Patrick Teoh

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Patrick Teoh
Photo of Teoh, taken on 10 October 2008
Born	Teoh Kah Yong (Chinese: 张家扬) (1947-10-16) October 16, 1947 (age 73) Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Nationality	Malaysian
Height	5'4"
Website	Blog

Patrick Teoh (born 16 October 1947) is an actor and radio personality in Malaysia. A career in radio, TV, stage and movies spanning more than three decades has earned Patrick the nickname of "Voice of Malaysia", bestowed by his fans and the Malaysian mass media.

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 every day 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.^[1]

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.

Career[]

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.^[2]

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[]

• January 1996: A listener from Penang called in during one of Patrick's show to relate his recent experience with a member of the police force.^[3] At a roadblock, a policeman had stopped him for allegedly drinking and driving, and asked for a bribe from the listener. When he said that he did not have money with him, the policeman allegedly told him that he could call someone to bring him the money. When he said that he did not have a phone, the policeman allegedly offered him the use of his mobile phone. After the show, SAC Supian Amat lodged a police report against Patrick^[4] under the instruction of Rahim Noor, then the IGP of Malaysia, resulting in Patrick being called to the police station for interviews. The media went to town with this issue; famous local cartoonist Lat drew a satirical cartoon on the incident which was published in the New Straits Times.
• April 1996: For April Fools' Day that year, Patrick collaborated with his friend on a prank about ducks. During his radio show, Patrick took a call from an advertising agency (who was in fact his friend) looking for ducks to be featured in a commercial for a new snack. According to the person who called in, the concept of the commercial was to place ducks on a hot plate, so they would jump about. Other listeners called in the radio show to blast the ad agency, and the SPCA lodged a police report. When it was discovered that 'dancing ducks' was a hoax, the press went to town saying that Patrick was being irresponsible, and some even called for his resignation. Patrick's response to the issue was, "Can't you take a joke? Lighten up a little bit, you know."^[5]
• During a broadcast of 'Midnight Magic', Patrick hosted a show titled "Interview with a Vampire". This was in tune with the recent hit movie of the same title starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. A listener claiming to be a vampire had called in, and wanted to dispel all myths associated with vampires. The show received a very high listener rating. The next day, RTM received multiple complains from other listeners objecting to the 'promotion of myths', claiming that their children and elderly got scared from listening to the show. Patrick took a 2-week vacation to let the furore die down.
• In January 2013, Patrick posted on his Facebook page condemning the PAS-led Kedah state government for then setting up restrictions for the upcoming Chinese New Year Celebration. His personal remarks were poorly received and infuriated some Muslims who accused Patrick of being anti-Islam.^[6] Patrick has since apologised for his remarks and removed the original offending post.
• On 9 May 2020, Patrick was arrested by the police after he posted an insulting video on his Facebook Page towards The Crown Prince of Johor Tunku Ismail Idris, the post has since been removed. His insulting remarks on video which was posted on May 7 was poorly received and infuriated The Johor Royal Monarch Family who accused Patrick of being very insulting.^[7] Patrick has since been released on bail on 14 May 2020 ^[8]

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.

Theatrical performances[]

Year	Title	Role
1991	Twelfth Night	The Sea Captain
1992	MacBeth	King Duncan / The porter
1993	Philadelphia, Here I Come	The father
	Death and the Maiden	Dr. Rivaldo
1999	Accidental Death of an Anarchist	Superintendent
	Gross Indecency, The Trials of Oscar Wilde	Queensbury
2000	Executive Spa	Multiple characters
	The Merchant of Venice	Shylock
2001	Goldfish Tale	Ah Kong
2002	Wish I Was There	Old man
2005	Hamlet in Malay	Polonius
2006	Julius Caesar	Cassius
	The Homecoming	Sam
	Frankenstein in Love	General Garcia Perez
2007	Wrecks	Edward Carr
2011	In Perfect Harmony	Narrator
Undated	A Man for All Seasons	Cardinal Wolsey
	Antigone	Creon
	Savages	General Garcia
	Life Sdn Bhd Parts I, II, III	Multiple characters
	Me, The Mortal	Multiple characters
	Stage	The janitor

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Return to Paradise	Chief Justice
1999	Anna and the King	Third Judge
2000	Lips To Lips	Patrick
2003	The Big Durian	Aloysius Tham
2004	The Beautiful Washing Machine	Mr. Wong
	Buli	Tan Sri Michael
2005	Baik Punya Cilok	Uncle Wong
	Monday Morning Glory	Police Chief
2006	Buli Balik	Tan Sri Michael
	Before We Fall in Love Again	Master Wong	Cameo
	The Red Kebaya	Choong
2007	Sumolah	Mr. Honda
	Kinta 1881	Master Hung
2008	Bernafas Dalam Lumpur		Cameo
2009	The Blue Mansion	Wee Bak Chuan
2010	Kapoww!
2011	Stretch	L'homme
	Sini Ada Hantu	Uncle Ma Zhai
	Ratu The Movie	Boss Hanna
	Karipap-Karipap Cinta	Uncle Hong
	Nasi Lemak 2.0	Chief Judge
2012	The Collector	Uncle Wong
2013	Final Recipe	Mr. Lee
2014	Cuak	Mr. Wong
	Take Me to Dinner	Edward
2016	Hanyut	Jim Eng
2018	Republic of Food	Old Chia
	The Spiral	Professor Lee

Television[]

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes
2004	Show Me The Money		ntv7
2005	Daddy's Girls		Mediacorp Channel 5
2006–2007	Jazz Café	himself, as host	TV2	Music / talk show host
2007	My Starz	himself, as judge	TV3	Reality show
2008	En Bloc	Lim Teik Beng	MediaCorp	TV series
	First Class	Mr. Gay Beh Song	MediaCorp	TV series
	Dream Hotel	Mr. Wong	German TV
2009	Red Thread	Kong Wah	MediaCorp	40-episode TV series
	Angel		MediaCorp	Telemovie
	Ten-Ten-Ten	Ensemble		TV series for Tall Order Productions
	The Philanthropist	General Nyo	NBC	TV series
2011	Love And Death On Java	Dr. Ling		German telemovie
	My Heart In Malaysia	Patrick Lim		German telemovie[9]
	The Pupil	Teoh	MediaCorp Channel 5
2014	Marco Polo (Season 1)	General Red Brow	Netflix	7 episodes
2015	Love Is Love	Han
2016	Dark Triptych
2020	The Bridge (Season 2)		HBO / Viu

Other projects[]

• In the 1970s, Patrick hosted a radio show on RTM called "Kee Huat's Fantastic Facts and Fancies".^[10][11] The show format was similar to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. "Kee Huat's Fantastic Facts and Fancies" was the longest, uninterrupted sponsored radio programme in Malaysia history, running for 26 years.
• In 1984, Patrick started a post-production studio, "Addaudio" to be an indirect competition to Rediffusion. The company is in operation today.
• In 1999, Patrick was appointed Dialogue and Voice Director for Walt Disney Pictures' first ever venture to dub a major animated feature film into Bahasa Malaysia, which was Tarzan.

Awards and nominations[]

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result
2006	Cameronian Arts Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role	We Are Family	Nominated
2006	Chinese Theater Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role	We Are Family	Nominated
2007	Cameronian Arts Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	The Homecoming	Nominated
2007	20th Malaysia Film Festival	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Sumolah	Nominated
2008	13th Asian Television Awards	Best Drama Performance by an Actor	En Bloc	Nominated
2009	14th Asian Television Awards	Best Drama Performance by an Actor	Red Thread	Nominated

• 2011: CHT Pursuit of Excellence (Male Artist) Award 2011

References[]

External links[]

• Patrick Teoh's blogs, Tokkok and Niamah!!!
• Patrick's wife's blogs, Thinking aloud and Happiness is Homemade
• Damansara Village Steamboat Restaurant, co-owned by Patrick.
• Patrick Teoh at IMDb