty frightening. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, that's one of the reasons as well, You know,
Speaker 2: when I had my son, I decided to stop acting
Speaker 2: on stage because he can't come home to a different
Speaker 2: father every night,
Speaker 1: every Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean? Yeah, so it was going
Speaker 2: through very dangerous grounds at that time. A lot of it,
Speaker 2: I have to admit a lot of it just them
Speaker 2: from a whole lot of insecurity of the fact that
Speaker 2: I don't think I'm good enough, so I better throw
Speaker 2: everything that I
Speaker 1: can.
Speaker 2: So it was just insecure because the people around me
Speaker 2: was so bloody good that, you know, I better get
Speaker 2: up to speed, I better not not just learn my lines,
Speaker 2: but I better show that I can do it and
Speaker 2: I can be on par with with these guys. So
Speaker 2: it was insecurity that that drove me, like what I
Speaker 2: said at the end of the day, I don't regret
Speaker 2: hard work, but I mean, like maybe I I should
Speaker 2: have not taken myself that seriously.
Speaker 1: Looking back
Speaker 2: Yeah, looking back now and look at Triple Nine and
Speaker 2: like what you say, VR man, it's like, yeah, actually
Speaker 2: those are the things that you really can't take seriously.
Speaker 2: It's like, it should be like right, it should be
Speaker 2: right unfit left armpit and that's what it should have been,
Speaker 2: that's
Speaker 1: all. But looking back now, I mean all this is
Speaker 1: hindsight of course. So where you are now and everything
Speaker 1: you've achieved right from what we've been hearing from you
Speaker 1: when it comes to radio and or acting, is it
Speaker 1: a
Speaker 1: never again or never say never,
Speaker 2: wow.
Speaker 2: I mean in terms of radio, it's uh in terms
Speaker 2: of acting, I'm not sure, I'm also at an age
Speaker 2: where you know, you're always going to cast me is
Speaker 2: perverted uncle,
Speaker 1: which is true by the way, no need to method
Speaker 1: act that way. We can act together, we can be
Speaker 1: the two old men at the coffee shop. Oh
Speaker 2: yeah, actually we should talk to my wife that you're
Speaker 2: interested in doing,
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, stop it, stop it,
Speaker 1: stop it. The only reason I've dabbled into stage acting
Speaker 1: is because of you, horrible, horrible man twice. No, I
Speaker 1: didn't learn my lesson the first time I did it
Speaker 1: the second time was like, oh my God, but but
Speaker 1: you
Speaker 2: talk about our boys to men and all, vernon was
Speaker 2: in the Army
Speaker 1: Day. Yeah, no, no, we're just reliving this with Jose
Speaker 1: and when we had him on the show, right? And
Speaker 1: and and you know, the funny thing is I'm not
Speaker 1: an actor, like, like you, like you said, you know,
Speaker 1: you never started out, never formally trained as an actor
Speaker 1: and neither am I, the only difference is he had
Speaker 1: interest in acting, I never did, but the only reason
Speaker 1: I did it because this man came and emotionally blackmailed
Speaker 1: me bro, you can do it. Come on man. I
Speaker 1: I'm like okay, okay my my, my bro says I
Speaker 1: can do it so okay, I'll do it. I think
Speaker 2: it was so funny role he ever played. I mean
Speaker 2: it was about this,
Speaker 2: It's about a radio station. Okay, let's start my dad
Speaker 2: and shake Heikal. Its love wave 91 96.6 or something
Speaker 2: like that. It's about a radio station. And all Burton
Speaker 2: had to do was to be
Speaker 2: this guy who was an aspiring radio DJ who was
Speaker 2: actually a producer but he couldn't be a DJ because
Speaker 2: his voice was too high.
Speaker 1: I actually had to sing on stage, a full blown song.
Speaker 1: You're like, wow. Maybe one of the great,
Speaker 1: it is one of the great regrets in my life
Speaker 1: that I never saw this play. That one was a
Speaker 1: community play. You know what love is in the air,
Speaker 1: love on air or something like that. Right?
Speaker 1: No love. I never saw it. I saw Army Days
Speaker 1: though you didn't, I was there for army days but
Speaker 1: I did not see this other one man. I know
Speaker 2: he was better in love with that. He was an
Speaker 2: Army Days. I can attest to that, you know that
Speaker 2: my boys and all of a sudden he breaks out
Speaker 2: into Robbie Williams
Speaker 2: better, better
Speaker 1: man. Yeah man, the memories are just
Speaker 2: flooding and everybody, the whole whole crowd clapped and then
Speaker 2: you know? And bryan and Michael went well done man.
Speaker 1: Thanks. I mean, you know which is why what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: you know it's talking to Mark Richmond for for for
Speaker 1: 10 minutes, 15 minutes, half an hour. He can get
Speaker 1: you to do things you never thought you ever wanted.
Speaker 1: That's how passionate he is about a man of a
Speaker 1: man of many talents. Exactly. I mean, we can we
Speaker 1: can sit here and catch up for another two hours
Speaker 1: but Mark where we want to let you go. One
Speaker 1: more thing to do when we do this with all
Speaker 1: our guests on the modern sandwich podcast is now we
Speaker 1: get to turn the tables were asking you questions for
Speaker 1: half an hour. It's your turn on, on, on on record,
Speaker 1: ask us a question.
Speaker 1: It can be to one of us both of us
Speaker 1: and we have to answer. So is there something you've
Speaker 1: always wanted to ask us?
Speaker 2: I think it's this is very difficult because almost everything
Speaker 2: has been answered. I mean, we know each other well,
Speaker 1: very well, so long decades.
Speaker 2: Exactly. For so long already. Okay. Probably because it's the
Speaker 2: year of the tiger. Right?
Speaker 2: Maybe my question is this,
Speaker 2: I like to hear
Speaker 2: You present your case one x 1 as to why
Speaker 2: you have
Speaker 2: a bigger tail in between your
Speaker 1: legs. What the argument is settled before the cases even presented.
Speaker 1: I have three Children. He has none fight Justin, you're
Speaker 1: just going down without a fight arguments
Speaker 2: Alright, alright, argument. What about
Speaker 1: you? You're not gonna look go down without looking I
Speaker 1: mean look, I'm wagging my tail and wagging my tail.
Speaker 1: The only thing I can say is and people won't
Speaker 1: believe it, but really I can say is have you
Speaker 1: seen the size of my feet?
Speaker 1: And you know what they say about people with big feet? Right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: your feet are so big, you can't see anything else
Speaker 1: wins. Congratulations. Okay, I've known you to be a fighter, Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: here's here's another argument. How many letters does your surname have? Okay,
Speaker 1: come on, how many how many? Three minus A N
Speaker 1: T H O. And I have nine months of yours
Speaker 1: is longer, no matter what? Okay, okay, okay, you see
Speaker 1: that is only a question that Mark Richmond was exactly right.
Speaker 1: That is a regular conversation between Mark Justin and myself. Okay,
Speaker 1: well we'll catch up again soon. Mark over over lunch
Speaker 1: or something, thank you for coming on the marten sandwich podcast.
Speaker 1: We appreciate we need to catch up soon Alright, okay,
Speaker 1: love to be and saul and the papa and mama
Speaker 1: as well. Thanks thanks for coming on,
Speaker 2: yep. And you guys as well, I mean keep doing
Speaker 2: the stuff that you're doing, I think that is absolutely brilliant,
Speaker 2: you know, I just heard your guys at the end
Speaker 2: of december last year uh the only reason why
Speaker 2: I can't hear enough office, because when you work from home,
Speaker 2: you're always on the computer and all that. But you know,
Speaker 2: I remember just switching on Class 35, it's like, you know,
Speaker 2: and just took me back in time. It's like you
Speaker 2: guys sound just as fresh as ever
Speaker 2: on a station, which probably has so many commercials outside
Speaker 2: thinking I think I could do it down there with
Speaker 2: all these commercials going on and all that kind of stuff,
Speaker 2: you know, but you're still still able to do it.
Speaker 2: So I'm glad please keep your passion alive on radio.
Speaker 2: I think that radio needs people who enjoy themselves going
Speaker 2: on radio and you guys probably more than any other
Speaker 2: DJs enjoy going on radio, you know, with all the
Speaker 2: love and further in the world. So please keep it up.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 1: See you soon.