From quiet child to non-stop talker: How live streamer captivates his 52,000 followers

For someone who didn’t speak much as a child, Mr Ryan Low has surely chosen an unexpected career path.  

Meet the live streamer whose 52,000 followers log on dutifully to his Facebook Live platform MrHome Live Mall at 10.30pm every night to hear him talk non-stop for 90 minutes. 

Since 2020, the 29-year-old has been regaling his enraptured audience with an hour of funny stories before he segues into 30 minutes of product demos on anything from household items to undergarments. 

In fact, viewers are so convinced by him that some have been known to buy merch continuously – without unboxing any. “They have so many things from us in their storerooms that we actually have to stop them from buying more!” 

He jokes that he only goes offline during a session when he needs a toilet break urgently.  

His uncanny ability to banter continuously has earned him the nickname “Fish” because it seems that he does not need to emerge for air. 

But this wasn’t always the case for him. 

“As a kid, I minded my own business, hid in a corner and kept quiet. I wasn’t very playful too,” he says.

Even when the Covid-19 pandemic – and a torn leg ligament – forced him to pivot to selling household and healthcare products from his father’s import business on Facebook, Mr Low admits that he started off awkwardly. 

Selling wasn’t something new to Mr Low, who dropped out of his course at Nanyang Polytechnic where he was pursuing a diploma in Business and Financial Technology as he wanted to be out in the workforce earlier.

Since he was 14, he had been helping his father – fellow live streamer Patrick Low of 88 Home – hawk merchandise like toy flying saucers at wet markets. But he felt more embarrassed about selling online. 

The reason: the largely older crowd of aunties and uncles at markets wouldn’t know him personally but his peers could watch him on Facebook and speculate that he must be in some kind of financial ruin to “resort to live streaming”.

“At that time, live streaming wasn’t seen as glamorous and was associated with, perhaps, a lot of gangsterish bidding wars,” the articulate man recalls.

 As a result, Mr Low shied away from showing his face on screen and instead shot videos of only his hands unboxing products. But he soon realised that if he wanted to make a good living out of live streaming, viewers would have to see his face. 

“They won’t recognise my hands in public!”

The first product he sold on his platform was a $49.90 robot vacuum cleaner. He moved 13 pieces in one run and realised he could make a decent living out of live streaming. 

He also learnt that he shouldn’t restrain his personality online and had to behave more like himself. Eventually, Mr Low gained more and more followers with his “straightforward, dramatic, loud, comical and screaming” style though he stresses that he is more subdued in real life.  

“It’s all about being yourself. Things will backfire if you become someone else online.”

Today, as a young adult, he tries not to be affected by unpleasant comments that viewers post. He reasons that this happens only because he has the audience reach and that it helps to be thick-skinned in his line of work. 

Thankfully, he has more fans than trolls. 

“I am not 100 per cent sure why viewers like me. There’s no why or how. For certain professions, viewers either like you or not. You can be the most handsome actor but not the most popular one.”

The stark difference between selling in person and online: Mr Low has to be more confident for the latter as he is simply speaking to a camera and cannot monitor his customers’ expressions or tone of voice. He can only rely on their comments.

Mr Low doesn’t only talk non-stop; he also works non-stop, even during his one-month honeymoon in Paris and Finland in 2021. 

At that time, most people were still wary of travelling due to border closures, quarantine measures and other pandemic-related restrictions. Mr Low took the opportunity to show his viewers iconic sights like the Northern Lights. 

“We packed our products along with us, and we live streamed from inside an igloo and also below the Eiffel Tower!” 

He also says that while each live streaming session lasts 90 minutes, the unseen hard work that goes behind the scenes takes up a lot more time and effort. For instance, he spends anything from half an hour to an hour reading up on a product before testing it at least one month before a session.

This meticulous legwork and product knowledge has endeared him greatly to his viewers and fans. 

Customers also like MrHome Live Mall's level of credibility. It offers a seven-day moneyback guarantee on all purchases. “We also are online at 10.30pm every day and we do not change the timing. We won’t run away.”

During his first year of live streaming, Mr Low’s wife, who handles his administrative work, would reply to customers' emails constantly, even before 7am.

“Many of my viewers were moved by her sincerity as some live streaming platforms do not reply your queries until two days later.”

Despite his popularity, Mr Low reveals that he actually works with a very small team. “It’s just my wife, myself and another live streamer. Live streaming is a very trim business. We don’t over-hire.”

The other live streamer on MrHome Live Mall is Mr Sam Lim, a long-time friend of Mr Low’s father. Mr Lim goes online at 4.30pm on MrHome Live Mall and has a more serious persona that complements what he calls the younger man’s “humorous” style. 

Once in a while, Mr Low’s viewers are also treated to celebrity appearances. Personalities like comedian Kumar, TV host Pornsak, movie director Jack Neo and getai veteran Wang Lei – who has found a second illustrious career in live streaming – pair up with Mr Low to sell anything from cookware to portable air-conditioners.

Mr Low chooses products most closely associated with each artiste, like cordyceps for Pornsak, who is also a TCM physician.

The latest celeb collab will be with Taiwanese veteran talkshow host Hsu Nai Ling, a personal contact of one of his father’s followers. 

“We hope to expand our platform with more live streamers and reach out to the international market. Live streaming may not be as prestigious as some jobs like being an actor but we believe we have space for more success.”

Watch Mr Ryan Low and Taiwan talkshow celebrity Hsu Nai Ling on MrHome Live Mall at 10pm on April 8 and 9.