While he’s a familiar face for most Singaporeans, local TV presenter Steven Chia said being in front of the camera was not part of the original plan.
In a recent episode of YouTube talk show DNA hosted by actress Rebecca Lim, Steven, accompanied by his 16-year-old son Joshua, spoke candidly about how his career happened “by chance”.
The 54-year-old and his wife Tania also have a 20-year-old daughter, Lucy.
Steven began his career in media with behind-the-scenes work — producing, directing and scriptwriting before chancing upon Mediacorp’s search for a sports news presenter.
“I sent in an audition [tape], got the gig and that’s how I started being in front of the camera,” he said.
His road to hosting Talking Point had a similar trajectory.
At the time, he was anchoring Singapore Tonight when he realised it wasn’t “working out”.
For the 10pm show, he had to clock in at 2pm for pre-show preparation and is only able to reach home around 1am the next day.
“When I went to work, the kids aren’t even home from school yet. When I come home after work, which is at midnight or 1am, the kids have gone to bed. So I never saw them on weekdays,” he recalled.
That’s when he joined Talking Point.
The investigative current affairs programme had more regular hours, he said.
And rather than aiming for quality time, Steven simply wishes for more time with his kids.
“People say quality time but I’m like, ‘What do you mean by quality time? Any time you spend with your child is quality time.’ So my view is that the more time you spend with your children the better,” he explained.
Rebecca also asked Joshua how he would describe his dad at home.
“Kind of the same vibe, but just not as investigative at home,” said the teen, agreeing with Steven’s remarks about him being a “regular dad”.
“I still scold you. I’ll ask you about stuff. ‘Why are you buying this on Shopee?'” said Steven.
Prompted by Rebecca, he added comically: “Because you’re spending my money! I’m investigating where my money is going.”
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syarifahsn@asiaone.com
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