by Tim­o­thy Mo­hammed

I walked through the doors of CNC3 on Oc­to­ber 21, 2005, not know­ing that this place would be­come more than just a work­place — it would be­come a sec­ond home.

Orig­i­nal­ly, I was meant to join the En­gi­neer­ing De­part­ment, but on my first day, I was placed in the Op­er­a­tions De­part­ment. Af­ter spend­ing a short time there, I re­alised that this was where my true pas­sion lay — in the heart of live pro­duc­tion and broad­cast. That’s when I made the de­ci­sion to re­main in Op­er­a­tions. I was hired as a Se­nior Tech­ni­cal Op­er­a­tor, and through hard work, com­mit­ment, and con­tin­u­ous learn­ing, I even­tu­al­ly earned the po­si­tion of Tech­ni­cal Di­rec­tor.

The Ear­ly Days

In those ear­ly days at CNC3, there was hard­ly any time to re­lax. It was a fast-paced en­vi­ron­ment, filled with pres­sure, tight dead­lines, and plen­ty of long hours — but some­how, it nev­er felt over­whelm­ing. That’s be­cause we were build­ing some­thing new and ex­cit­ing. There was al­ways an op­por­tu­ni­ty to learn, to im­prove, and to push our­selves be­yond what we thought we were ca­pa­ble of.

We were sur­round­ed by a team of ex­pe­ri­enced, pas­sion­ate in­di­vid­u­als who brought a wealth of knowl­edge from dif­fer­ent ar­eas of me­dia and broad­cast. CNC3 was led by strong, vi­sion­ary lead­er­ship, which helped set the right foun­da­tion from the very be­gin­ning. That en­vi­ron­ment of men­tor­ship and col­lab­o­ra­tion al­lowed us to thrive.

A Ca­reer of Growth

Over the years, my role has grown sig­nif­i­cant­ly. To­day, as a Tech­ni­cal Di­rec­tor, I’m re­spon­si­ble for di­rect­ing live shows and man­ag­ing a team to en­sure every pro­duc­tion runs smooth­ly and pro­fes­sion­al­ly. It’s a role that re­quires quick think­ing, strong com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and tech­ni­cal ex­per­tise — but most im­por­tant­ly, team­work. No live pro­duc­tion is suc­cess­ful with­out the col­lab­o­ra­tion of the en­tire crew be­hind the scenes.

My ex­pe­ri­ence spans both the op­er­a­tions and en­gi­neer­ing sides of CNC3, and that cross-func­tion­al knowl­edge has played a big part in my de­vel­op­ment. It has helped me be­come a more well-round­ed leader and al­lowed me to trou­bleshoot, plan, and ex­e­cute broad­casts at the high­est lev­el.

Proud Mo­ments and Chal­lenges

One of my proud­est mo­ments came in 2012, when I was award­ed Em­ploy­ee of the Year for CNC3 — and, even more hum­bling, Em­ploy­ee of the Year in the Me­dia Sec­tor. It was recog­ni­tion I had not ex­pect­ed, but one that meant a great deal to me. It val­i­dat­ed years of ded­i­ca­tion, of­ten be­hind the scenes, where much of our work goes un­no­ticed by the gen­er­al pub­lic.

That same year, dur­ing the So­ca Monarch broad­cast, we faced sig­nif­i­cant tech­ni­cal chal­lenges. I was called out to as­sist the team on-site. Work­ing un­der pres­sure, I was able to come up with a back­up trans­mis­sion plan, and af­ter en­sur­ing the team had every­thing in place, I left with full con­fi­dence that the show would go on — and it did. The broad­cast aired smooth­ly and pro­fes­sion­al­ly, and that mo­ment re­in­forced for me the pow­er of ded­i­ca­tion, ex­pe­ri­ence, and trust.

I’ve al­so worked on nu­mer­ous out­side pro­duc­tions, in­clud­ing na­tion­al events, award shows, and cul­tur­al cel­e­bra­tions. These as­sign­ments de­mand flex­i­bil­i­ty, quick think­ing, and the abil­i­ty to adapt to dif­fer­ent en­vi­ron­ments — all skills that I’ve de­vel­oped and sharp­ened over the years.

Lead­ing Through the Storm

One mo­ment that tru­ly stands out was dur­ing Trop­i­cal Storm Bret. While many were at home rid­ing out the storm, a few of us stayed overnight at the sta­tion to en­sure that CNC3 was ready in case any break­ing news oc­curred. I even left at 5 a.m. to pick up a col­league and bring him to work — not be­cause I had to, but be­cause I want­ed to en­sure that we had a full team ready to de­liv­er a pro­fes­sion­al live broad­cast on CNC3. Richard Thong and Samp­son Nan­ton, both of whom have been with CNC3 for 20 years like me, al­so stayed overnight. That ex­pe­ri­ence summed up the kind of ded­i­ca­tion and team­work that lives at the core of CNC3.

Evolv­ing With the Times

CNC3 has come a long way since its in­cep­tion. We’ve evolved with the times, ex­pand­ed our dig­i­tal pres­ence, and em­braced new tech­nolo­gies to keep pace with the ever-chang­ing me­dia land­scape. From ana­logue to dig­i­tal tran­si­tions, from stan­dard-de­f­i­n­i­tion to HD and be­yond — we’ve al­ways been will­ing to adapt.

And I know that CNC3 will con­tin­ue to grow, in­no­vate, and suc­ceed. That’s be­cause this com­pa­ny is not just built on tech­nol­o­gy — it’s built on peo­ple. Peo­ple who care deeply about their craft, who show up day af­ter day with pride, pas­sion, and pro­fes­sion­al­ism.

More Than a Job

For me, CNC3 has nev­er felt like a job. It’s a part of who I am. I get to do what I love every sin­gle day, and that in it­self is a bless­ing. As the say­ing goes:

“When you do what you love, you’ll nev­er work a day in your life.”

That sen­ti­ment has been true for me for the past 20 years.

A Mes­sage to the Next Gen­er­a­tion

To the new­er mem­bers of the CNC3 fam­i­ly: em­brace the op­por­tu­ni­ties you’re giv­en. Nev­er stop learn­ing, nev­er be afraid to ask ques­tions, and most im­por­tant­ly, take pride in what you do — no mat­ter how big or small the task may seem.

The road won’t al­ways be smooth. There will be chal­lenges, long nights, and un­ex­pect­ed changes. Those are the mo­ments that will shape you. Those are the times when you learn what you’re tru­ly ca­pa­ble of; and when you look back, like I’m do­ing now, you’ll re­alise that every sin­gle ex­pe­ri­ence — the good, the tough, and the un­for­get­table — helped you be­come who you are.

Grat­i­tude

I want to thank every­one who has been a part of my jour­ney: my col­leagues, men­tors, man­agers, and friends. Spe­cial thanks to Richard Thong, who has worked along­side me on count­less projects and helped build the strong tech­ni­cal foun­da­tion CNC3 stands on to­day.

To my fel­low team mem­bers who’ve shared this 20-year jour­ney, thank you for your loy­al­ty, your sup­port, and your dri­ve. And to CNC3 it­self, thank you for giv­ing me the plat­form to grow, to lead, and to live my pas­sion.

Here’s to 20 amaz­ing years — and to many more ahead!

Quick Facts: Tim­o­thy Mo­hammed

Joined CNC3: Oc­to­ber 21, 2005

Cur­rent Role: Tech­ni­cal Di­rec­tor

Ear­ly Role: Se­nior Tech­ni­cal Op­er­a­tor

Ca­reer High­light: Em­ploy­ee of the Year 2012 (CNC3 and Me­dia Sec­tor)

No­table Projects: So­ca Monarch broad­casts, out­side pro­duc­tions, na­tion­al events, award shows, cul­tur­al cel­e­bra­tions

Mem­o­rable Ex­pe­ri­ence: Stay­ing overnight dur­ing Trop­i­cal Storm Bret to en­sure live cov­er­age

Phi­los­o­phy: “When you do what you love, you’ll nev­er work a day in your life.”

Ad­vice to New­com­ers: Em­brace op­por­tu­ni­ties, keep learn­ing, and take pride in every task