OH MY TOSH!

Ah Boys To Men star Tosh Zhang chats with PIONEER on filming the hit Jack Neo movie, his National Service days and what it's like to be suddenly very famous.

At 24, he's already a head-turner. When Tosh walked into *SCAPE's "The Colony" where the interview with PIONEER was held, eyes, which a second ago were buried in books or fixed on computer screens, peeked up. A few brave souls ventured a "Hi Tosh!" and received a warm "Hello!" in return.

Tosh, in real life, is not too different from Sergeant Alex Ong, the on-screen character he played to acclaim in the Ah Boys to Men (ABTM) films. It was his first acting role.

As Sergeant Alex Ong, he was the no-nonsense platoon sergeant who whipped the recruits into shape and made sure they were well-trained and disciplined. But the character's caring side was later revealed.

Like the fictitious character he played, Tosh sports a cool demeanour. But beneath that, the 3rd Sergeant (NS) from the Headquarters Army Combat Engineers Group is one guy who enjoys hanging out with his co-stars, connecting with his fans through Facebook (his Facebook profile is followed by 77,672 people and counting!) and sharing his thoughts via video blogs.

And to think he almost did not audition for the role that catapulted him to become a household name.

Was there a commander in NS that you really looked up to?

"There is one that I respect to this day - Sergeant Hong Xiang. He was my platoon sergeant during Basic Military Training. He was strict with us if we didn't follow instructions properly or if we did the wrong thing, but he also knew how to have fun with us. He was a friend but he was also very professional."

What was your NS experience like?

"Although there were times when I was very slack, there were also times I was very into the whole soldier thing. I guess the most xiong (Hokkien for tough) time was when I was in the combat engineers unit training to become a 3rd Sergeant. Bridging is infamous for being xiong and we didn't really have much rest. We spent a lot of time training and washing the vehicles. It really wasn't easy. It was more tough mentally than physically."

What made you want to try out for ABTM?

"I was going to fly off to Australia for my studies, but one week before my flight, I received a video from Jteam (the production house behind the ABTM films). They were asking for people to audition and they mentioned my name because Jack (Neo, the films' director) happened to see my YouTube videos. When I told my mom I was going to go try, she laughed at me straightaway because I do mostly production work. I'm an editor, I'm a videographer, so she said 'you cannot act'. I went ahead anyway and I got it."

You wrote the movie's theme song The Recruit's Anthem which has had almost 2 million hits on YouTube. Where did you find inspiration for that?

"That song was all about my experiences during BMT. My sergeant would always say 'nothing to do, high kneel!' or 'whole lot, knock it down!' When I wrote that song, Jack told me to make it very Singaporean and try to connect with as many people as possible. I wrote it when I was (filming) in Tekong and when I was writing, recruits were running past. That's why I called the song The Recruit's Anthem, it's for them."

Did you expect the films to have that kind of success in Singapore?

"All of us didn't expect this. Jack took a very big risk because the starring roles were all new people and veterans like Irene Ang were supporting characters. When the first movie came out and started breaking records, we were flabbergasted."

People first got to know you through your YouTube clips. What has the transition been like to becoming an actor?

"Actually, becoming an actor was the last thing that I thought I'd end up doing. Even when I was studying production in school, I was never the guy in front of the camera. I never felt like I could act.

But being on set and after the way Jack directed me, I realised that I could do it. But I'm still learning. We are all amateurs in this industry and we are just very blessed that we are able to accomplish so much within such a short time. So we will all work harder to become better."

So what do people call you now when they see you on the streets?

"A lot of them shout 'Eh, Sergeant Ong!' I'll just play along and say 'Book in later!'"