By Karen A. Jolly | Aug 10, 2009
Eric Leong: Bold & Stylish
 Eric Leong, with his cheerful, helpful and happy-go-lucky character and a seasoned face on TV, is mostly known to the Malaysian public as “Raja Hias”/”The Design King” for his contribution to the industry. Although he has captured and dazzled the hearts of the nation with his magical touch by merely transforming an ordinary interior space into something spectacular, Star Property recognized that apart from his talent, humility is also one of his strongest traits.
He started out with his first interior design make-over show, “Casa Impian”, now known as “Deko Bersama Eric”, which reached its 9th season last June. With his achievements both in the interior design and entertainment business, Eric shows no sign of slowing down. Infact, he has five more programs in the pipeline.
With such personality mixed with creativity in interior and sophisticated marketing approach, Eric is a celebrity designer with major TV shows and lucrative advertising deals all under his belt. Even with all these success, he is far from your usual fame-and-fortune seeking type.
In between his packed schedule, Star Property had the opportunity to chat with Eric about his horoscope, his love for curry chicken rice and going green.
 An Interior designer, TV host, guest DJ, lecturer, brand ambassadors and businessman. How do you do all these and still look sharp, Eric?
I’m a typical Gemini. I don’t wait for opportunities to arise, I create opportunities for myself. That is my philosophy in life. And being a typical Gemini, the way I look is important to me [laugh].
How did you get to where you are now?
Hailing from Johor, I came to KL in 2000. KL was ‘the land of opportunities’, so to speak. As soon as I landed in KL, I realized that the design world was virtually untapped. Although the economy was growing and people started to pay a little more attention on interior issues, it was rare to find outstanding designs on the market, and I was determined to bring a change. And I did everything I could, because then, there was no show or platform.
How did you start in show business?
My big break came in the beginning of 2001. Astro Ria had a program called “Casa Impian”, a show that was dedicated to feature beautiful homes. In one of the episodes, the show featured my home. I took the opportunity to talk to the producer. I told her, “Look, I’ve gone through all the TV stations and none of the Malaysian TV stations are showcasing 100% locally produced interior design shows. You want one done?” and she liked my idea. Next thing I knew, there was no looking back.
Did you know that you were going to host the show too?
No! I was thinking of merely working behind the scenes, but to my amazement, Astro suggested that I became the host of the program! The producer reckons I was suitable for the role. Hosting the show in presentable Malay language was one of the biggest challenges in the beginning.
 Have you always known that you wanted to be in the show business?
Well, I like to make things fun and entertaining and I tend to let it cross over into my career. But at the same time, I also keep things simple. Yes, I may have tried my hand on many different fields of businesses, but if you noticed, the core of each business is interior designing, including those on TV and radio.
With your chock-a-block schedule, how do find the time to rest? Do you even sleep at all?
Of course I do. People always ask me how I run several shows and businesses concurrently and I always tell them you just have to stop thinking about it and start doing it. See, I learned the ability to multi-task at a very young age. My first business experience was buying curry chicken rice from my neighbour for 30sen a packet and reselling them at 50sen hence making a profit of 20sen. As a kid, I remember bringing two bags to school; one to carry my books and the other, filled with packets of curry chicken rice! Then, during my teenage days, I worked as a cashier at a place called Kimikawa, before it was bought over by Parkson. During my free time, I would wander around the store, admiring window displays. So I can say multi-tasking is something I have mastered by now.
Continue Your Reading: More Q&A session with Eric Leong »
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