When CNA started, it was a 'wait & see' game | Woon Tai Ho (Founder, Channel News Asia), Part 1
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- Growing up, Woon Tai Ho - Channel NewsAsia founder & Bestselling Author of books like the George Yeo trilogy, Soul of Ink, Riot Green- didn’t know he was poor.
Until he invited his friends over and was asked questions like:
❓ Where’s your phone?
❓ Where’s your sofa?
None of which he had.
Which made him realise that actually, he was pretty poor. 😅
But he was never ashamed of it.
When his sister invited him to stay at the house she was working at as a domestic helper, that changed his world.
“I couldn’t believe it, the way they stayed… these people had a dimension of luxury that I didn’t know about. So I told myself, I need to work very hard.”
And work very hard he did.
We know Channel News Asia as one of the preeminent TV news channels in Asia, but that wasn’t always the case. As Tai Ho shares, the earliest days of CNA was very much a ‘wait and see’ game.
It was hardly easy too.
“Television is a very, very hungry animal. A news channel is a very, very hungry animal. Every hour, every minute, every second needs content. Otherwise it's black”
❓So how did Tai Ho build CNA from the ground up?
❓Position CNA amidst other giants like CNN & the BBC?❓Gain support from the likes of former Singapore foreign minister, George Yeo?
❓Handle challenges like when he was summoned to China for their coverage of Falun Gong?
To find out more, listen to Part 1 of Woon Tai Ho's episode on the So This Is My Why here. 😉
Highlights:
0:00 Introduction
1:10 Do you feel successful?
4:40 Childhood
6:30 Being a chef?
8:40 Singapore is a pretty good place!
11:30 "I never thought about being the best"
12:00 "When I was a kid, I didn't know I was poor"
14:00 Singapore spoils you
15:00 Founding Channel NewsAsia (@channelnewsasia)
18:50 Realities of founding a news channel (that most people don't see)
21:10 Defining 'quality'
22:30 Communicating quality to the team
24:10 Analysing competitors
26:40 Wait & see game
32:40 Getting into trouble with the Chinese government
39:00 Moving on from MediaCorp (@mediacorpsg)
🎙️Show notes/transcript for this episode: www.sothisismywhy.com/146
New episodes drop every Sunday!
🎥 Subscribe to TH-cam channel here: / @sothisismywhy
🙊 Like STIMY? Buy me a ☕️?: beacons.ai/sothisismywhy
STAY IN TOUCH!
🌍 Website: [www.sothisismywhy.com](www.sothisismywhy.com/)
💌 Sign up for the weekly STIMY newsletter: sothisismywhy.ck.page/ebf231f605
📸 Instagram: / sothisismywhy
🐦 Twitter: / sothisismywhyp1
👭 Subscribe to STIMY’s private Facebook group: / 523851861591311
WHO AM I:
I'm Ling Yah, a Malaysian lawyer & host/producer of the So This Is My Why, where I interview inspiring people about how they found their why, and their blueprint for turning that why into a reality. I’ve interviewed Olympians, Michelin-starred chefs, top entrepreneurs, VC founders, Hollywood actresses, and more.
P/S
⌨️ I’d love to hear from you! Just leave a comment below or email me at sothisismywhy(at)[gmail.com](gmail.com/)
Part 2 will come out next Sunday!
Thanks for sharing
Thank you for watching
I thoroughly enjoy this podcast and look forward to watching the other episodes. I was the video editor for one of the "Extraordinary People" series, specifically the episode on photographer Chua Soo Bin. It was challenging working with a perfectionist, but through Tai Ho, I realized how shallow and imperfect I was.
If anyone says Singapore has successful homegrown brands like SIA, DBS, BreadTalk, OSIM, I would say add CNA to the list.
👍🏻
Wong tai ho is very frank,honest n has very high level of wisdom!
👍🏻
Thank you very much for this informative and thoughtful video. I am especially appreciative of the English subtitles - it helps us older folks as our hearing is not that great . Also, the font type and size is very clear as our eyesight is not that great either. ❤😂
You are very welcome!! Hope you enjoyed this episode 🥰
Great content. But I really don't like the frequent cuts. The video doesn't seem smooth throughout.
Oh no!! Thank you for the feedback. Let me experiment with minimal cuts for part 2! I worried about the length hence the many cuts 🥲
Yes good point. I reag appreciate your work bringing Mr Woon’s story to us, often when watching the interviews of such an influential person, we’re also interested in his cadence as it shows us how he thinks as he’s responding to your questions!
I will gladly watch a 2 hour version of this if you ever upload it!
@@gjkung ahhh now I know!! The original recording is indeed very long and I worried about the length. I’ll certainly look into releasing the full version in the future so it doesn’t impact the viewing experience. 😊
Woon Tai Ho spoke very candidly and eloquently. CNA is truly a great Singapore brand. When CNA started, it was a newbie in a competitive arena of established big players like CNN and BBC. Nevertheless, the sheer tenacity and focus of Tai Ho and his team as pioneers, made and grew CNA to be what it is today. Thank you for this insightful interview.
@@haroldtan1638 thank you for watching and leaving such a lovely comment :)
I think Mr. Woon should thank his Twin Brother not going to Univ., to thus have his opportunity to go for Univ studies. Sometimes, loved ones, don't wish to tell the truth but to be kind to his CNA brother.
I call BS on the statement that Sg perspective is Asia perspective 😢