From TV host to sinseh: Pornsak will see you now at the TCM clinic
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From TV host to sinseh: Pornsak volition see you now at the TCM clinic
From existence a newly-minted TCM medico to alive-streaming products on Facebook, he's been keeping busy out of the limelight. CNA Lifestyle schedules an appointment with "Dr Porn".
(Photo: Kelvin Chia)
24 May 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 08 Aug 2022 11:42AM)
There's no mistake that Pornsak Prajakwit, better known to many every bit simply Pornsak, is over the moon about the latest development in his life.
"Yes, finally! Oh my god, finally!" the 39-year-old Idiot box personality interjected, before nosotros could even end our question during a phone interview from his automobile.
"I remember I'll only stay in the car. My laughter is too boisterous and I may scare the patients," he quipped.
And by patients, he meant that literally. In April, he finally got his traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) certification, announcing his newly minted sinseh status on Instagram.
"Hashtag: Dr Porn! Hashtag: Licence to practice!" he declared, while flashing his licence from the Guangzhou Academy of Chinese Medicine.
'WHICH Twenty-four hours IS PORNSAK GOING TO Exist HERE?'
Yeah, "Dr Porn" – which ways "blessing" in Thai, empty-headed – is now in the firm. Or the Ever Spring Medical Group dispensary, to be precise, where he's practising equally a full-time TCM physician, along with his long-time mentor Tan Bee Gawh.
"People come into the dispensary and enquire: Which day is Pornsak going to be here?" said the Thailand-born, Singapore-based artiste. (For the record, he tries to come in every twenty-four hours.)
"I exercise realise that they may be curious to see non Pornsak the host, but Pornsak the sinseh. I guess this excitement will clothing off after the first time they take a selfie with me."
I have to brand sure I can cure them. They are non going to come dorsum to me for future ailments if after the beginning or second fourth dimension, they're yet not okay.
Sure, patients may be eager for the novel experience of having their pulse taken by a familiar face on Tv set, only Pornsak emphasised that his glory status actually makes him work fifty-fifty harder.
"I have to make sure I can cure them. They are non going to come back to me for future ailments if after the first or 2nd time, they're still not okay. It's non going to work that fashion," he said matter-of-factly.
Then has he swapped the microphone for acupuncture needles for practiced? Pornsak shared that he would desire to be Tan's apprentice "for the next five to eight years considering in that location are just so many things to learn", if she allows it.
"Most of what I learned in school is theory-based, so this is a chance for me to feel the life of a sinseh."
Inbound A NEW WORLD OF LIVE-STREAMING
Pornsak hasn't been on TV for a while (the Left Profile artiste's contract with Mediacorp ended in January) but that doesn't mean y'all've seen the last of him outside the clinic.
In fact, he is putting his hosting skills and multilingualism to good use every bit his mentor, Tan, has always advocated giving back to lodge. "The minute I received my licence to do, she asked me, why don't we do something online together?" he said.
Then they decided to live-stream free TCM consultations – no doubt calling on his experience as a alive-streamer on MDADA, the platform started by Pornsak, young man artiste Michelle Chia and celebrity hairstylist Addy Lee, to sell products on Facebook Live. In fact, the trio has been live-streaming four times a calendar week since the platform took off in September concluding year.
"But last Sunday, we alive-streamed past midnight and there were still people asking us about certain products. I had to tell them, eh guys, it's 3am. I call up we should all go home to sleep," he quipped.
You may also have defenseless his live-streams for clients such as Lazada and Giant. "It could be two or three sessions of alive-streaming a day. It's a brand-new earth of live-streaming. It'southward very exciting."
TCM GOES Alive
At the time of our interview, the medico duo has done 2 live-streaming sessions on tcmlivesg via Facebook Live. Each hourly session kicks off with a topical discussion for the beginning xv to 20 minutes, and is followed past a "free-for-all Q&A session" for 40 minutes.
The questions from users run the whole gamut, from paediatric massages to menstrual cramps, migraine, talocrural joint sprains and even lung cancer.
This is where Pornsak's hosting groundwork helps to make esoteric topics such as "chi" relatable to the users. With him switching effortlessly and fluently between Mandarin and English language, even non-Chinese audiences such as those from Indonesia and Korea take been able to tune in every Thursday at 9pm.
READ: How former actress Jacelyn Tay found her truthful calling in life equally a wellness motorbus
Pornsak admitted that information technology hasn't been like shooting fish in a barrel prepping for the online consultations. "That is the part that actually tests the physician on his or her knowledge because y'all don't know what's going to be asked next. I have to do a lot of preparation, whereas Dr Tan has been preparing for this for the past four decades," he said.
Only he has been relishing the experience. "Beingness online has fabricated everything borderless. I'grand literally a md without borders now!" he laughed.
He is likewise dandy to correct the misconception that TCM remedies often involve spending "hundreds and thousands of dollars" on cordyceps and ginseng. "Merely if you watch our live sessions, you'll realise that the exercises and massages that we teach are free of charge. What we're doing is providing pre-emptive measures. We are helping people who may exist troubled past minor ailments to care for themselves at habitation."
THE SINSEH Journey
Pornsak met his mentor when he began his career equally a radio DJ back in the early 2000s. "She would go on air every Thursday for half an 60 minutes," he recalled. "My slot was correct after her show and we would chat."
When Pornsak's father developed a swollen left mitt that specialists in Thailand and Singapore could not treat, he took him to Tan as the concluding resort. The incident was a game-changer for the twenty-something host equally later on just one session with a few needles, his father's manus "reverted to normal".
"Two days later on, he could play the erhu. What is this magic? Teach me!"
That was fifteen years agone. Armed with a quest for knowledge – and also as an option for a back-up career – Pornsak decided to explore the TCM path.
"From her, I found out most the TCM caste from Guangzhou Academy. And then I signed up for it and, surprise, surprise, I really lasted the form," said Pornsak, hinting at the gruelling journeying he undertook to earn his certification via distance learning.
The first three "very dry and boring" years of the course were trying. And early starts and late ends to his working days didn't assist either.
READ: 'I hated how I was': How Andie Chen fought a medical condition to become an activeness star
"It's a seven-year course but it took me about nine years to graduate considering during the fifth year, I got a telephone call from a Aqueduct 8 executive producer. She told me there was a travelogue that she would really like me to host," said Pornsak. That would be the award-winning Television set show Food Source, which required him to put off his studies for a twelvemonth.
In fact, he concluded upwards disrupting his TCM course twice – the second time to shoot two more seasons of Food Source.
It all worked out in the end. The Telly prove won him an award and several nominations – and he even managed to obtain a master's degree in early childhood pedagogy from Monash University.
"I am constantly reminding myself that I accept to keep learning, especially in this day and age, where everything is evolving so fast," he said.
PRACTISING ACUPUNCTURE ON COLLEAGUES
But he hadn't forgotten almost his TCM studies, of course, and went back to finish the last two years.
Then, did friends and colleagues flock to him for TCM tips and remedies while he was studying? Well, not quite.
In fact, he would endeavour to persuade boyfriend artistes to allow him practise acupuncture on them. "Yous don't have to come to me only when you're sick. I can help to boost your chi and amnesty and so you won't autumn sick!" he remembered telling them, only to be jokingly told they might practice so once he received his licence.
"The measure of the friendship, right?" he laughed.
He did succeed on a few occasions – Pornsak convinced 1 celebrity colleague dealing with pilus loss (who shall forever remain unnamed, he quipped) to let him stick eight needles on his scalp.
READ: 'I feared losing myself': How Priscelia Chan found hope afterwards 'torturous' 2-year health ordeal
"I wasn't very proficient then so the first few times, he could feel pain," said Pornsak. "After doing it continuously, he told me, eh there'south baby hair! Information technology took three to 4 months, ane or two sessions a week. Simply the start few times were honestly just trial and error!"
Despite this promising new detour into the globe of TCM, Pornsak isn't completely shutting the doors on his showbiz career.
"It's non farewell forever," he said. "My main focus now is to practice my part as a TCM physician. Too, I want to work harder to increase my online presence. I'm not certain what the hereafter plans of Mediacorp prevarication. Just I know what my own future plans are. I can work towards my own plans first."
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/pornsak-tcm-doctor-tv-host-mediacorp-240411
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