By Willy Wilson | Sept 3, 2010
Photograph by Lim Eu-Jin
Ben Ibrahim's splendid family mansion
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| Talented: Ben Ibrahim is a television host who is also a columnist for The Star |
Ampang is home to many embassy offices in Kuala Lumpur. Each ambassadorial base is an example of architectural, national one-upmanship; a display of the best in both classic and contemporary buildings. Overlooking this neighborhood is a restored and reoccupied 12,000sq ft home, where one of Malaysia’s most promising television hosts, Ben Ibrahim, resides with his family.
“Parents, three brothers, a sister in-law and myself live here together,” says Ibrahim of his family’s mansion.
Coated in white, the six-bedroom home sports an inimitable retro architecture. Explosions of the 80s architecture is apparent in its grand portico, majestic living room and tasteful use of timber and plywood.
According to Ibrahim, this home has witnessed his ups and downs, as he made the dramatic move from the corporate sector to show business. StarProperty.my chatted with the 32-year-old bachelor at his splendid family mansion.
You have a very beautiful home. Brief us on your home’s layout.
It is a multi-layered home with a built-up area of 12,000sq ft. Once you enter the home, a U-shaped staircase will greet you. The grand staircases, complete with its spacious intermediate landing on each side of the foyer, lead to the second floor where the bedrooms and the study are.
The intermediate landing on the left wing is so spacious that we decided to turn it into a dining and a bedroom. Meanwhile, the living area, kitchen, swimming pool, gym room, a mini banquet and a guest room are on the ground floor.
How many family members live in this home?
There are eight family members living here currently, namely my parents, a cousin, three brothers, one sister in-law and me. We are a close-knit family. My mother, who is a good cook, always makes it a point to have all of us for a family time every evening. Unsurprisingly, the dining is our favourite joint.
In your opinion, what influenced the design aesthetic of this home?
I suppose that the home consists of different design elements that we, as a family, picked up along the way. My parents are well-traveled folks and they bring back bits and pieces of the places they visited. These carpets (in the living area), for example, were bought in Turkey. My father used to make a regular visit to Australia, where I resided from 1991 to 2003. The classic, laidback influence from down under is apparent in the home’s courtyard, where you can lounge around the swimming pool. But essentially, we are a proud Malay family. The aesthetic of our heritage is evident in the heavy use of wood for the interior and furniture.
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| Rustic charm: Ibrahim's family home features tasteful use of timber and plywood |
What does this home mean to you?
There’s no place like home; it is where my heart is. Before working in show business, I had a nine-to-five job with offices in Shah Alam and later on, Bandar Utama. You can imagine the horrid traffic that I had to go through every day. But as soon as I’m home, all those exhaustions felt worth it.
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| "The aesthetic of our heritage is evident in the heavy use of wood for the interior and furniture." - Ben Ibrahim |
Tell us about your venture into show business. What brought you into that industry?
Clichéd as it may sound, I was at “the right place at the right time”. In 2005, a media friend (Hitz.fm’s DJ Tengky Ean) suggested that I should audition for a new show called Absolute Football with Astro. That was my first break and my career has been rolling ever since. Following this show, I moved onto ntv7’s The Breakfast Show and Media Prima’s GUA TV.
At what point did you decide to give up the corporate world for a career in hosting?
I always saw myself working in a big corporation, climbing the career ladder as I studied Masters in Management (Human Resources) from Monash University. But when I realised that being a host is really about learning new things, meeting new people and being able to think on my feet, it became a job that is personally rewarding.
Well said. What’s next from Ben Ibrahim?
My latest television show, Entrepreneur, is currently running in Astro Awani every Monday at 9.30pm. As the title suggests, it is a business programme where we interview savvy entrepeneurs such as Datuk Farah Khan, Datuk Sheila Majid, Datuk Siti Nurhaliza and Benjamin Yong (owner of Delicious restaurants). In the meantime, I’m still writing for my
column in The Star, called A Different Spin.
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