IT’S Paula Malai Ali’s second tour of duty in Wimbledon, Britain, covering the prestigious tennis Grand Slam and she’s on familiar ground.
Yet the popular Brunei-born TV personality is there with mixed feelings, as someone back home tugs at her heartstrings.
The special someone is none other than her four-month-old baby boy Zane. The ESPN STAR Sports presenter gave birth to her first child on Feb 23, incidentally Brunei Darussalam’s National Day.
“I am thoroughly enjoying motherhood. He’s still very little and I look forward to the day that he becomes more responsive and does more than poo, sleep and drink milk!
“I’m also wondering what took me so long to do this incredible job of being someone’s Mummy,” Paula, 37, enthuses via e-mail from Wimbledon, where the two-weeklong tournament is under way.
Her young baby is, naturally, always in her thoughts. However, she strives to remain focus ed at work in Wimb ledon, reporting on stories about fans, and getting the “colour aspect of the championships”.
“Wimbledon is a special place and it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to be back to cover it again. It’s a lot of hard work but certainly a rewarding fortnight where I think we will churn out some great shows.
“However, it’s definitely harder to be here compared to before. I miss him and find my mind wandering and spending way too much time calling my family in Brunei to ask how he’s doing. But work is work; Mama needs to pay the bills!”
The Malaysia-based Paula sent Zane to Brunei to be with her English mother, sisters and cousins before she left for Britain.
“They are really enjoying him, although my mum says he’s too fat for her to carry around. I’ve asked my twin sister Jenny to stick her face in his so he thinks it’s me!” she quips.
“I miss his smell. I miss giving him the middle-of-the-night feed when it’s all dark and it’s just me, him and his cosy, warm milk. I miss giving him his bath. I could go on and on.”
Paula returned to work two months after her delivery, but did some emcee jobs three weeks after her son’s birth.
Since she did not follow traditional confinement rituals like eating specific foods and not leaving the house, she said going back to work was not a major shock to her system.
“I felt ready to get back into the swing of things but as with every new mum, you hope you’re doing the right thing by going back to work, and you are crippled with guilt,” says Paula.
She recalls with clarity her first day back at work.
“I just felt very distracted; I couldn’t stop thinking about him and couldn’t get home fast enough. As you can imagine, these two weeks in Britain is really causing me to dig deep and be a ‘big girl'.”
Paula joined ESPN in 2006 and covers the Formula One preand post-race shows for STAR Sports. She co-hosts Race Day And Chequered Flag with Steve Dawson, and the weekly motorsport show Engine Block with Sanjeev Palar. She also helms her own tennis magazine show Ace on STAR Sports.
The former veejay for Channel [V ], where she was attached to for four years until 2006, had stints as a radio presenter and acted in theatre productions. She was also featured in an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show that profiled successful women in their 30s.
Paula married a producer of the reality TV show The Biggest Loser last year. It is her second marriage.
A swimmer, tennis player and avid hockey player when she was younger, Paula also loved gymnastics and athletics.
Currently, her favourite sports are Formula One motor racing, tennis and athletics, the first two she actively covers in her work.
“The two sports are worlds apart. The paddock is an aggressive place to work in and you need to be ballsy and assertive to get the material you want.
“Tennis is a lot more civilised and there is absolutely no guerilla-style shooting running around trying to grab the drivers for an interview. In tennis, you’ll know beforehand if you get to interview the player or not.
“On the flip side, a day onsite at a tennis tournament can be very long, whereas with F1 you normally have a ballpark idea of when the race will finish and when you should be able to wrap up all your pieces,” she reveals.
After four years at ESPN, Paula says she has definitely grown as a presenter and discovered the joys of doing live TV.
“It’s scary and exhilarating all at the same time. I try to be as prepared as I can and am fully open to the fact that each day I still continue to learn.
“I am surrounded by very talented, TV-oriented people who provide wonderful support. You learn the importance of being a team player and there is little room for ego.”
Resting on her laurels is never an option with her job.
“Every show is a challenge. For the magazine shows, which are taped a few hours before we go on air, the main challenge is keeping your delivery fresh and maintaining your energy.
“For live shows you never know what will happen. That in itself is a major challenge and it’s very important to learn to keep a level head and work closely with your producer and director to help get you through any unforeseen and tricky situations,” she says.
Catch Paula Malai Ali at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships on ESPN STAR Sports (Astro Channel 813) and ESPN HD (Channel 832) today (7pm-2am), tomorrow and Friday (7.30pm-2am), Saturday (8.30pm-2am) and Sunday (8.30pm-1am) , and online on ESPN Player.
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