One for King Bling

Our Motoring editor Dong Magsajo is waving goodbye in a couple of weeks, and it marks the end of the era of “King Bling” – a monicker he has gone by in the relatively small circle of automotive journalists.

I first had the privilege of working with Dong in 1997 as we put a mall-based magazine to bed. Instead of automotive matters, our realm was peopled with retail shops, restaurants, and a sundry of services within a certain shopping complex. We were headquartered in a swanky building in a pre-BPO Ortigas Center world, and our organization was mainly composed of wide-eyed youngsters and recent graduates (Dong among them).

Even then, Dong loved cars; he drove a white Mazda 323 that he had set up with (among other stuff) a booming audio system. I’d sometimes get the chance to ride along with him, and if I found myself in the second row, there would be a nice massage courtesy of the monstrous subwoofer just behind the seat.

Aside from an abiding affection for cars, Dong was a music freak as well. Before the mp3 format (and their players) became universal, CDs lay dominion over the landscape. Our office management was pretty liberal about playing music in the premises, so we’d take turns playing songs rather loudly on our PCs. Dong outdid us all by bringing a big Case Logic case that held all of 300 CDs. I think he brought in one of his portable stereos as well.

Dong had a pretty eclectic taste in music, and we bonded over new wave and some R&B stuff. Like clockwork – and probably because we expected it – he’d lug that collection with him daily to help ease the tension of the daily office grind.

But when that short-lived publishing venture shut down close to Christmas, our happy troupe was scuttled. Party over.

Thankfully, Dong and I found our way to The STAR (as did another colleague Tanya Lara). Dong initially worked at Starweek; Tanya and me were in the Life section.

It was at that time when I had the pleasure of playing in a band with Dong. He was our drummer; I sang and played rhythm guitar. He remembers the name (I had totally forgotten it), Tinnitus. Yes, it’s that ringing in the ear.

That ragtag unit of ours had its brightest moment when we got a chance to play during a Philippine STAR Christmas party. We didn’t even think about “commercializing” our covers to suit the ears of our audience – to say nothing of the season. We thought, what did the people expect with a name like Tinnitus, anyway?

So we took the grand ballroom stage of the now renamed (and re-everythinged) Manila Midtown Hotel to play a set of rock/alternative ditties. I found it hard to focus as I plugged in my guitar and effects. I knew people were waiting to hear what the heck we were up to (or at least waiting for us to finish). But the butterflies left after Dong and I locked eyes and nodded, then he four-counted us into launch. I forget a lot of things, but I’ll remember that night as a shining moment for our band. We covered Blur’s Song 2 with relish, and I could’ve sworn people were “hoo-hoo”-ing along. Dong was pounding the heck out of the kit, too. That adventure quickly felt as all successful gigs should – one heckuva jam session.

We performed a cover of the brilliant, late, and much lamented Champaign, Illinois act Hum’s named Stars. I seized the opportunity to connect the title to our paper, of course, and spotted our great publisher Max Soliven smiling in amusement. I don’t remember if I apologized for the noise (I felt we must have filled that ballroom with power chords and cymbal crashes), but I know we felt good and psyched after that set.

Our band, sadly, soon fell by the wayside, and I found myself leaving The STAR as a full-time employee some years after. Nonetheless, I continued to write for various sections, including this one. For that, I am grateful to the editors – King Bling Dong among them.

Dong was clear about what he wanted for Motoring. He would communicate his vision for the section he was fiercely loyal to. I believed that rubbed off on us contributing writers. It wasn’t just about filling column inches; it was about coming up with what could (and would) connect and resonate with readers. It was, and remains to be, family. Dong had fun ideas, too, and would spare no effort to execute those ideas.

So, I doff my hat to my editor with a thank you and a Godspeed. I’m sure I’ll see you around, bro.