The Firm (season 1)

The Firm
Genre Reality
Created by Anne Low, Ng Ping Ho
Directed by Ng Ping Ho
Starring Peter Pek , Chan Boon Yong, Zafrul Aziz
Theme music composer Ub3rsound
Country of origin Malaysia
Language(s) English, with subtitles in Bahasa Malaysia
No. of episodes 23
Production
Producer(s) Anne Low
Editor(s) MS Prem Nath, Amy Lim, Kiang Hon Yeat
Location(s) Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley
Camera setup John Goh, Eddie Tham Wai Wing, Boh Lee, Michael Chan Way Kin
Running time 60 mins. per episode
Broadcast
Original channel ntv7
Original run 24 June 2007 – August 26, 2007
Chronology
Followed by The Firm (Season 2)
External links
Website

The Firm is Malaysia's first corporate reality television programme produced by Popiah Pictures and ntv7. Hosted by Peter Pek and Chan Boon Yong, the show is directed by award-winning director Ng Ping Ho of Kopitiam fame.

In season one of The Firm, a group of 10 professionals compete in an elimination-style competition to find the next corporate high-flyer. The winner gets attractive prizes as well as a one-year contract with Tune Money, Asia's first "no-frills" online financial service founded by Dato' Tony Fernandes (founder of budget airline, AirAsia). In addition to Pek and Chan, the other judge on the show is Tengku Zafrul Aziz, making it the only television show in Malaysia to have three millionaire judges.

The show attempts to separate the weak from the strong, the under-achievers from the over-achievers and the followers from the leaders. Each week, candidates compete in a series of tasks dealing with different disciplines in business that is imperative to the success of a corporate high-flier. Amongst others, these include branding, promotions, positioning and catering to target markets. The catch phrase used in the show is "You're terminated". The show premièred prime time on ntv7 on June 24, 2007. Season one of the series was presented by Intel Core 2 Duo, and the official radio station was Fly FM.

Contents

Hosts/Judges

The Firm has two corporate leaders, and a CEO, who all judge the candidates at different stages:

Contestants

Team 1 Team 2 Individuals
Dynamic Momentum Combined
Corporate Leader Corporate Leader CEO
Peter Pek Chan Boon Yong Tengku Zafrul Aziz

The show received over 500 applications, of which only ten were selected after several rounds of interviews. In addition to academic qualifications, individuals were selected based on their desire to excel, ambitious nature, focus, dedication and readiness to take charge. The ten contestants are split into 2 teams that compete with each other. The original team members are:

Team Dynamic Team Momentum
  • Angeline Simone Chin, 32
  • Carmen Yap, 28
  • Dr Mohamad Azaharani bin Seruji (Doctor Jahar), 34
  • Joel Neoh Eu-Jin, 24
  • Yap Keng Teck, 34
  • Too Sze Yuing (Anrie), 24
  • Khairul Bariah bt Shaifulbahri (Khai), 27
  • Ernie Chen, 30
  • Wong Chee Hoong, Ivan, 33
  • Fazlina Azreen binti Mustapha Kamal (Lin), 28

In episode 5, changes to the teams were made to ensure a more balanced playing field for both teams. In episode 6, a terminated candidate was chosen to re-join The Firm.

Week Candidate Remarks
5 Joel Neoh Eu-Jin Was chosen by Ernie and Ivan to move over to Team Momentum after a team imbalance of 2 to 4
6 Too Sze Yuing (Anrie) Was chosen by Carmen and Keng Teck to re-join The Firm

Terminations

Each week, the team that loses that week's task is brought back into the boardroom where they will have to face their team's corporate leader, who will decide who should leave The Firm.

Candidate Age Background Terminated
Ernie Chen 30 Entrepreneur Week 10
Yap Keng Teck 34 Brand consultant Week 8
Too Sze Yuing (Anrie) - returning candidate 24 Marketing executive Week 8
Carmen Yap 28 Human resources consultant Week 7
Wong Chee Hoong, Ivan 33 Sales manager Week 6
Dr Mohamad Azaharani bin Seruji (Jahar) 34 Management consultant Week 5
Fazlina Azreen binti Mustapha Kamal (Lin) 28 Corporate planning executive Week 4
Too Sze Yuing (Anrie) 24 Marketing executive Week 3
Khairul Bariah bt Shaifulbahri (Khai) 27 PR executive Week 2
Angeline Simone Chin 32 Customer service manager Week 1

Episodes

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Trivia

References

External links