IF YOU are familiar with the blogging scene, you might have heard of Jason Goh. His name might not sound familiar at first, but perhaps his monicker – SmashpOp – would ring a bell.

Jason, 26, started blogging in 2002. Today, his blog (www.smashpop.net) is most known for its pictures, the product of a “hobby” he took up in 2005. The success of his blog has led to many requests for Jason’s photography services.

These days, SmashpOp is almost synonymous with photography. It is rare to see Jason at an event or public function without a camera in his hand. As a popular Malaysian blogger and photography enthusiast, you would imagine that this was all Jason did for a living.

But no, Jason has a full time job as a web designer for a multimedia company.

Jason is part of a new generation of young working adults who make time in their lives to pursue their passions outside of work.

And for many of them, these “extra-curricular” activities are more than just hobbies; many are paid gigs.

Moonlighting
In this age of holistic living, people are not content to just slave away at their day jobs. They want to explore other interests; be it pursuing a hobby, maintaining a blog, contributing to social causes.

Jason Goh is the popular blogger and photographer more commonly known as SmashpOp.

Some find that they excel at these pursuits, but are not ready to do them full-time.

Fortunately, there are employers who do not view their workers’ side interests as being in conflict with their full-time jobs.

Sarah Chan, the events editor for KLue magazine, works for employers who are fully supportive of her endeavours. Sarah occasionally spins music at clubs as one half of SalahWrong, alongside her former colleague and friend Joyce Wong.

“They know about it and are quite cool about what I do on the side. They’re definitely encouraging,” Sarah, 24, says.

Sarah is aware of the demands of her full-time job, and is careful to not allow her deejaying gigs to interfere with her work performance.

“I can’t really afford the time to be really serious about it (DJ-ing) as my day job keeps me pretty occupied,” says Sarah who does not take on too many gigs.

Davina Goh, who works for live entertainment company Yvent!, too is very selective about the jobs she take on outside of her full-time job. The 26-year-old events manager loves performing and dabbles in acting, voice-over work, dancing, singing and comedy whenever she finds the time.

“I have to be selective about the jobs that I do out of passion,” Davina shares. “There have been times when I have sacrificed good opportunities because it clashed with full-time commitments, or because I just feel too burnt out.”

Not about the money
Although they get paid for many of these gigs, Jason, Davina and Sarah insist that they are not in it for the money.

“Sometimes we don’t get paid at all,” says Sarah, referring to SalahWrong.

“We do some gigs because we think it’d be fun ... we’re pretty new so we get like a few hundred ringgit for one gig but it’s definitely not enough for me to quit my job!”

The same can be said for Jason who claims that what he is currently doing earns him enough money “to buy food”.

Davina Goh

“I don’t earn that much on the side since I am not a super top blogger nor am I a popular professional photographer,” he says.

“It is definitely not enough to sustain myself.”

For them, all the extra gigs is really about their passion.

“I do the SalahWrong gigs purely for fun. It’s more like an avenue for Joyce and I to share the music we love, and if people like it too, awesome.”

For someone like Davina, however, her passion for performing is more than just merely fun and cannot be defined as just a hobby.

“Hobby is too muted a term to describe my active interest, neither do I do it for the money. I suppose I do it as a form of motivation to live out my life including both hobbies and career, whatever they may be,” says Davina, who is currently busy rehearsing for a play scheduled for December.

Passion to career
There is, however, the big difference between doing something for the fun of it and doing something that you love.

For someone like Davina, her full time job as events manager is what pays the bill because her other area of interest cannot guarantee her financial stability.

“The kind of money you get is different from job to job,” she shares, referring to performing. “Acting in television commercials offers the most attractive pay but competition between talents is very stiff, so its not anyone’s best bet out of financial strife.

“High-paying contracts to appear regularly in a TV series or as a TV presenter are also few and far between.”

At Yvent!, Davina helps organise and bring to Malaysia international stage productions such as Grease, My Fair Lady and Disney’s Beauty And The Beast – The Broadway Musical.

It may not have been her original career choice – the Communications graduate wanted to go into publishing – but she has taken to the task of bringing in musical productions to our shores.

“I actually went into event management as a stepping stone. As I learned the ropes of event management, the dynamic nature of the job grew on me, and now, I’m enjoying what I do,” Davina says.

Still, she holds her love for the arts close to her heart and says that “given the right chance at the right moment, I would quit my full-time job and pursue my passion in a heartbeat.”

Sarah Chan (left) with Joyce Wong spinning music during one of their gigs as SalahWrong.

On the side
Even though they really enjoy what they are doing on the side, Jason and Sarah have no plans to leave their current jobs. For them, the fact that they are able to enjoy the best of both worlds – their full-time jobs and gigs on the side – is enough to keep them going.

Jason’s current job as a web designer is fulfilling one of his passions. He had graduated with a degree in Computing and Multimedia from APIIT which focussed more on programming and networking, but his interest has always been in designing.

“Designing has been my passion and interest since college. I love to look at nice things, and I love creating nice things. I have all my working hours to spill out my creative juices and I love it,” says Jason.

He is aware that his combined interests and skills in design, photography and blogging would allow him to venture out on his own.

However, for Jason, starting his own business is not an option.

“My theory for this is very simple. You can have a day job and get paid consistently, or quit your job and risk not getting paid for a few months, depending on how well your business does,” he says.

Sarah, on the other hand, prefers to keep her work and leisure interests separate.

When asked if she would consider quitting her job at the magazine, she shares: “I wouldn’t. DJ-ing is fun when you do it occasionally. I don’t know if I’d enjoy it as much if it was a job. And I love my job, really.”

Jason, Sarah and Davina are living in a world where they are able to have their proverbial cake and eat it too. All three are pretty lucky to be able to venture into different areas of their personal interest while still being fully employed.

In the end, it’s all about exploring your potentials and living life to the fullest.