Parjit S. Randhawa
Deejay, Traxx FM, 2009
Diploma in Multimedia, Advertising & Broadcasting
As a radio presenter, your listeners are your boss and you cannot afford to make any mistakes on-air because every second is money. In addition, you have to have good rapport with your colleagues because you need to develop a strong team that will help one another.
04 September 2009
Official Website
Voice on the Airwaves
Written by Christine Chan
Outspoken, bold and a gifted with the gift of gab, Parjit S. Randhawa of Traxx.fm and alumnus of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology shares his story. Christine Chan reports.
Having a deep husky voice certainly has its advantages for Parjit S. Randhawa, who is currently working as an on-air radio presenter at Traxx.fm. The 2003 Advertising major graduate of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is currently running three Traxx.fm time slots: Coast 2 Coast, Foozic Friendly and Blue Marble.
Parjit’s field of work covers creating jingles, station IDs, managing content and selecting the songs to be played on air. Parjit believes that he became ended up being an on-air radio presenter purely by chance as he was at Traxx.fm for a voice-over recording when the station doors opened up for an audition.
“I was at the right place at the right time,” he explained.
Limkokwing University is a place to meet and make new friends, and where we get to build our network of people from various cultures and backgrounds
Parjit credits the University for bringing him to where he is today. “Limkokwing University is a place to meet and make new friends, and where we get to build our network of people from various cultures and backgrounds,” he said.
Parjit, who won the Glitz competition in 2003 with the song Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, did not imagine that he was going to end up working as an on-air radio presenter. After graduating from Curtin University with his Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications, Parjit moved on to become the editor of Max Team Synergy, an auto shop car magazine.
Starting with a fresh team for the magazine, Parjit worked on the magazine for two and a half years, building it up until it became a formidable enough competitor for Motor Trader, which had to pump up the quality of illustrations and content used in its magazine just to keep up with the competition Parjit had worked up.
After his stint at Max Team Synergy, Parjit went on to do freelancing for a year and a half, with most of his jobs focusing on marketing, consultation, planning ad campaigns and re-branding for various companies. He said that he felt good working as a freelancer because he was good in the field of advertising and at one point could earn up to RM 1.5K per hour.
Parjit shares some of the pros and cons of being an on-air radio presenter. Some of the perks to being in such a fun and interesting industry include being able to receive plenty of goodies including free CDs, drinks, and always getting invited to events, dinners, parties and much more.
On the other hand, the industry does come with its own challenges as well. “As a radio presenter, your listeners are your boss,” he said, “and you cannot afford to make any mistakes on-air because every second is money.”
“In addition, you have to have good rapport with your colleagues because you need to develop a strong team that will help one another.”
Sharing his views of the current music industry in Malaysia, Parjit believes that local bands are not given enough opportunities. “There are not enough gigs and the air-time allocated for them is insufficient,” he said.
“Sometimes, whether one makes a break in the industry depends highly on the record label and what type of genre they specialize in. Piracy in Malaysia also kills plenty of local artistes and bands.”
When asked on his advice to those who are still studying, Parjit believes that students need to acquire interest and passion in everything that they do and be unafraid of pursuing their dreams. Apart from that, he feels that the conventional education system in Malaysia is only able to cover the basics of what one needs to learn in life.
You need to be persistent in everything you do, and get ready to be thrown into the deep end and survive. Tailor yourself to the outside world, absorb as much knowledge as possible, and never be stubborn
“You need to be persistent in everything you do, and get ready to be thrown into the deep end and survive. Tailor yourself to the outside world, absorb as much knowledge as possible, and never be stubborn,” he said.
Apart from lending his voice to Malaysia’s radio airwaves, Parjit is also lending a hand to the local agricultural industry. He is currently involved in starting up his own company with a very unique goods of export: worms and leeches!
“I love to venture into new industries and gain more exposure for my career. There is a great demand for agricultural goods overseas,” Parjit said.
Parjit, who is the youngest of four siblings, dreams of becoming a Datuk before he reaches 40 and hopes to own an entire building named after himself. Describing himself as loud, macho, rugged and cool, Parjit’s favourite past times are playing golf, going to karaoke lounges, and playing the Nintendo.
Nevertheless, despite his ambitions, Parjit believes that success and happiness cannot be measured by owning a luxurious car or a big bungalow. Rather, success is about living one’s life to the fullest and being happy with it.
As for his definition of failure, Parjit’s sense of humour that won him his place as a radio presenter shows: it’s when you have no money to buy cigarettes and your girlfriend has to pay everything from movies to meals!
