It was not an easy journey for Mark Adam (born Marcus Adam Macaraig Echivarre) to get to where he is now.
Growing up in a poor neighbourhood in Cebu City in the Philippines, Mark, who has been singing since he was seven years old, managed to make a better life for himself when he moved to Malaysia in 2001.
“It was a job invitation to play as a musician under an agency. We performed in hotels in Malaysia,” said Mark in a recent teleconference interview.
Man on the radio
“It started with a song that I created with DJ Fuzz from Teh Tarik Crew. The song was called Pencuri. There was also an English version. That is where it all started. Back then nobody knew me, but my songs were playing on the radio.”
When he started performing the song live, people took notice of him. When they realised he was Filipino, they became even more interested in him.
“They would ask questions. They wanted to know me better. In those days, my Bahasa was not very good.”
When he tried to talk in Malay, it would make people laugh.
“During my first interview on [variety show] MELEtop!, when I tried to talk in Bahasa, everyone in the studio started to laugh.
“I thought this was fun. I was not actually making a joke. Maybe it was my accent that made me sound funny.
“That situation brought me into films, and invitations to things like gameshows.
“Right now I am getting better at speaking in Bahasa.”
Mark has his unique way of mastering Bahasa Malaysia.
“I love watching comedies. When I first came to Malaysia, my wife would always tell me to watch Tan Sri P. Ramlee’s films. I also learned from watching local comedy movies, and also from my wife who was teaching me.
“When I was confused about something I would ask what it meant. I am still improving. I still talk mostly in English.”
He is very fond of his contemporaries in Malaysia, but he is also a big fan of Hollywood actors like Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey.
He currently runs his own music school, Suara Academy, and wants his students to pick up the English language.
“The kids here are really special to me. I want to pass to them self-confidence. For me, as you grow older, no matter what you do, you must have self-confidence.”
As an artiste, Mark said that he would grab whatever opportunity came his way, and hope to learn the ropes as he went along. However, that also got him into quite a bit of trouble.
“I kena marah (got scolded) because I said I knew how to do this and that.” Naturally directors would explode when they found out he had been lying.
However because of his quiet, non-confrontational nature, the directors would usually relent and end up teaching him how to go about performing his role properly.
“Through such experiences, I learned quickly what I needed to do in order to earn money.”
Mark said his biggest priority is putting food on the table for his family.
“Last year I was in three of the biggest films in our local cinemas. If I hadn’t said ‘yes’ to my first films, I would never have had the chance to be the lead actor in films.”
Mark said it has to do with growing up in poverty in Cebu, where he lived in a house that his uncle and father built. Knowing firsthand about hardship, Mark has developed a strong work ethic.
“I don’t want my wife to experience what I did. For me it is a living and I have to do my best.
“I will say ‘yes’ to the opportunity, so long as the opportunity is good.”
The Philippines has a booming entertainment industry, and Mark says that though he hoped to someday make it there, he would have to spend a lot of time to establish his base.
He said that next he will be shooting a telefilm, and is also looking forward to being in the third season of action-comedy series Keluarga Baha Don.
