AS a kid, Mas Zharif Zhafri Aziz remembers how his late father would take him along to his emceeing assignments. These included weddings, birthdays and TV3’s Jom Heboh carnivals that featured dozens of celebrities.
The eldest son of legendary TV3 and TV9 host and producer Aziz Desa, Zharif was close to his dad. When Aziz passed on in 2015, he felt that he needed to step up to his father’s legacy.
“Our day trips were a major part of my growing-up and in all of them, I witnessed my father’s superb skills when handling audience.
“His speeches were often laced with poetry and proverbs,” said the 24-year-old, who will start as a newscaster next month.
After every assignment, Aziz would ask Zharif what he saw and learnt, stimulating his son’s interest in events, people and places. Zharif soon fell in love with broadcasting.
It did not take long before Zharif became co-emcee in family gatherings.
The soon-to-become “face” of Berita TV9, the TV and Film graduate from the National Arts, Culture and Heritage Academy has been undergoing four months of journalistic training at Media Prima Television Networks since May.
“The decision to go into broadcasting was my own, even though my father was delighted to hear about it. He encouraged me to become a newscaster,” said the Subang Jaya-born, who has appeared in television advertisements and a public service announcement on human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome between 2012 and 2016.
“My father had set high standards for all TV hosts. He carried himself confidently and had a good rapport with the people he worked with.
“Best of all, he was honest and passionate about his profession,” he said at Sri Pentas, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya recently.
Becoming a broadcast journalist is an honour and a responsibility for Zharif, largely because his father was a “legend” in his profession.
“While I cannot be 100 per cent like my father, I’m determined to shine in broadcasting. My father’s last words of advice to me was to be a professional with high standards and to always respect my broadcasting job.”
Besides reading the news, Zharif, who admires veteran host and former TV3 newscaster Datuk Mahadzir Lokman, will also deliver news reports live on TV. In the long run, he will get to produce news programmes.