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Film and Cultural Sociology graduate Andrew Whitelaw is hitting the big time in Singapore presenting and producing for the newly established internet radio station
Red Card Sports Radio — the first dedicated sports station in Singapore offering extensive coverage of the local and global sports scene.
The 26-year-old football crazy
University of Nottingham graduate landed his perfect job last year and has since become a familiar voice to listeners hosting the daily Drive Time and Pitch Perfect programmes.
Brought up in Hawkhurst, Kent, Andrew completed his degree at The University of Nottingham in the UK before landing his first full time radio job with BFM, the Business Radio Station in Malaysia. He’s still recording short reports twice a week for the Kuala Lumpur based station.
Brought up in Hawkhurst, Kent, Andrew completed his degree at The University of Nottingham in the UK before landing his first full time radio job with BFM, the Business Radio Station in Malaysia. He’s still recording short reports twice a week for the Kuala Lumpur based station.
After just four years as a sports presenter he’s already had his fair share of career highlights. He’s interviewed big names like Michael Owen, Louis Saha and Paul Scholes. He knows he is fortunate to do what he loves for a living.
Andrew said: “It’s kind of a dream to be paid to talk about football. The three people I would like to interview most are Arsene Wenger, Thierry Henry and David Beckham. I managed to ask Arsene a question in 2012 that was printed in The Guardian and Independent which was cool though uncredited but I have never had a sit down interview — yet!”
Andrew, who has always had a keen interest in sport, writing and drama, decided to move to Malaysia when he was 15 to join his father who works in the shipping industry. He attended Alice Smith British International School and completed an internship with the music channel, Channel V, in his final year.
After graduating from The University of Nottingham in the UK he had intended to travel the world and spend six months in Argentina learning Spanish but that never happened.
He said: “I got offered an internship with BFM producing the football shows which I couldn’t turn down and ended up working on the football shows where I did everything from writing and reading the sports news, carrying out phone interviews, social media and pre-recording sports reports.”
In his first year in Kuala Lumpur he also completed a six month internship with Mongoose Publishing — writing about sport, nightlife, music, film, fashion and lifestyle for their magazines Timeout, Esquire and Expatriate Lifestyle.
He said: “I’ve been fortunate enough to interview some of my childhood football and sporting idols for TV, print and radio.”
When he’s not working his life still revolves around football. He’s a certified FA level 2 coach, teaching both local and international school children. He’s also coached for Little League Malaysia and is a founder of KL Athletic — an under 21 side.
So what’s the secret of his success?
Andrew said: “I aim pretty high. I just took every opportunity I could get. I said ‘yes’ to everything, even if it was unpaid.”
His enthusiasm and talent caught the eye of former Singapore national footballer R. Sasikumar, who is also managing direct of Red Card Sports Radio.
Andrew said: “I want to be the best in everything I do and I set high standards. I want to help put this company on the map globally, not just in Singapore.”