Robinson says she and her family want to make sure that her nephews and nieces know the importance of family, and that Christmas is really about love, time spent with family. — photo: YAP CHEE HONG/The Star; Location: Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur
Like most children who grew up celebrating Christmas, Gabriella Robinson would wake up very early on Dec 25 in anticipation of opening presents from Santa Claus.
For years, she believed in Saint Nick’s existence, enchanted by the magic of the season and how presents would mysteriously only appear under the tree on Christmas morning.
Now at the age of 35, the professional emcee and her family continue to uphold traditions practised through the years – hanging up stockings and decorating the tree together, attending midnight mass at church on Christmas Eve and sitting down for delicious meals with the family.
While Robinson looks forward to this year’s festivities, the occasion will be bittersweet as she lost her father, Prof Dr Arthur George Robinson, early this year.
“It will be the first Christmas without my dad.. it’s been a very strange and challenging year, and I really had to keep it together all the way through,” says Robinson during an interview at the Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur, the location for our cover shoot.
“It’s a strange place to be, losing your father. To me, he’s my first love, my hero. He’s my saviour. He’s the one who comes to mend me when I’m crying about the silliest things. I will definitely do a prayer for him, and this Christmas, it will be different.”
To Robinson, Christmas is about spending time with the people dearest to you and after this recent loss, time is all the more precious.
Growing up in a blended family with four sisters and a brother, Robinson predominantly lived and grew up with her father, and many Christmases were spent abroad.
“We were very fortunate to have the chance to travel during Christmas and it was always a surprise. One Christmas, maybe we’d be in one country, another Christmas, we’d be in another country,” she recalls.
The professional emcee and her family continue to uphold traditions practised through the years. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
“There were no presents under the tree until Christmas morning, and we would think ‘Santa came in the night!’ you know? My dad always wanted to have the turkey, the cranberry sauce, and he loved Christmas pudding. As a single father, he truly did everything he could to bring the Christmas spirit to life.”
During Christmas she would also spend time with her mother, Datuk Sharmini Chor, who would cook up a storm every year.
“My mum likes to do Christmas dinners and lunches, it’s non-stop – we do the midnight mass, we come home, we have supper, and the next day, Christmas lunch and dinner. Nowadays, there’s no travelling during Christmas time, as everyone prioritises getting together.”
Even though Robinson and her siblings are all grown up and offer to take the task of cooking during the festivities off their mother’s plate, she insists on it.
“She always cooks every Christmas, and we say, ‘Mum, you know you don’t have to cook. We can go to a hotel’. But she wants to, and I feel that’s my mum’s way of showing her love, by cooking for us,” says Robinson.
Raising a toast
For the past decade or so, Robinson has been making a name for herself as a master of ceremonies for corporate events, awards presentations, gala dinners, as well as lifestyle launches.
“I do lifestyle events that range from luxury brands to cars, timepieces, store launches, pretty much a bit of everything,” says Robinson, who was named Miss Tourism International in 2011 and runner-up in the Miss Universe Malaysia pageant in 2012.
Her job takes her all over the country, sometimes hosting two events a day – and on the side, she teaches pilates.
While preparing for an event usually involves good time management, research into the brand and topic of the event, as well as the ability to adapt to last minute changes, a keen interest in people and stories is one of Robinson’s strengths.
“I like connecting with people. I like finding out their stories. I like to know and to hear about how they have been through adversity, and how they came out of it. I find it all very inspiring, and to learn about brands and what they’re doing,” she says.
What makes hosting even more meaningful to her is childhood memories from when she used to watch her father, a Toastmaster, speak at events.
Robinson (second from left) celebrating a past Christmas with her family. photo: Gabriella Robinson
“He would drag me to these things on weekends, in the morning, and as a child, I didn’t want to sit in a room filled with people talking – I wanted to be outside or at home playing with my dolls. From a very young age, he would always try to get us to talk to people, engage with people, whereas as children, we were shy, you know? And he always tried to teach us to get out there more, don’t be afraid, to speak up,” says Robinson, who describes herself as a timid child.
“Now that I’ve lost him, at every show, I talk to him, ‘Dad, I’m doing it, I’m facing the fears I had as a kid, I’m here and I’m speaking’. It’s something he always wanted me to do, to get out there.”
Keeping it together no matter what is going on in one’s personal life is another hallmark of a professional – it was during a show when Robinson received the news that her dad had suffered a heart attack.
“I was about to do the opening, and then I got the text and I thought, I can’t leave now and my sister said, it’s okay, do that first, come after. There’s this sort of pain that you hold in your throat and you just kind of like, swallow it, and just be professional, do what I need to do, and see dad after.”
Looking ahead, Robinson is keen to add moderating to her range of skills
“I feel that it’s something I would really love to learn. Levelling up as a host would be to be a moderator for a panel discussion or a conference,” she says.
“I’m no subject matter expert in any field, right? And what emceeing does for me is it gives me the opportunity to learn. Because every brand, every industry, is different, and I’m always learning something new, I always have to absorb information really fast. Being able to be a moderator and do it for different industries, that would be the next, ultimate challenge, but it’s also something I look forward to learning.”
Family first
As the year draws to a close, there are many events on the calendar for Robinson leading up to the Christmas festivities, all of which will bring the family together.
“Time has flown so much and I do miss my childhood. When you’re a child, everything is glorious and magical and dazzling, and as an adult, you appreciate things in different ways. It’s the company, people you can laugh with,” she says.
As with every Christmas, there will be music, food, laughter and the passing on of traditions to Robinson’s nephews and nieces.
“We want to make sure that they know the importance of family,” she says. “Christmas is really about love, time spent with family. Of course, to the kids, there will be gift-giving but it’s really about time, because you can’t get that back.”
