MY SCHOOLDAYS: 'I was mesmerised by Che Guevara'

ADRIAN Jalaludin, 27, was a rebel at school. When Adrian was 12, his teacher asked him to read about Che Guevara, a major figure of the Cuban Revolution, and he has been hooked on the historical figure, both revered and reviled, since.

"I was mesmerised by Che Guevara. By the time I was 16, I fully understood the magnitude of his endeavours. I was hooked from then on. I have lots of books about him," says Adrian.

Eager to follow in the footsteps of Che Guevara, who went on a nine-month motorcycle trek through most of South America, Adrian adds: "I have a great desire to visit Cuba and travel through South America."

Meanwhile, the TV host has journeyed to various Asian countries including China, Japan, India, Taiwan and Myanmar for ntv7's 13-episode travelogue Tea Tracker, which sheds light on the history of tea, in addition to giving useful tips and information about the beverage.

Adrian says: "Some of the highlights of my career are travelling the world and visiting some truly exotic and amazing places. I have also interviewed some of my football heroes."

Adding another feather to his cap is playing host to three shows -- Bola@Mamak, Football Overload and Brain Juice (Singapore gameshow) -- which were nominated for the Asian Television awards in 2011. He is also a familiar face in various sports programmes such as 4-4-2 BPL (Barclays Premier League) and 4-4-2 Eurozone. He has been hosting since 2007.

His foray into acting was a natural progression. He has guest starred in Teman, an 8TV travelogue, and acted in a lead role in Café 13, a MediaCorp Okto youth drama about four friends who investigate paranormal happenings in Singapore.

He first caught Malaysian audiences' attention when he was a contestant on What Women Want, a Malaysian reality television programme where he vied with 12 bachelors for the title. His popularity rose when he was nominated as a top finalist in both Female's 50 Gorgeous People and CLEO's Most Eligible Bachelors in Malaysia.

With his passion for politics and history, he chose to study for a double degree in History and International Relations at Richmond, the American International University in London, Britain. In fact, a career in politics had crossed his mind while he was schooling.

He answers questions on his schooldays:

Yaqin: Which primary and secondary schools did you attend?

Adrian: I went to Mont Kiara International School, Kuala Lumpur for both my primary and secondary education.

Yaqin: Did you have a favourite teacher and why did you like him/her?

Adrian: I had only one favourite teacher whom I really learnt a lot from, not just bookwise but about life. His name was Mr Holland. He bucked the trend of what a teacher is supposed to look like and how a teacher is supposed to teach. He helped discover my love for History, which was always there, but he encouraged me to "dig deeper" and "expand my horizons".

Yaqin: What subject(s) did you like at school?

Adrian: History was the only subject I liked at school. At an international school, once you're a junior and senior doing your International Baccalaureate (IB), you could choose your subjects. I was the only one to pick two History courses -- History of the Americas and IB History.

Yaqin: Were you rewarded for good performance by your parents? If yes, in what way.

Adrian: My parents always encouraged me to do my best, no matter what results I achieved.

Yaqin: What was your best (and worst) school holiday?

Adrian: In my book, any school holiday was the best and there's never a worst school holiday!

Yaqin: What hobbies did you have while at school?

Adrian: I had plenty of hobbies. It started out with stamp and coin collecting. Then, I collected basketball trading cards. I moved on to animals later. I had a lizard, hamsters and three 20-gallon fish tanks.

Yaqin: What was your ambition while schooling?

Adrian: I wanted to be a professional athlete or enter the world of politics.

Yaqin: If you were to live your schooldays all over again, is there anything you would like to change?

Adrian: I never look back and regret anything I do. So, no, there would be nothing I would like to change if I could live my schooldays all over again. Well, maybe, one thing -- not gotten into so many arguments with teachers and my football and basketball coaches.

 

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