Telum Talks To... Asaph Low Yi Hao, Managing Editor, Men's Folio Singapore
Interview

Telum Talks To... Asaph Low Yi Hao, Managing Editor, Men's Folio Singapore

Happy 25 years to Men's Folio Singapore! In light of the 25th anniversary milestone, Men's Folio is stated to be embarking on the Metaverse trend. Can we understand more about the concept behind this evolution?
As part of our 25th anniversary, Men's Folio is embarking on a new journey into the Metaverse. We term the project METAVISION; it is Men's Folio's vision of the Metaverse - how we envisage our next-generation digital space. Magazines have gone from print to digital and moving into this phase feels like the next natural step. We created a fully immersive Men's Folio lounge, which will be launched at our 25th-anniversary party, to showcase the many facets of Men's Folio. It will be a fluid space for digital ideas and creativity to come to life as we look to optimise processes and experiences for our readers, partners and advertisers, and even ourselves.
 
What can readers expect from this and what reactions are you expecting from them?

It will be a different channel for our readers to consume Men's Folio content. We want it to be more immersive and sensorial; at the same time, there's still a lot of learning and experimenting on how ideas can come to life in our Men's Folio lounge.
 
Metaverse is a big word that intimidates, and rightly so because of all the question marks surrounding it. The unknowns and unfamiliarity of it put people off and is something we also experienced while conceptualising our plans. With the years to come and technological advancements, and given how savvier we get each day, it's a matter of time before we embrace the Metaverse in one way or another. At the moment, we're priming ourselves for it and putting ourselves in the best position to get a first mover advantage. 
 
What is the biggest achievement or milestone Men's Folio Singapore has reached in the past 25 years?

Even though I don't go way back, surviving 25 years amongst other men's international titles is quite the achievement. I feel the vision of Wilson Lim to support locals and Asians was one of the big turning points for Men's Folio when he first took over sometime in 2018. As a homegrown title, it feels only right to lend these groups of people a voice and a platform for their stories to be heard. It is apparent from the moment you pick up a copy of Men's Folio and flip through the various sections. Up to 90% of the celebrities, personalities, creatives, and freelancers share a common background, and it's one that we are extremely proud to support.
 
Can you share with us the upcoming plans for both the print and digital spectrum for the magazine in 2023?

Men's Folio print and digital platforms currently have two separate voices, the former being more formal and the latter more casual. We recognise that digital reads should be snappier and more concise while print stories allow for more bandwidth regarding topic depth or reading length. One of my plans is to bridge the gap between the two while not sacrificing one's niche for another. That means polishing up rough corners for both platforms and bringing stronger alignment between them.
 
As Managing Editor, what is the biggest challenge when it comes to developing the content for the title?

Creating content that has value to readers is a challenge in this day and age when information and entertainment are available almost instantly. There's this term called cheap dopamine, and I don't want our content to fall into this category when we put out "fluff reads".

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Asaph Low Yi Hao

Managing Editor

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MEN’S FOLIO Singapore

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