One Sneak Peek Into Behind the Lens: The Art of Storytelling

The art of storytelling is a skillset that transcends industries, from the silver screen to the boardroom.

And it is an art that Ong Kah Jing (OKJ) has dutifully practiced for 11 years.

At the age of 15, Kah Jing already knew he wanted to recreate his own childhood for the next generation.

He spent his days as a child watching documentaries, and he would watch them as much as he watched cartoons.

Nowadays, he is a local documentary storyteller whose work has been featured by the Singapore Airlines

Read today’s article to learn insights into the local media industry, discover what got him into documentaries, know more about his business strategy, and take away a thing or two from his experiences!

1. What started his career

“From the age of 15, my purpose on this earth was to recreate my childhood for the next generation. And I thought that the only way that I could do this would be to find something that I am passionate about so that I can do well in it. I am very lucky in a sense. Some parents, in the pursuit of money, didn’t spend much time with their families. On the contrast, mine gave me a good childhood where I could pursue what I was passionate about freely.

My hypothesis back then was that I am a person that is good at storytelling. How I decided to apply this talent was through filming documentaries, which was also my first attempt. I subsequently spent the next 11 years testing my theory out.

I was not professionally trained, however. I studied Business Administration at the National University of Singapore and Hospitality and Tourism Management back in polytechnic. For me, my career has been accelerated by factors outside my control. I had wanted to make a documentary after NUS initially. But when I was in Tembusu College, they wanted to send some students to the Komodo National Park. I went for the greeting session and realised that I was the only student out of 600 from Tembusu College that signed up for the opportunity. At the time, I had never made a documentary before. So, I took the project on as my own.

And this took me to Indonesia for a total of 12 days across 4 islands, where we were taught about nature conservation. We produced a documentary for the other 570 students from Tembusu who didn’t get to go.

I had to learn the relevant skills from scratch on that trip.”

2. Becoming bilingual at the age of 29

“I still think that it would still be easier if I had learnt Chinese when I was young.

This all boils down to the root of why we learn stuff. This belongs in the realm of motivation and interest. I have always wanted to be bilingual, but the challenges were too high compared to my motivation to overcome these challenges.

One day, however, my friend told me to consider her father-in-law as a documentary subject. When I went there, I realised that he could only speak Mandarin. In order to interview him, I had to learn the language. Luckily, this happened during COVID, which I am grateful for as it allowed my life to slow down quite a lot. I took 18 months to make this documentary, something which I would never have done in any other year.”

3. The business aspect of documentary production

“I have both been surprised and disappointed by the peaks and valleys of my career.

I have chosen to focus on what is relevant right now and today. I think the fundamentals of my business comes down to distribution. I am always thinking about the platform that can give my work the best chance of engagement (who do I hope my work would meet). I thought that putting it on TikTok would be interesting, so I created a 70 episode TikTok series, which I can polish up after and make into a Youtube series.

The issue with TikTok is that it is hyper-current. People will just scroll past it. So I am currently uploading onto Bilibili, where in the future, people can still access my films and watch them.

When it comes to clients, you just have to do your best at whatever work that you do.  It’s is like planting a seed in the soil. Sometimes bees come by, sometimes butterflies. Clients either come to me because they value storytelling and documentaries, it is their tenth anniversary, they are trying to raise funds, or they are struggling to put their thoughts across in a powerpoint. Documentary can convey their ideas better than pictures can.

When it comes to getting interviewees to open up to me, there is no script to follow.

I always treat my subjects as people first and foremost, as I would remember the frustrations I had when I was young. I still remember the frustrations of not being able to communicate well. This would lead me to think about the frustrations that my subjects have and why they lack the ability to communicate what they think.

I would then position myself as the audience that they have always wished for. My first audience will always be my documentary subjects as they have to feel that my work is representative of them. I have had the opportunity to work on communicating efficiently everyday because of my work.

I think my style is slowly evolving.

In the past, I would use soundbites as the foundation. In more recent years, I have been trying to have my documentaries say more while speaking less, so as to not spoonfeed the audience. I would then fill the gaps with original music or artistically-made music. Til now, I am still exploring the various expressions and trying to step away from my comfort zone.“

4. His opinions regarding the media industry

“I have a strong hope that we are going to see a new wave of media professionals. My generation is starting to mature. At the same time, people that are much younger than us, for example the Gen Z, have a combination of eagerness and a fire to match that eagerness. This would potentially lead to a new wave of cinema. I am an outsider in the industry that didn’t enter by the norm. Hence, I am not that well connected with the media community locally, but I do believe that there is a new wave on the horizon in the industry.

My opinion is that in terms of Singapore, documentary is a niche within a niche. It is hard to make producing documentaries a stable career and even if I do succeed, it will be more of a exception rather than the rule.

The pie is not growing. I want the pie to grow. There is only so many documentaries that I can do in one given year. Why not spotlight other documentaries as well? This way everyone gets to benefit together.

So I started my podcast to make documentaries as a media genre more relevant in Singaporean society.”

5. Advice for the younger generation

“When I reflect on how I have learnt, I have realised that it is perhaps more fulfilling to ask for stories than for advice. When I ask for advice, it is usually very difficult to apply them as these people are giving it from their own context and perspective. So once it comes down to acting on that advice, it will not be as applicable.

In terms of stories, you stand to learn a lot more. You get to learn how that person has lived and responded to an event or circumstance that you might experience/resonate with. Ask for stories, reflect, ask questions, then pick out valuable lessons that you can apply in your situation.”

Connect with OKJ here: http://linkedin.com/in/okjworks

His telegram channel: https://t.me/okjworks

Follow our telegram channel: https://t.me/onesneakpeekinto

And that is all for today’s One Sneak Peek Into.

Stay tuned for more insights from our interview series as we continue to explore the stories of trailblazers breaking barriers and redefining success.