TIME OUT with Glenn Ong
DJ, Class 95 FM

Versatile. Engaging. Shocking…  but never boring. Talented DJ, Glenn Ong, has been spicing up our Singapore airwaves for the last 14 years, and he’s constantly keeping it real by re-inventing himself all the time.

You could even say that Glenn is everywhere you go these days… be it on TV or gracing the cover of a magazine looking smart in a suit with his beautiful wife Jamie. Nevertheless, Glenn always maintains his mysterious charm and enigmatic presence with his signature shades on.

Glenn currently hosts ‘The Morning Express’ on Class 95 FM with The Flying Dutchman (THE FD) aka Mark Van Cuylenberg, and JobsDB Campus chats with Glenn to find out more about his road to success.

Glenn, what inspired you to become a DJ (Disc Jockey)?

I’ve always wanted to be a DJ since I was young, and I would often make my own recordings on cassette tapes. When my family members heard some of the tapes, they felt that I had DJ potential and encouraged me to take it further. So that’s when I sent in a demo tape to Lucy Leong, who was the head of SBC radio. To my surprise, she called me in for a chat and wanted to give me a shot at being a DJ. However, I was only in Secondary 4 at the time, so she asked me to apply again in 2 years.

Two years later, I applied again and this time it was all good. Lucy even enrolled me in a 2 week radio course, where I received professional speech training from an Australian teacher. It was great and really helped me with my confidence and presenting techniques. Then my NS (National Service) call-up had to come along and disrupt my plans again – I was posted to a Combat unit and therefore could not be exempted to join the Forces 55 army radio show as a DJ. By the time I finished NS two and a half years later, there were no more openings at the radio station.

So I decided to try my hand at other jobs while waiting for another opportunity to join radio. I worked as a karaoke jockey at an open concept karaoke pub. My job would include setting up the microphones at tables, interacting with guests and even singing along with them sometimes. This helped me to overcome my fear of crowds and imbued me with stage confidence and experience. All the while, I kept applying for a DJ position at SBC, but there were no openings.

I later joined OUB Bank as a Simex trader, and was earning a pretty good income there. The year was 1993, and Perfect 10 (98.7 FM) had become the cool and ‘happening’ radio station in Singapore - so that’s where I wanted to work as a DJ. All the legendary radio jocks were at Perfect 10 - Mark Richmond, Bernard Lim and Hubert Tang. So I sent in my demo tapes again. After 3 attempts, they offered me a position on Class 95 FM, but my heart was set on Perfect 10.

I declined the offer. Nevertheless, I persisted and asked Florence Lian, who was in charge of Perfect 10, to give me a chance even if it was a part time position. I kept trying for another 4 to 5 months, while still working full time at UOB. Eventually, Florence offered me a permanent part time slot on Saturday and Sunday morning, so I went for it! I was later on offered a full time position when some DJs left the radio station.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Did you face challenges while you started out as a new DJ?

Definitely, and one of the first things was that I had to take a 40 percent pay cut from my job as a trader. After much deliberation and discussion with my family, I took the plunge and went full time as a DJ as I’m passionate about radio, and it felt like the right thing to do.

It wasn’t easy street all the way and I struggled for 3 years to find my own radio personality. I even felt like an apprentice at times, living in the shadows of the more established and well known DJs. But I persisted and eventually found my footing.

Any career advice for young people?

The way I see it, some people go where the money is and that’s all fine. But if you can find something that you are passionate about, and it has reasonable prospects, by all means go for it!

Many jobseekers these days are just in it for the short term. My advice to them is to be patient as it’s definitely a virtue. Furthermore, you need to show your employers that you are loyal and are in it for the long run, in order to have brighter career prospects. In my opinion, it’s really not productive to job hop.

As for me, I’ve been on radio for 14 plus years now and I’ve no regrets. Yes, there were bad times, but I’m glad that I stuck with it and hung on.

What is one highlight from your career so far?

I have to say that it’s ‘The Ego Trip’ – my late night show which ran for 4 years. It was the show that gave birth to now iconic characters such as short fart, Simone, The Godfather and the Honky tong Man. I was essentially a ventriloquist and voiced the different characters. The Ego Trip was sometimes controversial but it helped me to make a name for myself as a DJ.

Many students have actually thanked me for the show, as it played a big part in their lives by bringing them much laughter, and helped them to relieve stress while they were studying for exams.

What are your dreams for the future?

I’m really enjoying hosting ‘The Morning Express’ on Class 95 FM with The Flying Dutchman (Mark Van Cuylenberg) and just want to keep this good thing going for as long as possible!

We are essentially here to entertain people and put a smile on their faces as they go about their daily lives. So it’s affirming to know that we are the most listened to breakfast show - more than 900,000 Singaporeans from all races and walks of life make up our listeners. I guess thinking about that makes it all worthwhile.