A star-studded cast headlined by actor-director Gavin Yap lends their voices to the country's first online radio drama Derek Kong Private Detective
RADIO dramas have been part of Malaysian entertainment for ages, especially in times where the television was less affordable to the masses.
With the advent of podcasts, fast becoming a favourite amongst social media-savvy young Malaysians, radio dramas are set to rise in the years to come, and MoOne Drama has just come up with one, containing a star-studded voice cast.
MULTI-TALENTED DIRECTOR
Theatre Of The Mind (TOTM), supported by the Cultural Economy Development Agency (Cendana), MyCreative Ventures and the Malaysian Creative Industry Stimulus Package (Prisma) presents the country's first online radio drama, Derek Kong Private Detective — The Zucchini Bicycle Case.
Derek Kong, premiered on July 31, is under MoOne's and MO1's Theatre Of The Mind (TOTM). It is directed by multi-talented Gavin Yap with Anita Woo as the producer.
MUSIC AND JINGLES
Yap and Woo are part of the voiceover cast, together with Sharifah Amani, Douglas Lim, Radhi Khalid, Natasha Mohdali and Caleb Ng Kah Lok.
Derek Kong is written and created by Amina Jindani, with audio design by Tribe Audio, foley sounds by Muhammad Yunus and Yeop Mahidin, music courtesy of PremiumBeat.com and Envato Music, and jingles courtesy of 101 Studios.
In a recent Zoom interview, Amina said that she created the radio play to "avoid becoming bored" during the two-year Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19.
"I love radio dramas, as they keep my mind busy during stay-at-home times," said Amina.
"In fact, I grew up being exposed to great radio dramas, in both Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
"And many successful stars of Hollywood as well as Malaysian cinema rose to stardom by lending their voices to such dramas, too."
Amina began work on Derek Kong in September 2020.
"Anita and I discussed the storyline and script, and she suggested that Gavin be the director and titular hero," said Amina, adding that work on the radio drama took eight months to wrap up.
LONESOME DETECTIVE
Amina said that Derek, the lonesome yet brilliant detective was a character who "appeared in her mind".
"The voice of Derek Kong came into my head very unexpectedly in a daydream at a cafe. He appeared to me as a 1950s detective in a large coat and hat, yet lived in present-day Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur," she said.
Amina quickly started writing down Derek's words on a napkin.
"The whole idea of a 1950s noir detective operating in TTDI may sound a bit silly, but I love strange characters who are out of the box."
AGATHA CHRISTIE FAN
Both Amina and Yap are major fans of detective stories, and that is why they agreed to have Derek as the drama's protagonist.
Amina said: "I've always enjoyed Dame Agatha Christie's Tommy And Tuppence and Hercule Poirot. I also like The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency and many old Hollywood black and white detective films such as those starring Humphrey Bogart."
Yap said: "My favourites are the detective films as Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Memories Of Murder, The Big Heat, The Third Man, The Big Lebowski and Blade Runner."
SELUBUNG REUNION
Derek Kong marks the first collaboration between Amina and Gavin, even though they have known each other for sometime.
"Gavin, Anita, Douglas and Amani have collaborated on a few projects in the past, while Radhi, Amani and myself were in the 1992 film Selubung," said Amina.
When asked about the major challenges the cast and crew faced, Yap said that it was "difficult to direct himself".
"Directing myself as two characters, Derek and Richard Kwan, the missing tycoon he had to find, was a lot trickier than I thought.
"It was quite a challenge to keep everything tonally consistent, and to make every character sound believable," he said.
Yap admitted that most of the cast members had previously done voiceover work with him, and that was why he could easily work with them.
"Derek is supposed to be a fish out of water, a man who appears to be from a different time and place, yet lives in 21st century Malaysia, specifically in a very Malaysian neighbourhood," he said, adding that the fictitious detective also had to be familiar with important Malaysian crime cases found in the newspapers.
REAL-LIFE SHOOT-OUT
Were any of the characters inspired by real-life persons?
"No, but one of the scenes involving a shoot-out was something that unfurled before my eyes years ago. It was a bunch of robbers versus the police, and one of them was downed by the boys in blue," said Amina.
EXCITING DRAMA
Amani, who voices Derek's protege, an enthusiastic young waitress named Suraya, said that she was delighted to be part of an exciting radio drama.
"While I've worked with Gavin in the past, this is my very first radio drama with him, and it was a great way to make use of idle time during the MCO period," she said.
"Noir stories are really cool, and it is nice to have a mystery solved in TTDI, a neighbourhood I grew up in."
REALISTIC CHARACTERS
Amani added that radio dramas enabled her to "do whatever she wanted" as they were audio and not visual stories.
"My mother introduced me to radio dramas, and I grew up enjoying them. The key to playing a good radio character is to make your character interesting, but realistic."
Anita, who voices a mysterious character known as the Pink Kebaya Girl, said that the radio drama was filled with realistic sounds such as the chirping of myna birds and crickets.
"This gives the story a wholly Malaysian feel, and listeners will really think the drama or comedy is unfurling before their eyes," she said, adding that Derek Kong was divided into two 30-minute parts.
"The characters may be fictitious, but their interactions and dialogues touch on lots of real-life Malaysian topics such as the cancel culture, the Commonwealth Games, fashionable face masks, popular restaurants and supermarkets, popular Malaysian dishes, and notorious criminal gangs and triads."
NEW AND REFRESHING
Ng, who voices a bicycle enthusiast named Bob as well as a police officer and a restaurant waiter, said that he was happy to be part of an "amazingly talented" ensemble cast.
"It is a first time for me, and a great experience I will never forget. I hope to do more such dramas, as they are something new and refreshing," he said.
For Radhi, voicing the villain Vinny Kanagalingam or Ice Mokka was something "cut out" for him.
"Vinny is a dark and dangerous person, and the gang he leads has an out-of-this-world name, the Nenek Gang, as they all dress up as old ladies," he said.
"On the other hand, I also voice a character who is just the opposite of Vinny, and he is a kind, gentle bread seller in the neighbourhood of Derek's office."
Natasha voices a few minor characters and they include a bicycle enthusiast named Marsha and the mysterious Sun Hat Lady, while popular comedian Lim voices the owner of Derek's favourite bicycle shop as well as Jason, an acquaintance of Derek.
GOOD FOR SEQUEL
Will there be a sequel to Derek Kong later?
"It would be great. I've had a great time working with the cast and crew. They are very talented and full of great ideas when it comes to character development," said Yap.
Amina said: "Most likely! I have written many episodes of Derek and his adventures, and I hope to have them out in the months and years to come."
ALTERNATIVE ENTERTAINMENT
The cast and crew strongly believe that audio dramas can become a great source of alternative entertainment, as they enable fans to use their imagination to visualise every scene.
Amina said: "They may not be new, but they provide great entertainment during MCO situations. Furthermore, they were the favourites of our parents and grandparents in days gone by, and it is good that Malaysians of today rediscover this heritage."
Yap said: "It is a lesser-known form of entertainment which is being revived for the better. People love podcasts, so audio dramas have the potential to be very popular."
He added that good radio dramas were all about good writing and good storytelling.
"If the quality of the work is great, fans will flock to the drama, regardless of the medium or platform."
Anita said: "We are bombarded with information from everywhere and it is nice to tune into one sometimes. Today, the younger people are into podcasts and audio is taking off with loads of creativity."
MENTOR AND PROTEGE
Derek Kong tells the story of a detective based in TTDI who works alone and is brilliant.
A 20-something waitress, Suraya, works in his favourite restaurant wants him to look for her missing family friend, Richard Kwan.
Derek helps, and Suraya tags along hoping to become his protege.
Their investigations lead to the discovery of the notorious Nenek Gang of robbers who were active three decades ago and were later arrested, but have since made a comeback.
Derek Kong can be assessed at YouTube TOTM Malaysia https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS8K-HVs5_swv9b7dqg6uDw/featured, Soundcloud Theatre Of The Mind - MY https://soundcloud.com/user-322686567, and Facebook Theatre Of The Mind TOTM https://www.facebook.com/Delek223ai.