He may not have won a singing reality television show three years ago but Alif Satar is branching out in ways he never imagined. NURJEHAN MOHAMED writes

MUHAMMAD Alif Mohd Satar (better known as Alif Satar) seems to be born for the limelight.

“I’ve always wanted to be in the spotlight — in school, I took part in singing competitions and plays,” the 19-year-old says.

This is why, when there was a call for auditions for reality television show and singing contest One in a Million (OIAM) in 2006, his parents urged him to try out.

Since getting the second runner-up prize in the contest, Alif has been busy — he has hosted and acted in several TV programmes, produced three albums (his first full-length solo album will be released under Sony Music by June), performed at Mosaic Music Festival in Singapore last year and written two books, Bagai Sejuta and Remaja @ Pts.
He is also currently doing a Diploma in Business Management at Kolej TAJ, Ipoh and is one of 30 ambassadors for the Youth and Sports Ministry’s Generasi Bebas Jenayah (A Crime-Free Generation).

Now Alif is getting ready for his next challenge — National Service (NS).

“I’m looking forward to it, especially to make new friends.

“This is an avenue for me to get closer to my fans and prove to them that, like them, I am just a normal teenager,” he says.

Though his name came up two years ago and he had been able to defer his stint, he realises that if he were to continue asking for deferments, it would be to the detriment of his career.

But the entertainer in him is hard to quash — his stint will be turned into a reality TV show called Serve It Up, which will star fellow celebs and NS trainees, OIAM winner and singer Low Sook Yee (popularly known as Suki) and actress Diana Danielle Dannye Beeson.

Alif intends to write a book of his NS experience, which he hopes will be published by year’s end.

Though his heart is set on singing, Alif admits that OIAM has paved the way for acting and hosting, each with their own challenges and rewards.

“I don’t see why I shouldn’t try them all. I’ve been able to balance my ventures with proper time management.”

He adds that time management is key to juggling responsibilities.

“I have a monthly schedule that I update regularly and every night I will look at what I have planned for the next day.”

One responsibility he takes seriously is his status of a teen role model.

Aside from being an ambassador for Generasi Bebas Jenayah, he is also mentoring aspiring soccer players on Super Soccer Star (SSS) in being more confident on and off camera.

“I have to be extra careful about what I do nowadays because the public is judging me.”

He tries to influence his fans to be responsible children, students and citizens.

“One thing I’ve learnt from my experience in the entertainment industry is that a disciplined and hardworking person with a clean image can go far, which I think is true of other careers too.”

This seems to ring true in his case — during his hosting of SSS, he travelled with the four finalists to the United Kingdom for a one-week shoot at Chelsea Football Club.

“This has been a memorable experience for me as not many people can get into its academy, much less see the players’ locker room!”

Hosting a reality TV programme is more time-consuming and rigorous than other shows — during the shooting of SSS, he had to closely follow the lives of the finalists from 6am to 11pm daily — but the experience is priceless.

Getting the chance to host what he calls the football equivalent of popular reality show Akademi Fantasia has been a dream for him because he is into the sport and it has been the “best kind of experience and exposure professionally”.