YouTuber Of The Week: Adam Tam, The Sabahan With A "Boleh Bah" Attitude
In this week's YouTuber Of The Week, we bring you Adam Tambakau, a YouTuber hailing from Sabah who has a knack for making us laugh. Read on to know more about him when we spoke to him in an EXCLUSIVE interview here...
By Darian Goh — 19 Jan 2015, 01:09 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
The Sabahan started out his channel way back in 2009. He's considered as one of the earliest Malaysians to dive into the YouTube scene. Adam started by posting covers of songs before diversifying into vlogs and skits.
Adam: The AdamTambk channel started in 2009. I started off by posting videos of me singing song covers - in hopes to receive feedback from the Internet and save myself some money from paying for singing classes. But if you know YouTube, then you know the trolls are real. In a way, posting videos online also gave me thick skin from both negative and positive feedback!
But how did the journey start? According to Adam, he spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos while he was still studying. Why not make videos to see if he enjoyed it as much?
Darian: Okay, so you started out by posting covers of yourself singing, but what inspired you to make videos anyway?
Adam: YouTube did. I was a Uni student when YouTube launched and spent alot of time watching YouTube videos. At one point I thought to myself - I enjoy watch these videos, maybe I might enjoy making it too. And I did.
One of the biggest videos that put Adam on the YouTube map was "How to use Bah?". In the video, he schooled West Malaysians on the proper usage of the Sabahan slang 'bah'.
Darian: Can you tell us how did you get the inspiration for "How to use Bah?" The points are all spot on especially since I'm a Sabahan as well!
Adam: Boleh bah kalau kau! I got the inspiration for the video when I was living in KL after I moved back from Australia. Whenever someone from KL found out that I was from Sabah, their automatic response was to use the word 'Bah'. I found it funny that they didn't know how really to use it, and thought I'd educate them on YouTube. That was the inspiration. I tried adding the humour so it wouldn't be so bland.
It's not all just song covers and musings. In the last general election, Adam educated first-time voters by making a video on how to vote in Malaysia with a step-by-step guide. It turned out to be his favourite too!
Adam: I think my favourite so far was "How to vote in Malaysia?" It was my first time producing and directing a video with a full cast and crew!
With so many talents, is there anything else we should know about Adam? Well, Adam speaks an "encrypted language" which he calls the "terbalik" language. Whatever that is, we would love to see a video of that!
Darian: Tell us more about you! Your hobbies and maybe a secret talent?
Adam: I can speak an encrypted language that only a handful of close friends and family can understand. We call it "terbalik" language. It's sorta like pig-latin, where you swap the syllables of a word around and reconstruct it. I actually speak better "terbalik Bahasa Malaysia" than I do regular Bahasa Malaysia!
Being part of the YouTube community, Adam wishes to see more Malaysians join the scene with him. After all, "the more, the merrier!"
Darian: What would you say to Malaysians who is aspire to be a YouTuber?
Adam: I'd say awesome! The more the merrier!
Sometimes as a YouTuber, it may be considered a 'chore' to make videos consistently for your videos. But for Adam, he views it as an opportunity to grow and challenge himself to do better.
Adam: No, not at all. I want to make more videos, but I also want to grow as a YouTuber. The 'chore' itself is making the decision to not showcase something I've done because its just not ready. Intentionally growing is also a challenge. Not just growing an audience, but growing as myself. I sometimes re-watch the videos I've made, and I ask myself, "Can I do better now?" Since moving to Texas, I'm now delving into different avenues of film making. Now its just figuring out how to apply it!
And that's what he's doing now. Despite making lots of videos, he is now back in school, where he is currently learning from experts and peers in the film and video industry in the United States.
Adam: Yes, currently I am. In 2014, I made a decision to go back to school to dedicate my time to film & video. I wanted to meet mentors and interact with like-minded people! If by full-time YouTuber you mean spending a majority of my time on YouTube - then yes! But I don't make a living out of it... yet.
One of the craziest things about YouTube is that it's not just a platform where interaction with fans are only on the computer screen. With events and conventions, YouTubers can now meet their fans in person and vice versa.
Adam: Honestly... it's meeting the fans. I just think its just crazy that there are people out there who can relate to my craziness. Isn't that crazy?!
P.S: Don't you think Adam is the Malaysian version of John Legend?
