Beauty Pageants

When I was a little girl, my mum would sign me up for piano, art, dance and many others like any Singaporean parent would. Every parent wants the best for their children; I suppose she was trying to nurture some kind of talent in me.

I couldn’t be cultivated to be a musician. My music teacher kept knocking my head with his knuckles and called me Stupid. He also has cigarette breath and coughed so much, my mum fears he has TB. So I stopped learning, I didn’t even get any grade.

I couldn’t be cultivated to be an artist. Although I like art, I am neither patient nor neat. I’m just OK with art, but not exceptionally good. Still, my mum was proud of me and framed my stick figures.

I couldn’t be cultivated to be a dancer. Dance was not my passion (and I regret it now) either, as my dance teacher would complain to my mum that I’m such a lazy arse. I was enrolled in Chinese dance and I just wasn’t very interested in twirling cloths and fans, with a plastered smile with bright red lipstick.

I suspect my mum was trying to attain her aspirations through me. Things that has passed her age, things she’s always wanted to do but didn’t. Although a parent shouldn’t pressure a child into doing something that she doesn’t enjoy, I do think a parent should be the guide who helps a child realize her talent.

I wasn’t nurtured to be public speaker, I think I was born with a talented mouth (*wink*).

If my mum hadn’t signed me up for so many story-telling competitions….I wouldn’t have got over my stage fright and cultivated a skill where I can host on stage, give speeches and many more.

I never would have imagined I can be a Judo champion if not for my father who believed I should join the BEST extra curriculum activity in school. I still don’t think I have a talent in martial arts. I was simply TOO AFRAID TO BE DISFIGURED. There are parents who are overly enthusiastic on nurturing their child instead of allowing them to discover themselves, and there are parents who are too laid back that their child grows up with no focus and passion.

Mothers also like dolling their daughters up. It’s like a mini-me you see. They take pride when a stranger praises how pretty or how cute their child is. My mum gave up dolling me up because I was such a tom boy. I got into fights with boys instead of playing Barbie and House. Lace socks and lace skirts itches me, and if I had to wear them, I would lift my skirt up before I sit down. Just so the cool bench can touch my humid skin. My mum found that terribly un-ladylike so she resigns to getting me shorts that looked like skirts.

She did not buy me any fancy bags or cute shoes. Only on holidays, then will she buy me the occasional girlie trinklet. I like dolphins a lot when I was younger (because I imagined myself to be The Little Mermaid), so I had dolphin t-shirts, dolphin necklace, dolphin bracelets. I hate anything pink.

So I wasn’t nurtured into being a pageant runner. I found that out myself because I just like doing things different, collecting experiences and let’s face it, I WANT THE CASH PRIZE!!

Some other girls have other reasons....like....have courting Andy Lau (video in Mandarin, translation below.) She looked so emotional after her declaration, i wonder if Andy Lau was moved. The host also very sarcastic lah, so mean..make fun of people in a not-so-obvious way. I like! hahaha.

Host: “We have the next contestant to go up the stage. This contestant also has a story that people do not know yet. Please walk the runway.”
 Host: “There is a great idol in her heart. That is Andy Lau. She kept herself as pure as jade for him, participating in various beauty contests, she decided that she must let Andy Lau see her in order to achieve her dream.”

Contestant: “Hi everyone…”

Host: “Let me adjust the microphone for you. Ok please introduce yourself.”


Contestant: “Hi everyone, I am … Yanghong from Hubei. Appreciate the host giving me this opportunity. I want to tell everyone, I love you Andy Lau. I am in love with you for 20 years. I kept myself pure, I want you to be my man and lover, never get married till old and death, only you. I waited for you for 20 years. Thank you TVS New Silk Road Model Contest, thank you.”

Judge number 1: “From my experience I think her height is about 1.58 meters. I am only interested in people who are taller than 1.68 meters. I am not even going to look at people who are shorter than 1.68 meters.”

Host: “Is Andy Lau interested in people who are shorter than 1.68 meters?”

Judge number 2: “Everyone has their own idols however the idol also does not want his fans to be so far off from him. Andy Lau generally represents ‘sunshine’ kind of products. Right now you want Andy Lau too much, and in a depressed mood. Even if Andy Lau saw you he would not be happy. I hope you can be happier in your life and keep your dream and your idol at the bottom of your heart to encourage yourself. You are very brave that we all can agree…”

Host: “I think your courage is worth everyone to admire. I know Andy Lau watches TVS. If he ever watches this contest and sees you, maybe there is a slight hope. I think everyone is living for this dream and we all admire this contestant. Everyone please applause for encouragement. Thank you for joining us at the TVS New Silk Road Model Cont, thank you.”
Translated by www.chinahush.com

Alamak,i think the above video from Youku don't embed quite properly. Here's the link if you understand mandarin. Here's the screen grab if you're too lazy but want to know how she looks. (all so KPO right!LOL)

My first contest was NOKIA Engage. I can't rememebr what they were looking for. A promotional gimmick for the launch of their gaming phone.

 

The finals was at Junction 8, ddin't get anything out of it except for a free set of clothes (which we wear on stage) by Bods Bodynits.I'm the one croching in the middle, with black tank top.

 

The winner was the girl standing beside the girl showing off her armpit.

 

I styled myself leh! Since it's a gaming phone, i wanted to represent Lara Croft. Guess that wasn't enough to win me the title.

Then it was Ralph Lauren Cool Girl. ANOTHER marketing gimmick by the brand in search for an ambassador. Wannabes joined. I wasn't born tall, so i'm afraid this is the kind of contest standards i can get myself into.

There is a dance item where we practiced for. We got this outfit for free too, from cheapo This Fashion.

I wasn't the prettiest, i wasn't the most enthusiastic nor the most hardworking memorizing dance steps and Q&A answers. Many other girls wanted the crown alot more. I just went for....*shrug* i really don't know. It's not true that pageant girls are bitchy or selfish. Most are nice, regular girls but in every contest, consciously or not, ontestants will have their own strategies (be very friendly, and get everyone to like you and therefore it becomes your advantage) in winning.

I just went...and be myself. Which won me the crown! Which was really amazing. My moment of glory. Never thought i'd win anything.

But hor, the company very smart. The prizes i got in the end just turns back into publicity for them. I got a $2000 fragrance hamper (how i wish it was cash!), a 8 Days magazine shoot (which turned out very ugly in my opinion. Got a free bikini (from Isetan, $69 but really looked like This Fashion bikini), a Miss Sixty wrap skirt (but NOT my size!Keep already also no use, can't wear out. Only wear for shoot), and a cardboard (if only that surfboard was real).

Oh, and i also went on 98.7FM.

While you're a student, you should join these contests if it's your thing. They all need some level of commitment, so having that flexi schedule is handy.

My first pageant was Miss Singapore International. It's not as widely publicized as Miss Universe or Miss World, but it still has the name Singapore in it! Then, i was still a student and I love travelling. I wanted to go somewhere based on my own capability and not of my parents'. So i thought if i win, i can represent Singapore and at the same time go on a FREE holiday!

We all had the same UGLY SQ bun except for the last girl, who happens to be the Queen too (she had her hair down). I'm not sure if that's favouritism, but i'll give the benefit of the doubt that by the time it reached her turn, the hair stylist had NO TIME! But the Queen deserves her spot. She has the looks and brains. Also the most poised, AND TALLEST too. At this point, a giraffe comes into mind.

Don't remember much freebies, except a pair of Nu Balance shoes, and this PE attire (which is REALLY funny for us to be dancing in).

Oh, and this Arena swimsuit and a pair of sunglasses which my brother said made his head swim because of the fish bowl effect. AND a pair of glitzy heels, Charles and Keith i think.

I thought that would be my last, i was getting tired of the airy-fairy business. Until i saw Brands Beauty Star and my eyes lit up. This, by far WAS THE BEST PAGEANT I ever joined! Everyone was already a winner, seriously. We had weekends filled with LUXURIOUS activities leading up to the grand finals in BALI! The product was Brand's Bird Nest and it was just another promotional tool. I wasn't quite sure if they met their marketing objectives (because it was really just the 7 of us benefitting from it, and there wasn't media publicity), but it sure met mine!!

 

The first weekend, we went on a catered yatch with food from Ill Lido and attended a workshop on deportment and imaging. The next weekend, we went to Changi Village hotel for buffet lunch, yoga workshop AND a 90 minutes SPA!!

The final weekend, we went on our all-expenses paid trip to Bali!  

 

We were taken sight-seeing in Bali, and pampered in the 6 stars Intercontinental hotel. We each had our own spacious suite, it was an awesome virgin trip!

 

 

The winner was the lady in purple. A 38 year old mother. This was a more mature contest that had girls of all ages, it was alot more fun hanging out with these girls who weren't focused on winning. They were alot more sincere and real. It was as if we were living out of the SATC movie! Girlfriends, free holidays, glitzy fashion...

 

 

I didn't win the cash prize and a year supply of bird's nest, but like i said..already a winner with all the freebies!

 

Don't think they did it a second time round, too expensive! LOL. From a marketing point of view, i don't think it justifies the returns except that if the 7 of us were to ever buy bird's nest, we'll buy Brands? :P

Last year, i was nominated as FHM GND Top 100 which later i was offered Top 10 but i declined. I was the ONLY one on stage with my tummy covered. Like I said, be yourself. Last year, the competition didn't have the $10,000 bounty nor a car. So i decided it's not worth to strip.

My parents didn’t know that I entered some of these contests. I certainly did not want to give people the impression that I was a vain pot or a desperate wannabe which many people might judge pageant runners to be. Some of these perceptions are right, but you can’t say everyone is the same. Having my fair share of pageant experiences, I wouldn’t discourage my daughter from participating. On one condition, she has to be over 18.

I’ve seen mothers who dye their baby girl’s hair, style their baby boy with a Mohawk and even paint their nails. I wouldn’t want to expose them to chemicals at such a young age. At a young age, they’re easily influenced and impressionable that they might not know or truly understand the right values and morals.

I would have my child in such make-over pictures. Although it borderlines on being adult...

See the similarities? But i won't have my child in such make-over pictures...

Nor take Toddler's Pageant so seriously and as a full-time job.

This is a better documentary but embedding is disabled.

I'm not judging and i'd say each to her own, but the first thing that came to my mind was these overweight American mums want their daughters to live out their aspirations!

Quote worthy by one of the toddler's dads "THEY LOOK LIKE MIDGET PROSTITUTES!"

Hopping In Reverse

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2010 Elwin Goh. http://www.elwingoh.com

 
Can anyone be any more obvious?? While we were on shoot, a green saloon car drove past and then REVERSED back to check us out. Male driver, nonetheless.

More pictures coming up...

Aftershock- a guaranteed tear jerker.

I got the tickets from Omy.sg for the preview of Aftershock. Saw a lot of Mediacorp celebrities and they’re just as cheapskate as I am, going for free movies. Or maybe it’s an educational screening. They get to observe and learn how to cry convincingly, mucus and all.

There’re a few genres that Asian movie making is better than Hollywood.

1) Kung Fu (for obvious reasons)
2) Horror (asian ghost are just A LOT scarier than the ang moh ones)
3) Disaster (although their CGI cannot be compared to the Westerners technology)

Aftershock is NOT another disaster flick (2012 was an utter disappointment), it is about what comes after. The drama between a mother and her daughter. Based on the tragic true story of 1976 Tangshan earthquake. This was the largest earthquake of the 20th century, killing 240,000 people and injuring 164,000.

The first drop of tear rolled when I felt SO GRATEFUL that I am born in Singapore. A place free from natural disasters, how lucky I am to be born here. Singaporeans should stop complaining about Singapore being boring, so-and-so is not doing a good job etc etc. Look, we can walk on the streets safely after 10pm, we remain ignorant as to what to do in emergencies, we have a well-connected transport system, there’s so many other reasons I love Singapore for!

It took decades for Tangshan to rebuilt itself after the disaster. Till today, locals who have loved ones lost in the earthquake still mourns for them at the memorial. A friend from China revealed that there were TOO MANY dead bodies to excavate in the recent Sze Chuan earthquake that the government now build OVER these dead bodies. If you were to stand afar on a hill top, you can see the uneven grounds, a chill washes over you.

The second tear rolled when I felt ASHAMED that I haven’t done enough to help the less fortunate. Many years ago, I remembering writing here on this blog that I vow to put in at least $2 every time I pass by a student asking for donation. I did that for a while, and then I became a miser and started waving them off, avoiding their path, dodging them even. Especially when I am eyeing for another new dress or pair of shoes. I am fortunate to be blessed with my limbs intact, my senses working. I am blessed to have a job, a happy family and money to indulge in occasional luxuries. What is $2 every once in awhile I encountered those tin cans on the street? So many people walk pass them, dodging like I did. Imagine when an earthquake happens with no warning, you could be bathing, or you could be sleeping naked. What is a new dress (when i have plenty) compared to someone else who has none? Some people second guess the funds end point of how it will be utilized. But does it really matter? What if it DOES go to the beneficiary in question? I’m not suggesting that you be fool hardy, there are conmen out there who makes use of a human’s good nature. But that shouldn’t deter you from making any donation.

The third tear rolled when the mother in Aftershock was informed by the rescue team that, as her 7-year old twins are buried under the debris close to each other, digging one out would result in further collapse of the wreckage on the other, she is forced to make the most difficult decision of her life. As the clock ticked away, she finally ended her struggle and chose to save the boy. The mother shamefully whispered to save the boy, but still, the girl overheard. Sons are valued in the Chinese culture. The boy carries the family name, whilst the daughter is seen to be given away when she marries.

Being Chinese myself, it has created much pain and hurt during my childhood. My parents weren’t staunch in following their Chinese culture and provided me with the best they could. However, many times I felt my mum favoured my brothers more than me in our childhood. They had chicken drumsticks, while I had none. They had their school shoes washed for them, yet I washed my own. They did no household chores, while I did all. They got what they want, while I had to work for what I want. My mum often said when I protest the unfairness, “You ARE THE GIRL. That’s why.”

Now that I’ve grown up, I am thankful for the discipline. It has made me stronger, independent and capable. I can cook, clean and do a whole lot more. Besides, being a girl has its advantages. Don't have to pay for the man on dates!My mother has realised her mistake in inequality and it creates hurt whenever I remind her in anger of my childhood. So my tears rolled when the mother in Aftershock chose the son over the daughter. Although it doesn’t mean she loved the daughter ANY LESS.


The flood gates finally opened towards the end of the movie. When the daughter reunites with her family after holding the grudge for 32 years. I believe it’s something that I have to seek as well.

Strength, courage and forgiveness.

P.S Wear waterproof mascara or risk coming out like a Panda.
P.P.S Not only will there be waterworks, there'll be water of another sort too. So do empty your bladder as it's a rather long film.

Verdict: 5 Kleenex/ 5 Kleenex

Laugh Monday Blues Away

So the story goes :


Shannon the Secretary has lost her cat and has asked David the Graphic Designer to help with a ‘lost cat’ poster.
This is their email correspondence…

From: Shannon Walkley

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 9.15am

To: David Thorne

Subject: Poster

Hi


I opened the screen door yesterday and my cat got out and has been missing since then so I was wondering if you are not to busy you could make a poster for me. It has to be A4 and I will photocopy it and put it around my suburb this afternoon.

This is the only photo of her I have she answers to the name Missy and is black and white and about 8 months old. missing on Harper street and my phone number.
Thanks Shan.

From: Shannon Walkley

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 9.37am

To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Re: Poster

yeah ok thanks. I know you dont like cats but I am really worried about mine. I have to leave at 1pm today.

From: David Thorne

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.17am

To: Shannon Walkley

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Poster


Dear Shannon,


I never said I don’t like cats. Attached poster as requested.


Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.24am

To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster


yeah thats not what I was looking for at all. it looks like a movie and how come the photo of Missy is so small?

From: David Thorne

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.28am

To: Shannon Walkley

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster


Dear Shannon,


It’s a design thing. The cat is lost in the negative space.


Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.33am
To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

That’s just stupid. Can you do it properly please? I am extremely emotional over this and was up all night in tears. you seem to think it is funny. Can you make the photo bigger please and fix the text and do it in colour please. Thanks.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.46am

To: Shannon Walkley

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,


Having worked with designers for a few years now, I would have assumed you understood, despite our vague suggestions otherwise, we do not welcome constructive criticism. I don’t come downstairs and tell you how to send text messages, log onto Facebook and look out of the window. I have amended and attached the poster as per your instructions.


Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.59am

To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster


This is worse than the other one. can you make it so it shows the whole photo of Missy and delete the stupid text that says missing missy off it? I just want it to say Lost.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 11.14am

To: Shannon Walkley

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Mon! day 21 June 2010 11.21am

To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

yeah can you do the poster or not? I just want a photo and the word lost and the telephone number and when and where she was lost and her name. Not like a movie poster or anything stupid. I have to leave early today. If it was your cat I would help you. Thanks.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 11.32am
To: Shannon Walkley

Subject: Awww

Dear Shannon,


I don’t have a cat. I once agreed to look after a friend’s cat for a week but only after he dropped it off at my apartment and explained the concept of kitty litter. I have att ached the amended version of your poster as per your detailed instructions.


Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 11.47am

To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Awww

Thats not my cat. where did you get that picture from? That cat is orange. I gave you a photo of my cat.

From: David Thorne

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 11.58am

To: Shannon Walkley

Subject: Re! : Re: Awww

I know, but that one is cute. As Missy has quite possibly met any one of several violent ends, it is possible you might get a better cat out of this. If anybody calls and says “I haven’t seen your orange cat but I did find a black and white one with its hind legs run over by a car, do you want it?” you can politely decline and save yourself a costly veterinarian bill.


Regards, David.


From: Shannon Walkley

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.07pm

To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Awww

Please just use the photo I gave you.

From: David Thorne

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.22pm
To: Shannon Walkley

Sub! ject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.34pm

To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

I didnt say there was a reward. I dont have $2000 dollars. What did you even put that there for? Apart from that it is perfect can you please remove the reward bit. Thanks Shan.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.42pm

To: Shannon Walkley

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

From: Shannon Walkley

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.51pm

To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

Can you just please take the reward bit off altogether? I have to leave in ten minutes and I still have to make photocopies of it.

From: David Thorne

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.56pm

To: Shannon Walkley

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

From: Shannon Walkley

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 1.03pm

To: David Thorne

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

Fine. That will have to do.

Omy,Oh My.

Before the blog awards, i've never heard of Omy (except taking the free daily paper occassionally). Because of the blog awards, it has opened up many more opportunities for me to dabble in! One of which, to blog on their platform, joining local celebrities like Jack Neo and others.  

I'm really really honoured to be offered this spot. Thereafter, Omy very 关照我. It's certainly a media to stick with! Here's my blog look over there.

SMELLS LIKE FACEBOOK.

Label me Not.

You know what they say, like mother like daughter. I inherited my pose-y genes from my mum.
Just the other day, she showed me these pictures and said “it’s not only you who have OK!”

Now that her youth is gone, she has lost her vainty in posing, she is at a loss of how to pose. But we saw alittle bit of that revived in our recent Japan holiday pictures. After all, she has to show who's the MOTHER not? LOL.

This is our first every mother-daughter make-over picture taken in 2005. Overly photo shopped, we both looked weird.

This one, with zero photo shop. I like my tan.

 

And you know how does my very first make-over picture look like? It makes me cringe.

Nubile not? Haha. So you see, even I can look rather different from before and now, so really people should stop judging and assume girls who look different from before and after definitely has some plastic surgery done. Like I said, there ARE temporary beauty enhancements available. That being said, even if Dawn Yang or KK has plastic surgery done, SO WHAT?? They’re not my personal friends but I find them gorgeous, although that kinda makes me inferior sometimes because girls like them are getting closer and closer to being perfect yet I giggle when I think that any man who marries someone who is overly spliced, imagine the shock he gets when their baby come out. Where did the pretty genes go?? *snicker*

So anyway, I know people label me as a model, but seriously I don’t call myself a model. My profession is NOT a model. I’ve mentioned it before here. Got to admit, I am judgmental sometimes. I look down on girls who put FULL TIME MODEL as their profession. Why do they have to proclaim although they’re a student but they’re also a model? And girls who really do full-time model, why don’t they just put UNEMPLOYED when they’re not as famous as Hanis Hussey, a Singaporean who had a 2 year contract with Yves Saint Laurent, and went on to model for Givenchy, Dior etc.


Being a model is all about luck and having the body of a clothes hanger really. I don’t think Hanis is as gorgeous as say VS’s angels, but she had the luck to be discovered by Dick Lee at Lucky Plaza back in the 1980s (perhaps her clothes hanger figure stood out) and she had the wits, mind and attitude to make that career work for her, becoming an international name. That, to me, is a model. You can rightfully and proudly put on your name card, application forms and immigration forms.

If you’ve taken pictures with Club Snap, that’s not a model but a person who loves being snapped. If you’ve done car shows and events, that’s not a model but a promoter.

There’s nothing wrong with engaging in such activities and taking pretty pictures. I have hundreds of said pictures. After all, they immortalize my youth, but I absolutely do NOT have the audacity to proclaim I am a model!

Some people know they got it, so they flaunt it. Many girls dream of being famous one day, and although I wasn’t desperately hankering for fame, I admit I did dream of being a model (jet setting lifestyle, beautiful clothes, working when I want etc.)

When I was 14, I got “recruited” along the streets of Orchard by Shine agency. I was young, and inexperienced. I went to their office and they praised me of my features, it was all very flattering. Then came the sales pitch. They need me to PAY for a portfolio. They need me to pay for the catwalk classes. I might be inexperienced, but I could smell a rat a mile away. I wondered why I had to pay when you “discovered” me? Is that how it works? I gave it the benefit of the doubt, after all, I have never encountered such situations. So I gave up my hard earned savings in exchange for the agency’s composite cards that they asked me to do. That’s how my FIRST make-over photo came about. I’m not sure if it’s the change in times that my make-over pictures look A LOT BETTER now, or that was just sub-standard work.


Ever since that experience, I have NEVER paid for any pictures, or done any sort of portfolio again. SHINE did promise work after I am armed with a portfolio for them to market me, but it didn’t come with a disclaimer that you still have to go for castings, still compete with EXPERIENCED models etc. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t dabble with agencies, or that anyone who asks you to pay for a portfolio, you immediately label them as a cheat. After all, it HAS to start somewhere right? So pay to get a portfolio done if you’ve never had make-over pictures taken. It is something to keep and remember your youth anyway.

What I absolutely LOATHE are the agencies who “recruit” me and after I told them, I have my own set of pictures that I can give it them to use and stamp their branding over, they said…OH WE DON”T DO THAT. IN ANY SANE MIND, WHAT SENSE DOES THAT MAKE??? It’s so bloody obvious that they are then just milking you for that portfolio fee!! It’s not like they’ve already SEEN MY PICTURES, and then give me reasonable comments like “ Oh, this won’t work because so and so. Or we need better lighting, studio pictures etc.” Model agencies take commission after models clinched a job, that’s where they should earn the dough. Or collect school fees if people come to sign up, WITHOUT ANY HARD SELL.

Eventually, SHINE did give me calefare jobs like being a commuter in an EZ-Link commercial. ONE job, and I never heard from them again. Earned back half of what I paid. Didn’t dare tell my mum because she will scold me for wasting money and building sandcastles in the air.

At 15, I got lucky. I was talent-spotted at a TEENS magazine fair in now defunct Exhibition Center. Now, that was for real. It’s all about being at the right, place the right time and meeting the right people. That was where I had my picture taken professionally a second time. It was an advertorial for a hair/make up salon. These are the RAW images.

 

 

Pastry white, look like ghost leh! Red top some more. Think the stylist was thinking of the horror movie the night before.

When I hit puberty, skin got very bad. Was demoralized, got fat (52 kg) due to snacking during lectures to stay awake, but was a student ambassador for NP so I helped them take catalogue pictures.

 

 

Then i was in some Ch 5 programme. Friends of Carlsberg. I think i am fat.

Then the BIGGEST job came when I was 19. I wasn’t attached to any agency, didn’t pay for any portfolio done (in fact used the pictures I got from the hair ad in TEENS), and got cast for VISA.

And the rest trickle in very slow, super slow. Raffles Country Club, Ciba Vision, DOLCE etc.That’s because I was NEVER a full-time model, I don’t go for castings all day. I have an office job.

Only recently I found that it is my right to request for any professional photos taken of me, even if I am paid. But sadly, it seems like Singapore’s industry don’t practice it. So I never saw some of the ads nor do I have any as keepsake.

So you see, you can count the number of paid jobs I have as a talent. It’s not comparable AT ALL to model Hanis. I am flattered I am labeled a model by some people, but really if you must know, I am NOT a model. But I don’t mind doing “modeling” stuff, if I get shopping money out of it. It is after all a grey line, and who knows I still might get famous some day. :)

Check out this funny music video dissing model wannabes. Watch it before it gets taken off Youtube again! The song is ACTUALLY nice, but i'm not so sure if his dance moves are attractive ;p