Kim Atienza’s passion & vocation
With his distinct voice and the entertaining way he shares his grab bag of tidbits with his audience, Kim Atienza is inarguably one of today’s more recognizable people on Philippine TV. After 17 years at ABS-CBN, he moved to GMA Network six months ago, where he currently appears in three shows, namely, 24 Oras (trivia portion “#KuyaKimAnoNa”), Dapat Alam Mo!, and Mars Pa More.
Kim also has a YouTube channel (Kuya Kim Atienza) with over 360,000 subscribers, but he said that work in his three shows keeps him busy so his YouTube channel is taking a break for now. It’s a problem he’s happy to have because, as he explained, “TV is my first love.”
In college, Kim took up Film and Audio Visual Communications at the University of the Philippines not to be a director but to be in front of the camera. This is where Kim and I met. Because we were both from the College of Mass Communication, we would hang out together, and Kim was one of the few who patiently drove me to my classes located in different buildings at the UP Diliman campus.
“I’m not ugly. I’m not that handsome either,” he said in a testimony for Victory Fort. “Si Kuya Kim, sakto lang.” However, what he has always been, even as a young boy, is curious.
“Growing up, I was always asking questions, always reading books. Kahit na mahina ako sa academics, I liked to find out more, especially about things I was interested in.” That list included everything from animals and plants to the paranormal like ghosts and mysterious entities. As he grew older, his interests and curiosity likewise grew and expanded to include art, chairs, and watches.
Some might mistakenly think Kim’s interest in trivia is one manufactured for TV but as he pointed out, it’s been there a long time.“The trivia is not a hook that I had to invent for television. It’s an actual thing, even up to now, I still am like that. Whenever I have new interests — like now it’s motorcycles — I try to study as much as I can on whatever brand, model, or vintage motorcycle that I ride now. I’m a lifelong learner, especially in things that I like to do.”
Kim is not ashamed to admit that he Googles topics he’s not familiar with. “Google is there for everyone. It’s the total sum of human knowledge (accessible in) just a few clicks.”
Still, he recalled how he grew up in an era when libraries were wellsprings of knowledge as long as one knew where to look or how to figure out the Dewey Decimal System. “During our time, we would fall in line in the library to get a book to get one or two relevant paragraphs and then fall in line again to get another book for one or two paragraphs. Nowadays, if you want to learn about anything, just go to Google and everything is there.”
When he runs out of interesting facts to share, Kim supplements his digital forays by reading books and magazines, and finding interesting people to talk to. Whatever he does ends up sharing, he makes it a point that it is “something of value.”
“I’m very blessed to have been given three shows in GMA 7 that allow me to give out knowledge, ‘infotainment.’ I’m on television for God’s glory. There’s nothing that comes out of my mouth that’s not of value.” His co-hosts on Dapat Alam Mo! can attest to that.
“We are all God-fearing people but Kuya Kim is the one who spearheads the devotion by offering a prayer before the program airs,” said co-host Emil Sumangil. “Through these prayers, I enrich my spiritual value and wisdom.”
Their co-host Patricia Tumulak shared that Kim puts God first. “He always reminds us that the show is God’s and not ours, (and prays) that we think more of Him and less of us. He keeps us grounded and humble.”
Emil added that Kim is in touch with the masa. “Batang kalye siya. He considers and understands the plight of the viewers, their feelings and expectations, which is very important in order to perform very well.”
Patricia saw Kim as “Kuya ng Bayan” and said “he’s very generous in sharing his knowledge. He gives me life and work advice. We learn a lot from him — from trivia and life lessons to evangelism.”
Before he became nationally known as “Kuya Kim,” he initially trained to be a priest. His devotion to God is something that has likewise grown and flourished.
“I could die tomorrow but if you ask me what I want my legacy to be, I want people to know that when I lived, I touched many people and I brought them to God, and I gave glory to my God. This is my vocation. This is my passion. And this is my aspiration.”
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