I bet most of you would have heard his name at least once recently, and if you haven’t, you would have probably seen his iconic mustache. Nope? Than you would have most probably seen a very sharply dressed gentlemen walking around Bukit Bintang area or KLCC area. No too? Than you would have probably seen his pictures on Instagram, because you must be that 1 out of his 68,000 followers (and counting) on his Instagram account. NO too? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH YOUR LIFE? okay, chill, we kid.

When you meet him for the first time, you would notice that almost everything about him screams “details”. His hair, beard, mustache, the clothes he wears and even right down to the accessories he wears, everything is specially chosen and has a specific reason to it. Here in our latest installment We sat down with this man of details, to have a chat about his history, what he thinks about our fashion industry and most importantly, WHY IS HIS NAME WAK DOYOK?

Can you give us a bit of history about yourself?

My name is Mohd Azwan and I am 34 years old. I like vintage stuff and I also like Lambrettas and Vespas. I started getting really into them back in 1996 when nobody was really that into Lambrettas and sometimes a used one would be sold for onlyRM50 per bike. I was so into it that I became a foreman, fixing and restoring old Vespas and Lambrettas.

Then in 1999, I joined Auto Bavaria (BMW) as a Technical Assistant and from there I moved on to many other odd jobs for the next 11 years. To name a few, I used to work in a bakery, delivery boy, a lorry driver’s assistant, construction & landscaping, I even worked at Port Klang before. And then in May 2011, I joined Ben Sherman, and from there I stuck to the fashion scene till now.

First off, let’s get this question out of the way, because we’re pretty sure a lot of people would like to know too. How did you get the name “Wak Doyok”?

When I was in standard 6 (Primary School), there were 2 other classmates that has the same name as me. Each time the teacher called “Azwan”, 3 guys would answer her. So, to make her life easier, she called me “WAK”. As for “Doyok”, friends started calling me “doyok” because I have a pretty similar character to the character “Doyok” in the famous Indonesian comedy duo of “Doyok & Kadir”. So that’s how the name came about.

What is that one question that is the most annoying to you?

“Bro, kau pakai macam ni tak panas ke?”

How long do you take to get ready everyday?

2 hours. 30 minutes to bathe, 30 minutes to comb my hair, and 1 hour to manage my mustache and beard. As for my clothes, I will find time in the week to set and plan out what I want to wear for the next seven days. Even right up to my accessories.

 Can you give some tips on looking great in a suit?

The only way to look the best in a suit is to get it tailored made to your exact measurement. And how good and skilled the tailor is also makes a lot of difference. If you’re big sized, a lousy tailor will make you look bigger and out of proportion. To me personally, a suit for men is somewhat an equivalent to the corset for the ladies. It has to be specific, it has to wrap you properly and also help promote a good posture on you. A droopy, loose suit never ever looks good. It will make you look sloppy.

Also, if you’re on a budget, you can always buy off the shelf shirts and suits and alter them. If you wanna save even more money, go and “menyelam” at your local ‘bundle’ (thrift) stores. Here are my top 5 spots:-

• –  Chow Kit
• –  Meru, Klang
• –  Buntil Bundle, Shah Alam
• –  Pasar Malam ( Most night markets would have some hidden gems in it )
• –  “Uptown” ( Any “Uptown” would have some good hidden gems too)

Looking good doesn’t have to be expensive, and there is a big difference between looking stylish and looking expensive. You are one of the co-founders of The Garment which is a brand focused on street fashion, and you are also very much involved in the other aspects of the fashion scene in Malaysia, can you tell us what you think about our local fashion scene?

To me personally, fashion in general is a very fast pace industry, while on the other hand in Malaysia, we are the opposite. I would say fashion wise, compared to a lot of other countries, we are behind by at least 5 years. We adopt things slower and we have a very closed mentality.For example, one of the reasons why I am doing what I am doing today is that I am trying to inspire the men in Malaysia to dress up properly. That’s all. But there are some people who do not understand that, and they think that I am some sort of a poser. And that is why we have people that make parody posters of me and paste them all over Malaysia making fun of me.

Also another point that is sorta holding us back, is that we Malaysians “kuat dengki”. We can’t stand to see our colleagues or peers do better than us, and because of that we start to ‘kutuk’ & backstab one another. With a culture like that, how do we improve and advance?

But in a whole, the Malaysian Fashion scene is growing, and we are one of the leaders in this region. If you go around KL, you will notice people dress better these days and good quality clothes aren’t expensive to buy. With a change of mentality and an open mind, Malaysia can definitely go far, and I don’t just mean in terms of the fashion industry too.

You mentioned about the parody poster that an anonymous person made of you earlier, and how he/she paste it all around Malaysia. Can you tell us a bit about how you felt when you saw it?

I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t even disappointed. I was more shocked and surprised than anything. Shocked that someone can hate me that much to do something like that. It also made me question myself, that whether or not I have done anything bad to anyone. But I guess the person who did this, probably does not understand me or what I am trying to achieve.

Would you “Tolong or Saman”?

Definitely saman. Not worth risking going to jail for 6 months just for bribing a police officer. I rather pay RM300 for a speeding ticket than taking that risk. And sometimes they do give you a discount of up to 50% for the fines.

You have more than 68,000 followers on Instagram ( @wakdoyok ) since we last checked, would you consider yourself a celebrity?

I will never consider myself a celebrity. And I will try my very best to keep telling myself that to remind myself to never get big headed. I do not what to have that “celebrity” barrier between me and my friends, fans and followers. I am happy and thankful that so many people believe and support what I do and that is why I do not want to have that barrier there.

For example, at the recent Shout! Awards, after the show I was heading out and a group of people came over and wanted to take pictures with me, and I agreed. More and more people started to gather and one thing led to another, I was taking pictures with fans outside the hall for the next 2 hours. I do not want them to feel a gap between me and them and that is why I will try my best to indulge a fan’s request. Spend time with them, because without their support, you are nothing.

Before we go, any last words? or advice you wanna give to our readers?

Someone once told me:-

“Never forget where you came from, so that you won’t forget where you were headed to in the first place”

And also, always share the cake with the people around you, because no matter how successful you get, being successful alone is lonely. Eating a whole cake by yourself will make you “jelak”, but if you have company to share the cake with you, it’ll make it so much more enjoyable.