6th #GreatHeights Series – Nadzry Abu Bakar, Part 2
From Cemerlang.org
By Afiza Zulyadaen
This is a continuation of Nadzry’s story. Read up on Part 1 here.
Soaring high from the start
After a busy year of doing two jobs at a time and finishing his Master’s Degree, in late 2008, he decided to quit both his career in Astro and part-time job as a lecturer and to get married on 1st January 2009. “It was so crazy for me because I don’t really have a solid plan for my future. I felt like I wanted to do something that I can go at my own pace and so starting a business was already on mind. Funnily, during my wedding reception, my friend who also had just left Astro as Head of Technical at that time, brought up the business partnership idea of starting a production house.”
From there, they started planning for the business and finally set up the company BluBlack Productions Sdn Bhd in 2010. “We complement each other very well. I take care of the communication and content part, he is in charge of technical part. In only our first two years, we hit 2-3 million ringgit in revenue and I have travelled to nine countries including France, Japan, and Korea for production work. I was also gifted with my first child in 2010. Alhamdulillah, my ‘rezeki’ seems to be good.”
Preferred by international clients
Now, they are considered to be one of the most recognized sports production house in Malaysia. “We had the opportunity to be the official media production house (online-media content) for SEA Games 2017. Furthermore, we are usually consulted when it comes to sports production and international clients up till today.” Nadzry stated that his international clients had mentioned that BluBlack was always chosen because of Nadzry’s and his partner’s communication skills and personality. “My partner graduated from Perth, Australia with superb English competency and my English is not too bad either. So it was easier for us to communicate with international clients. Plus, we always give new ideas and keep them updated on work progress, gaining clients trust for us to work independently with minimal supervision.”
Football for life
His passion for football does not just end in his production work. Driven by their passion, he and his partner started planning to have a football field of their own since 2017. “I founded Shah Alam United, a football club, back in 2001. It was a combined effort of good friends from UiTM, UIA, and UNITEN. Currently as the President, I not only managed the club but also be the coach. I am proud of it as it used to be a small club of 20 members, now it has grown to more than 200 members. So, the strong desire to have a football field in Shah Alam for the club is there. Plus football field commercial value has risen up these past several years. But, football field is a multi-million ringgit project. It is not an easy thing to do.”
The start of Arena Legacy
Nadzry’s goodwill and passion has brought attention to DYTM Tengku Amir Shah ibni Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Raja Muda of Selangor. Aligning with His Majesty’s vision to have Selangor youths active in sports, His Majesty offered to be a business partner with Nadzry in developing two football fields in Seksyen 26, Shah Alam. And so, Arena Legacy, a Sports Facilities Developer and Moderator was formed.
Not long after that, Azeem from KYSER batch 2007, also heard of Nadzry’s intention in developing football fields. “Azeem is from UEM Sunrise and Sime Darby, so when he asked me to present my ideas and plans to his bosses, I immediately said yes. His help was the key that I’ve been looking for to execute my plans. It turned out that they also wanted to build a football field in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam. It does not end there, somehow Gamuda caught wind of my intentions too and wanted me to also develop a football field in Sungai Buloh. Alhamdulillah, now we have five fields in three different locations. From what used to be a 2-million ringgit project, now has become 10-million ringgit project.”
” I believe that with hard work, passion and goodwill, Allah S.W.T will help me through my tough moments.”
Hoping to complete and launch the football fields in a January 2020, Nadzry is working hard in both his production work and football fields’ development. “I told my wife and friends, if this is not because of football, I probably have given up a long time ago. But I love football so much that even when I am faced with many challenges and stumbling blocks, I would still push on and persevere.”
Life tips
And so is the amazing story of our own KYSER, Nadzry Abu Bakar. These three tips on life were given by him, ending our interview.
1. “Let passion be your drive. Do what you like most and everything will come naturally.”
Nadzry’s advice to students like him who does better on the field than in examination is to not be too greedy in joining all the sports activities. Focus on only a few things that you think you can excel and spare time to study. Do not be too selfish to only have all play and fun. Tell yourself that you had your fun on the field, so when its prep time, study properly.
2. “Positive things will happen to you if you always think positive. If you keep on having negative thoughts, it makes positive things harder to happen.”
Nadzry mentioned that he had his down moments too and sometimes have negative thoughts. But as time passed by, he learned that positive thoughts are the ones that bring more impacts to his life. Not only it brings confidence in yourself, but other people will also have confidence in you.
3. “Take care of how you bring yourselves among your community.”
The more people you meet, the more windows of opportunity will open for you. Sometimes you may come upon a solution for your problem just by going to events and chatting with others. Network and connectivity may enrich your life and broaden your mind.
If you are looking for a production house, check out Nadzry’s work at blublack.com.my
