KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — As the esports landscape in Malaysia reaches new heights, it has opened up opportunities for all, regardless of gender.
Meet Natasha Hashim or better known as Tashbunny, a freelance esport host and shoutcaster. She was awarded the esports host of the year at the first Malaysia Esports Awards 2023 held in January this year.
Natasha kickstarted her career by hosting a small Dota 2 LAN tournament at a local university in 2016. She has since gone on to host and shoutcast various gaming tournaments.
This includes local and international competitions such as Asean Games for Esports in 2016, Garena’s League of Legends Circuit Malaysia, PUBG Continental Series and the Valorant Convergence 2023.
She occasionally hosts her own watch party online for other online gaming tournaments, amassing a huge following through her streams. Natasha also does live in-game streaming for first person shooter game Valorant.
Despite her chatty persona, it has been an arduous journey for the 32-year-old and to finally get the recognition after eight years was nothing short of a dream realised.
“I’m extremely happy and I felt extremely validated because it's been such a long journey, it’s definitely a job that requires you to be a little bit more out there.
“It requires you to be a little bit more aggressive on where you place yourself in the eyes of the audience. It’s scary because half the time people love you and half the time they tend to be more critical of you.
“It’s been a very big learning curve for me. I’m thankful for everything good or bad, which led me to this moment that really validates everything I worked for the last eight years,” Natasha said.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Natasha, from having to take a break for about two years from live streaming due to exhaustion to finding the courage to get back in the industry.
She added that another downside of dealing with online audiences is the negative comments. Her best method is not to be fazed by it.
“For me, it doesn’t really bother me because I’m older and I understand that a lot of the players are younger, so they’re just kids.
“But I do understand for other girls, especially the younger ones, they might think the best thing to do is to call these players out or educate them. But most of the time, these people are educated, they just don’t want to learn.
“So it’s just best to report, block and mute and move on,” she said.
She pointed out that the gaming community is a friendly one, despite some bad apples. She admitted that on social media, there were a lot more misogynistic comments on her achievements.
After getting the host of the year award, some unsatisfied social media users bombarded her with hateful comments.
Although taken aback by some of the comments, Natasha felt that it’s best to focus her energy on planning her future instead of wasting it by arguing.
“In a way it made me stronger and in a way it taught me that what people think of you doesn’t matter, it’s what you think of yourself that matters.
“Because if you live just to please others, then you’ll never be enough because we just can’t please everyone,” she said.
