The Ming Thing was started as a platform for Ming’s rants
When it comes to YouTube comedy channels, The Ming Thing is no doubt a name that pops up instantaneously.
Today, The Ming Thing has established itself as a successful Malaysian YouTube channel with 272k and counting subscribers.
Who would have thought that the channel was started in 2011 by a frustrated university kid as an outlet for his rants? The Ming Thing, represented by brothers Creative Director Ming Han and Writer Ming Yue, is known for their comedies and have been experimenting with more genres including web series and short films.
Here are 10 things you should know about the brains (Ming Han) behind the well-loved channel The Ming Thing.
1. The Ming Thing was started as a channel to promote Ming’s music/ rants about university life
The channel had humble beginnings of being a platform for Ming to promote his music and discuss about topics like carparks in University as an Asian student.
It was during my thesis year of my degree and there were really bad monsoon drains. My university’s carpark was flooded and there was a huge commotion about it. That same night, I remember doing assignments and I got really sick of working so much. So I took out a notebook, put some points down and made my first vlog with my laptop’s camera and iMovie. I then asked a friend what a good name for a channel would be, uploaded the vlog and the rest was history.
His very first vlog was an epiphany born out of his exasperation over assignments:
His YouTube channel took off in 2012 and he decided to concentrate full-time on growing the channel after completing university in 2013.
2. The team was formed after Ming’s first video
The Ming Thing was initially a one-man show, which eventually expanded to a small team of four. After Ming’s first video was put up, the vlog was circulated and reached Raffi Th’ng and Bryan Lim. Both of them were former classmates and shared similar sentiments after watching Ming’s video and offered to help him make some properly shot videos.
Their first video produced together, “Shit Boyfriends Say” went viral within a day, garnering over 25,000 views.
Ming and the rest were surprised by the unexpected response and were like “What’s happening?”. They found out that most of the viewers were Americans, and subsequently felt that they could make videos that people could relate to.
Later, Ming Han’s brother Ming Yue returned from the UK in July 2012 and joined the team as a writer.
3. He studied Psychology in university
Nope, he didn’t get a crash course in how to become a YouTuber (if there was even one).
In fact, what he studied in school was completely unrelated to video making. But his success is a testament to the adage “work hard and you will succeed” .
In an interview with The Star, Ming shared:
We studied our whole lives for a job that did not exist in Malaysia but in the end, we found a very good output for what we are passionate for. We could do what we enjoyed, and pay the bills.
4. He thought he would be a counsellor after graduation
After all, being a “YouTuber” doesn’t exactly seem like a viable career option right? At least not to the older generations.
Even Ming felt that becoming a YouTuber is “the most peculiar thing to happen in his life.” Instead of making videos, Ming thought he would be doing his Masters and practise counselling.
5. His first love is still music
Ming might be more popularly known for his comedies on YouTube, but his first love is ultimately still music.
I actually love music. I thought I was going to be a musician on YouTube instead of a storyteller. For most of our more serious projects, we write most of the music and such ourselves! (with the help of friends of course)
Watch the talented Mings perform at The Smart Local’s office:
6. His favourite video is…
I enjoyed creating the webseries project, “This Is Why”. It was really challenging. I liked the feeling of writing a story in parts and creating characters for it. Writing both the script and the theme song was a really awesome learning process.
But it was also the most difficult video he had produced.
The web series “This Is Why” was hands-down the HARDEST thing for me to develop. I took months to finish conceptualising and more months to shoot and finish it up. But nowadays, I’ve been writing so many new scripts with a more serious tone to it – it doesn’t seem as hard as I remembered.
7. He is immune to hot girls
Lucky Ming got to go on a date with influencer goddess Kay Kay, but still managed to keep his cool (maybe he was just acting?).
While the generous Kay Kay rated her date a 9.5/10, Ming gave a miserly 2/10. Then again, he might be using the chance to score another date with Kay Kay – she said she would take him out when he’s in Singapore and he would give Kay Kay a chance to change his mind. 😉
8. He opened for a Jayesslee concert
In 2012, Ming and YouTuber Charis Ow performed the opening act when YouTube sensation Jayesslee performed live in Kuala Lumpur.
Check out how excited Ming and Charis were:
9. He rejected high positions offered by companies and creative bodies
On his craziest experience in his YouTube journey, Ming told SAYS:
Every day is pretty crazy for us but if I had to pick one experience it was that learning that companies and creative bodies were interested in absorbing us into their own creative departments with quite high positions. I mean, that’s crazy! We’re just a bunch of friends taking each day at a time.
10. He questions his sense of humour and finds room for improvement
Ming’s videos might have the ability to entertain, but there are still times he develops self-doubt:
I’ve written comedy scripts which I look back at and think “how did I (even) think this was funny?”. That’s why I always look for new things to try and explore to work toward writing better and making better videos.
The Ming Thing is definitely the next big thing
The Ming Thing has grown to be a memorable brand synonymous with YouTube. For an avenue that was created for one uni kid to rant, The Ming Thing has grown to become the bread and butter of the entire team.
We can’t wait for these talented individuals to come up with more content to make us laugh.
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Featured image via Suyen Pang
With reference to SAYS, Niexter, The Star, Open Brief, The Malay Mail Online
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