Hosting since he was in his diapers, Singapore’s wonderkid Preihan recently made his debut as an anchor on national television. He made his mark with Amarkala Deepavali, Mediacorp’s Diwali countdown show on October 30. The festival is lights is celebrated with pomp and grandeur in the city-state, which has a significant Indian population. This can be further demonstrated with this fact: Tamil, a calssical Indian language, is one of the four official languages in the Republic. Areas such as Little India decks up during this time of the year, to usher in Deepavali or Diwali, one of the prime festivals for Indians living on the mainland and abroad.
Connected to India caught up with the 10-year-old just hours before his big debut.
Asked how he looked at his ‘special status’ as the youngest member of Amarkala Deepavali 2024’s cast, Preihan says he didn’t deem it as special and wanted to gain as much experience as he could.
“As one of the youngest, I really think that I have to learn from my other colleagues, because they’re so experienced and they’ve been in this media industry for so long. I really feel like I have to learn from them and become a better host and anchor and actor. So, yeah, I’m just really grateful for the opportunity and experience, and I just really love to learn from them,” Preihan says.
Preihan first came into national prominence as a three-year-old, after his mother send a home video to Mediacorp and the latter accepted it and cast him in a show.
“I actually developed my interest in anchoring when I was maybe two or three years old. I kept on watching comedy shows and then I always wanted to replicate these host in what they do,” he says.
“One day my mother was very impressed by my hosting in my diapers while watching the TV. She just sent a video to Mediacorp and they accepted me for a game show at 3 years old. So, that was when my anchoring, acting and hosting journey started,” he adds.
Preihan was added to the Mediacorp’s Channel 5 comedy series OK Chope! which gave him his big break. He has since been a performer for several Mediacorp programmes.
