Chantelle Chuah

Miss International 2010 Day 13 & 14

2010-11-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Dujiang Yan to visit the ancient irrigation system which has been built BC 265 and the victims who got affected by the earth quake two years ago. Then it was live forum on Chengdu TV.

Today we just had a group bikini shoot and Tomorrow, we'll be starting our rehearsals for the Finals.

Miss International 2010 Day 12

2010-11-02T02:34:00.000-07:00

Today we went to visit Chengdu's old street that's over two hundred years old. We got to witness later after that 32 pairs of newly weds. We took turns to be their bride's maid.

Tomorrow we will visit the earthquarke place that took the world by storm back in 2008 before our forum.

Miss International 2010 Day 11

2010-11-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to Jin Sha museum, then parading in Chengdu City then follow by show at night time.

Tomorrow, we are visiting villages again.

Pls vote for Miss Malaysia
http://www.cdtv.cn/list1.php?catid=1052

The web sites only allowed 1 vote in 30 minutes

Miss International 2010 Day 10

2010-11-01T01:34:00.000-07:00

Today we went to visit sponsors. Parading and visiting sponsors. Tomorrow will have more activities. Stay tune.

Pls vote for Miss Malaysia
http://www.cdtv.cn/list1.php?catid=1052

The web sites only allowed 1 vote in 30 minutes

I need all the votes you can provide me with!

Miss International 2010 Day 9

2010-10-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

Today we went to visit ancient town. Our group was selected to be shoot for a TV programme to be aired across Asia. Then i was chosen to attend the Audi opening event.

Tomorrow, we will be visiting some places. Warning, a lot of photos from here on! :D

Miss International 2010 Day 8

2010-10-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

Today we went to visit unfortunate kids and then the dinosaur park. Tomorrow, we are going to visit ancient town of Chengdu then I am selected to attend the Audi car launching.

Enjoy the pictures, Keep you updated with my latest activities.

Miss International 2010 Day 7

2010-10-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Today is quite a relaxing and easy day. Just completed my shoot with the chinese and japanese media (TV station and papers).
Tomorrow is gonna be a hectic one. Will be visiting kids that need plastic surgery on their face and then a visit to the dinosaur park.

Keep u updated.

Miss International 2010 Day 6

2010-10-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the panda base followed by chinese calligraphy and then a visit the Chengdu village where we get to participate in activities kuje riding bicycle, making sticky rice and soya bean)

Tomorrow will be a day of photo shooting then a well needed rest day =)

Miss International 2010 Day 4 & 5

2010-10-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Chengdu fortress and we were at a beauty talk. Nothing much happened other than that.

Today we went to the ladies shoe city and interchange with university students.

Tomorrow we will be visiting Chengdu base. Thanks for the support and enjoy the photos! :D

Miss International 2010 Day 3 Part 2

2010-10-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

Today is a lil busy. National costume on Chengdu TV station @ LIVE, the official welcome party.

Tomorrow is just going to be more relax. Visiting village at Chengdu then sponsors.

Miss International 2010 Day 3 part 1

2010-10-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

We just reached Chengdu. Tonight is going to be our official welcome ceremony. It's a red carpet event and will be aired LIVE on more than one TV station in China. Stay Tune!

Miss International 2010 Day 2

2010-10-27T06:43:00.000-07:00

My second day at Miss International 2010 was great. Visited Shanghai Expo, kids at school and Welcome party and openning for Miss Paris (beauty parlour)

Tomorrow we will be flying to Chengdu and then meeting with the press. I am meeting lotsa pretty and stunning everyday =) you should come and join me here .... hehe....

Miss International Day 1

2010-10-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today is arrival day. No formal activities and we are staying in Shanghai at the Wyndham Grand Hotel.

Tomorrow we are gathering at 5:30 am to visit Shanghai Expo then visit charity organisations then attend a welcome party.

Enjoy my pictures...

With the right pair of heels, she can conquer the world...

2010-10-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

How does a girl do that? Look no further, Christy Ng shoes are here!

Incase you are wondering who Christy Ng is, she is none other then my favorite shoe designer! Not only is she the brains behind the uber sexy shoe collection I have my hands on, Christy has one of THE hottest shoe collections I have ever laid my eyes on.

From the sultry 5 inch stilettos that I walk the runway in, to the very comfortable pair of 4 inch wedges I wear with my favorite pair of denim jeans - I always have something special to add a little hollywood glamour to my outfits! Thanks Christy!

Being a compulsive shoe-holic myself, all I can say is Christy Ng is SHOE HEAVEN!
Well, look at the sassy pictures and you will absolutely and completely understand why I am saying so :-

These Golden Escapes!

A really good pair of heels can make a huge difference on your outfit. The extra half an inch is vital as it can make an impact on your overall appearance. The best thing about Christy Ng Shoes is that they come with a built in hidden platform! This gives added comfort and stability. If the heel is 5 inches high, the 1.5 inch platform will help distribute your body weight evenly and not strain your feet as much.

T- Strap Gladiators!

Bejeweled by Christy Ng Creations!

Christy Ng is one of the more innovative shoe designers I've met so far. Not only does she sells hollywood inspired heels, she also has her own very custom made line! What she does here basically is customize shoes upon special requests. Her custom made shoe line is fit for a queen. You can have freedom to decide what colors,materials and heel height you want. They come in handy when you have a red carpet event you would like to attend, weddings or very important functions.

Happily ever after white heels!

Simple, yet designed to perfection.

It's official. Welcome to Shoe Heaven!

www.facebook.com/ChristyNgShoes

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Christy and her team for all the lovely heels sponsored!

Publish Post

Zouk Nights

2010-09-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

Phuture on 25 September 2010

Johnnie Walker Black Circuit Lunge

2010-09-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

The venue - Swedish Marque in KL

When Johnnie Walker throws a party, they really know how to pull out all the stops! This time around, the second Black Circuit Lounge of 2010 was held on 28 August 2010 at the Swedish Marque (which on normal days is a Volvo showroom).

This stylish, sophisticated and exclusive event was heralded by many as the party of the year and saw KL’s A-listers and socialites grace the red carpet.

Mike Yip and I at the photowall

Malaysia’s Hottest Bloggers Katherine Ng, Erica Ting and myself were given first class treatment from the moment we stepped out of their car with complimentary valet service being the first of many services. Then it was over to the registration booth where the gorgeous Johnnie Walker girls were waiting to fix us up with a gold coated bangle which was the ‘access pass’ to the exclusive event. The first 100 guests of the night were lucky enough to received a bottle of limited edition Johnnie Walker Black Label Centurion bottles and photographer Michael Yip was one of them.

DJ Havana Brown - sexy!

Stepping inside the lounge itself we were greeted by elegantly dressed ‘butlers’ serving delicious chocolates as well special Johnnie Walker cocktails. A few more steps in and there were more ‘butlers’ serving delicious finger food and a bar with two lovely Johnnie Walker girls teaching guests the different ways to enjoy the scotch whisky.

Further inside the lounge was homegrown DJ Goldfish who gave an electrifying opener doing what he does best. Next on stage was one of the top DJs in Singapore; Andrew T of The Butter Factory. But the highlight of the night had to be when the STUNNING Havana Brown took to the decks and oozed out the latest mix compilation of the hottest dance, Hip Hop and R&B tracks that got the discerning crowd cheering and the dance floor pumping.

With Reshmonu, Chermaine Poo, Tim Chew and Sam

With Cellnique marketing manager Lavinne

With Kat Ng, Dawn Yang and Erica Ting

Here's the official video from Johnnie Walker.

Great party by Johnnie Walker! Can't wait for the next one!

Appearing on The Star Spotlight

2010-08-25T23:32:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was featured in an article writen in The Star. Here's a Scan of the article.

You can read the article through the The Star's Online Page here.

The ugly truth: Fame VS Money

2009-12-17T00:08:00.000-08:00

Being a model/celebrity might be a glamorous occupation as perceived by the public. However, riches and fame do not necessary come to all models/celebrities. Not everyone can be Naomi Campbell or have Madonna's fairy tale story. The journey to become a top model/celebrity is harder without some reserves in the bank. This is because working as a model/celebrity, you have to be prepared that the business opportunities are not consistent. You may need to be ready that you might not have bookings for weeks, or even months!

(Paris Hilton)

The next question that pops into our minds is; how can these models/celebrities survive in this tough competition? Well, there are a few ways to keep models/celebrities competitive in the modeling/entertainment scene. Either these models/celebrities are born rich like Paris Hilton, or they have tons of savings in their bank account! For those models/celebrities who come from a normal family and wish to stay competitive in the entertainment industry, most of them will find a sugar daddy to pump in money for them.

(Naomi Campbell)

As a model/celebrity, they may do a lot of PR work to publicized themselves and stay in the lime light, however, this PR work will not necessarily be remunerated. The return of this time invested on PR related work may or may not be visible in the near future and is not measured by money. The hope d return is measured in future fame (Something that is not easily measured).Money is what we need to pay our daily bills! Some models/celebrities might even throw parties and spend on entertaining on their potential clients. People might not know that those money is coming out from these models/celebrities own pocket to organize these lavish parties!

(Madonna)

Models and celebrities might look glamorous from the outside look, however, their level of fame for money is unjustifiable! Unless they are consistently working in the lime light, these names have no substance! They are just vain repetitions.

(Anna Nicole Smith)

Talents are needed to sustain and extend the shelf life of these models/celebrities fame. Either models/celebrities know how to play politics to stay on top of their games, or they have reserves and funds to back them up to keep up their fame in the entertainment industry. If these models/celebrities are not well-equipped with these two important attributes, then they can be eliminated at anytime! This is because they are not competitive enough in the tough entertainment business world.

(Mariah Carey)

Models/celebrities are going after scarce resources of media coverage and sponsorships. That is why to stay on top of these games, models/celebrities are expected to do a lot more and have enough reserves in the bank!

JESSIE CHANTELLE CHOCOLATES

2009-12-14T04:05:00.000-08:00

After my appearances in 8TV Night Live Chat about JessieChantelle Chocolate and MACP (as one of the sponsors), Jessie Chantelle Chocolate is now commercialized. For Order, please call (012 5020195)

JESSIE CHANTELLE CHOCOLATES
1) Jessie Chantelle Premium

Description:

Rich chocolate sprinkled with nuts with creamy dark chocolate filling with whole almond. The taste 'travels' adventurishly in your mouth.

Box of six pieces: RM12-90

2) Jessie Chantelle Savour

Description:

Rich chocolate sprinkled with chopped almonds. It's a nutty revolution in a chocolate sense.

Box of Six: RM10-90

3) Jessie Chantelle MonAmore

Description:

Wafer thin rich chocolate sprinkled with sliced and chopped almond. You can't stop wanting more.

Box of ten pieces: RM9-90

FHM GIRL NEXT DOOR FINALISTS AT MALAYA OPTICAL

2009-12-12T10:32:00.000-08:00

It is the time of the year again and I am not talking about yuletide or Christmas festivity. FHM is in the throes of finally giving its Girl Next Door (GND) 2010 title. Medical graduate Jezamine Lim won the 2009 title. Recently the 12 finalists visited Malaya Optical to get useful information about the healthy and safe use of contact lenses and being given some guides on frames and shades by eyewear stylist and designer, Ryan Ho. Malaya Optical is one of the sponsors for GND. As I happen to blog for Malaya Optical, I was there to help to brief about Malaya Optical to the GND finalists. .

The girls started to arrive at 2pm and eventually most were present by 3pm. They could not resist trying on the range of new eyewear products at the display shelf. As eyewear products are part of lifestyle accessories, FHM magazine sees it appropriate to have Malaya Optical to be a sponsor.

Eye tests are conducted on the girls as part of the visit and prescriptions given. The girls are then paired up so that photographs of them are taken holding and wearing eye wear products. They looked trendy and stylish with the latest eye wear designs. This was among the many occassions when the finalists and representatives from FHM could meet again and catch up.

Being experienced in several pageants and beauty competitions and having won a title, I was given the honour of giving tips and encouragement to the finalists. As any contestant who joins competitions, all the girls are hopeful of doing well in GND. Some of the enterprising ones among the finalists could use the opportunity to learn from the experience and to build their networking. The eventual winner may find doors opening for her as far as opportunities are concerned. But ultimately, it is what she will do to better herself and and to build her talents and have what it takes in order to be successful and have a longer shelf life in the industry some of the previous winners ended up in, and that is the entertainment industry.

WHAT AILS THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?

2009-12-06T03:55:00.000-08:00

Recently, I felt privileged to be given the honour of being among the celebrities to be an award presenter at Malaysian Authors' Copyright Protection (MACP) accolade dinner. MACP is a non-profit organization whose main functions are to license the users of music (radio and television stations, nightclubs, concert halls, etc) and undertake to pay the songwriters and publishers when their works are broadcast and publicly performed. Today MACP has a membership of over 2,400 and has in its control and ownership in excess of 50,000 pieces of local musical works.
In addition, with reciprocal agreements with other foreign performing rights societies, MACP also represents more than two million international composers, lyricists and publishers and controls for Malaysia in excess of 12 million pieces of musical works from all over the world.

Top celebrities and top guns in the entertainment industry were among the guests at the dinner function. Performers included Atilia, Nora and Francesca Peters.

(Jessie Chantelle Chocolate)

There was a video spoof on the ailing music industry which blamed downloads was projected on the screen. This aspect of the night that caught my attention. The video was funny which had the audience in stitches. But on a more serious tone, the music industry, not only locally but also internationally is experiencing bad times with very much reduced sales. The industry has become a victim of innovation in technology.

During those days when we get to hear songs by buying CDs at retail stores, the industry was plagued by music piracy where unscrupulous businessmen produced songs on CDs without paying for copyright. This act was rampant and pirated CDs could be seen being sold at night markets and shopping complexes. Raids by police and enforcement agencies were carried out but it was a futile effort.

Most recently, another form of malady plaguing the music industry is file sharing or illegal music downloads on the internet. Since the days of Napster, music listening or procuring and the music industry have never been the same. Music industry bosses endlessly complain about lost sales due to the illegal downloads.

(Ahmad Izham Omar - 8TV Boss posing with JessieChantelle Chocolate)

But is this true? Where did the money go to in spending? It does not mean illegal downloading of music caused the fall in sales in music business. According to a study in UK money used to be spent by youngsters on music has gone to other items, namely games, DVD or DVD rentals. One would rather spend on games that can will last weeks rather than on a CD with two great tracks and eight dud ones. I think the real discretion in spending is choosing the game and downloading the two tracks.

(Nor Fatimah - Award winning composer/singer posing with JessieChantelle Chocolate)

It seems not everybody in the music industry is hurt by the file sharing phenomenon. Musicians and composers, especially the 'experimental or cutting edge' ones would like to get their music out there fast in the form of sampling without listeners incurring costs.

There seems to be many and endless debates on file sharing or illegal downloads of music which is among the many factors blamed for the problem that ails the music industry.

MONEY or L.O.V.E?

2009-12-01T00:55:00.000-08:00

I might get disapproval from the girls who deny that they are “gold diggers”. Is finding a rich boyfriend every girl's dream? Deep down in every girl’s heart, they are looking for a man who they can depend on the rest of their lives. The ugly truth is that girls look for a rich boyfriend to survive in this competitive capitalist world. With a rich boyfriend, these girls can own as many GUCCI, PRADA and Louis Vuitton as they want! Sounds like the key way to success in girls’ lives is to find a rich boyfriend!

WAGS (Wives and Girlfriends for the high profile footballers in UK) is a good example of how these girls' lives changed since they became girlfriends of these filthy rich footballers. Coleen Rooney (wife of Wayne Rooney) and Cheryl Cole of Girls Aloud (Wife of Ashley Cole) are the prime examples of WAGS. Heather Mills, an ex model and an active charity campaigner proves that she can live like a Queen after she married Sir Paul McCartney. Her high profile divorce with Paul McCartney made her earn millions.

Zooming into the Asian celebrity scene, China's sweethearts – Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Reis are examples of celebrities dating rich older guys. After dating Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon, Isabella Leong turned into the luckiest girl in Asia. Due to having a child with him she probably will never work another day for the rest of her life. From the above examples, we observe that most models and actresses date rich men. My question is: do modern girls date guys for money or L.O.V.E?

From my traveling experiences and being a model for quite a while, I discovered that most girls would rather choose a guy who can support them materially than L.O.V.E. Again this DOES NOT APPLY TO EVERY CASE. Deep down in every girl’s heart, finding a rich boyfriend to depend on is the easiest to settle the problems in their lives.

Should girls choose their boyfriends based on their bank accounts or the innate qualities of a guy? It is difficult to judge a person's character in a short period of time. However, by just looking at a person's bank account to determine whether you are going to spend the rest your of life with them is definitely shallow! From the past, we know that some beauty queens and top models will only marry filthy rich guys, and most high-profile marriages typically last for a maximum of 10 years. Is this an omen? A forewarning if you will?

I personally think girls should choose the quality of a man over the material assets of a man. I know that each person's opinion on characteristics of a man is totally subjective. However, it is essential to understand that compatibility with your loved one is of the utmost importance because this will determine your level of happiness for the entirety of your life! Happiness is definitely worth more than material value. A girl may be married to a guy who virtually owns Japan for the material benefits but if that same man is of low moral character his money can afford not only you but other girlfriends and mistresses as well. So girls, keep that in mind as you choose between a life of luxury, empty emotions and fake, shallow romance, or a life full of warm love from a man who will give you everything he owns and his heart to go along with it.

Thus my conclusion is: seeking a man for his wealth is equal to looking for a short-term husband or boyfriend who is not concerned for your long-term welfare. Girls should choose to maintain a long-term relationship with their life partner over a fleeting phase of escaping their temporary problems!

Stay tuned for the next installment: Why is rich daddy a sugar daddy anyway?

The secret to MAGICAL EYES

2009-11-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Why are contact lenses getting more important? Mainly because contact lenses give definition, related to persons emotions by creating a more confident outlook. With the confidence from within, one will act sexier!

From the styling perspective, why is wearing contact lenses necessary? Models wear contact lenses to give sparkle and enhance the look of the eyes. Most importantly, contact lenses give slight dryness and whenever you blink your eye, the blinking will bring sparkle to your eyes. Also, working as a model, shooting under the sun or UV lamps to enhance the ambiance of the photo shoot is inevitable. However, there is a price to pay for the glamorous moment. Being excessively exposed to UV rays during shoot will cause cataract earlier in life. Cataract opacities turn gray, dull and yellow earlier due to the constant exposure to UV lamps. Contact lenses help provide protection against UV rays.

Personally, having worn contact lenses for almost ten years, I think that brown is the colour best suited for the Asian eyes. Trust me Ladies, Brown contact lenses will definitely enhance your look as a whole. I always use sexy Brown from Malaya Optical. I am very comfortable using contact lenses from Malaya Optical because the contact lenses that Malaya Optical sell are designed to fit specially to enhance Asian eyes. Contact lenses from Malaya Optical are very reasonable at only RM 25 per month, but with the minimum purchase of 3 months.

Slit Lamp

The slit lamp is an ophthalmic equipment that consists of a high-intensity light source that can be focused to shine as a slit.

At Malaya Optical, a slit lamp is utilized to optimize the fit of the contact lenses, because wearing contact lenses is just like wearing a piece of dress. If it is too tight it will hurt your eyes by causing Bulbar Conjunctiva (red eye). Long term, blood vessels that appear will never go away and get thicker, and instead of having a big white beautiful eyes, you will have blood-shot eyes.

Another important thing is the hygiene factor when you are wearing your contact lenses. If you do not take good care of your hygiene, this will easily cause Eye Ulcers. Did you leave your contact case in the toilet? Or is your contact casing wet? Research had shown that there will be less bacteria growth in dry casing compared to wet casing. You should check your eyes to reduce the chances of getting Eye Ulcers. You can get your eyes checked through a slit lamp at Malaya Optical because the professional optometrist, Ryan Ho and his fleet of Optometrists will be able to evaluate and assess the severity of the condition using the Efron grading scale. Please refer http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/grading+scale

Since 1957, Malaya Optical aspires to give the best in its service based on experience. The optometrist consultant will check curvature of your eyes and determine the best fit contact lenses as each individual eye differs in base curve and diameter. Following that, they will check you using the slit lamp to observe the health of your eyes before recommending the contact lenses to wear. (corneal health assessment)

Did you know that in Klang Valley, only 90 plus are registered with AMO (Association of Malaysian Optometrist)? Malaya Optical is different than other optical shops, since others will charge for consultant fees due to their technical expertise in assessing your eyes. You will be impressed with Malaya Optical's level of service and consultation provided. Their clientele includes public figures such as royalties and celebrities and their clients are referred by ophthalmologists. Ryan Ho, is a well-qualified optometrist and one can be confident of the service that he renders. Whoever reads my blog and able to mention my name to the optometrists in Malaya Optical will get a free eye check from them!

Malaya Optical is having their Year End Promotion, which is, "The first 100 readers of Chantelle Chuah's blog to send an email containing their Full Name, Address, IC Number to promotion@malayaoptical.com will receive a Prescription Lenses Voucher WORTH RM150."

Malaya Optical

71, SS21/37 Damansara Utama Petaling Jaya

Near HSBC Uptown

Long hours 10.30am to 9pm Mon-Fri

Sat 11am-7pm and Sun 11am- 4pm

The correlation between beauty pageant and plastic surgery

2009-11-14T02:00:00.000-08:00

Physical Beauty the key criteria in beauty pageants; which means that physical appearances are the key factor to win a beauty pageant. That is why looks are everything! Girls need to be pretty on every occasion. These pageant girls are either going to look great in their inch-thick make-up or some girls prefer to go for plastic surgery. These girls are doing these “beautifying processes” with one reason on their mind, to stand out among other girls and be the winner of the beauty pageant!

There are many critics of beauty contests arousing the “man made beauty” topic. Should girls with plastic surgery on their body be allowed in beauty pageants? As I mentioned, looks are everything in a beauty pageant. It is not surprising that most beauty queens had plastic surgery done on their body.

When I see those girls with “plastic modification” on their body, I start to wonder the real meaning of a beauty pageant. Do organizers choose their winner by judging purely on the beauty queen's real looks or according to man-made looks that are generally accepted in the fashion magazine? Those “photoshopped” pictures in the fashion magazine are becoming a benchmark for the beauty standard. Only through plastic surgery, these beauty queen wannabes will get what they wanted from a beauty pageant! These beauty queens cloned themselves in “Beauty” that they believed in and that is why we see more and more beauty queens are looking identical! This gave me a feeling that in order to win a beauty pageant you need to pass the “beauty queen ISO 9001 standard”. Other types of beauty are not accepted in the beauty pageant.

I thought the real meaning for a beauty pageant is to embrace the human's beauty but not the technology. However, girls with “plastic modification” are always the hot pick among the crowd. Why? Because their features resemble the “standard beauty queens looks”. With this, everyone can be a beauty queen. Rich girls will always win beauty pageant because they have more funds to own the “standard beauty queen looks”. Beauty Pageant in the modern context is just a bunch of plastic dolls trying to promote the their very own plastic surgeon's master piece.

Beauty Pageants – An anthropological report

2009-11-02T11:06:00.000-08:00

Many people ask me whether I will be joining any more pageants in near future. My answer is NO!

The reason is simple – I am not going to win anymore. I have done enough pageants and I have won some and lost some. Taking part in pageants have been the centre of my being since I graduated from university.

When I returned from UK with my degree, I took the opportunity to realise my childhood dream. I did well in my first pageant, and gradually gained more confident for my next pageant. To my surprise, I emerge as the national winner in my second pageant and I performed well in two of my international pageants, in Korea and China.

I took a long break from the pageant industry, after my two international pageants and briefly started my professional career. Taking part in the country's two premier national pageants have shown me that brains and beauty is not enough. I must admit that I took part in them not only with the hope to win but also to look at them as an anthropologist – a social study.

The following are the conclusions from my in-depth study over the past three years.

1)Winning ONCE means losing forever

Be warned that having being a winner in another pageant is almost a sure guarantee that one will not win again. Mainly due to pageant organisers need a BIMBO for the next one year, and make sure these newly crowned queens will follow all the orders from management.

Past winners of other pageants may have widen up to such tactics and may not play ball with them. Experience and qualification not wanted by pageant organisers. That is why winning once means losing forever!

2)Rule No 1 does not apply if you have connections

Although being a past winner is a handicap, some girls use it to their full advantage. To my horror, we girls are expected to do MORE – a lot more. If you can make the chaperons and the video-graphers to be your friends; they will give you more air-time and connections with the key people during the pageant.

Let's put it this way, if your face is constantly shown at every press conference through pictures and video clips, this will definitely give the perception that “that girl must be good". The most important connection is access to the organizers. A well placed word by the organizer will turn a contestant into a favorite.

Having the right connection in the pageant is crucial, even if you have fake boobs, fake nose, and caught smoking during the pageant, all will be forgiven simply because having the RIGHT CONNECTION is the most important rule!

3)Ability to help the organisers to make money

Contestants must not only learn to dance, sing or even do the catwalk (a lot of past winners do not know how to sway their hips) but must also become a salesgirl. To my surprise, I needed to meet certain sales quotas for selling tables during the finals; in order to be qualified to be the crown owner. Being exposed to all these incidents, I started to wonder winners are beauty queens or queens of sale!

4)Are you a sucker

Being an apple or shoe polisher is a skill all hopeful winners must have. You need to suck up to chaperons, bells boys and all the way up the hierarchy of the pageant organization.

Having one's own mind is definitely not acceptable. If one does not give in to their manipulation or demands, you will be considered the girl with an attitude problem! Hence, they will bad mouth about you in front of the judges. That is not all! While judges are told to give extra points for personality, to pageant organizers there is a fine line between personality and bad attitude.

Some contestants, who are opinionated or seldom talk, will be perceived as contestant with attitude problem. See my previous blog “How not to win a pageant” and you will get a clearer picture. So, in order to be a winner, you also have to be a sucker.

5)Helps if daddy/mummy/ boyfriends are somebody

Undoubtedly, you stand a VERY good chance if have somebody close to you who has some connections with the pageant organizers. Regardless of your physical appearance or you did pretty bad in the finals, you will still emerged as the grand winner simply because pageants are all about connections.

If this is not the pageant reality, why there are tons of criticism on internet about the past pageant winners perform foolishly in the international beauty pageants? Ranging from their vital statistics to their speaking ability? Remember Miss Singapore?

6)How are your bed manners?

I have never seen it happen but after what has happened in the past three years, it must be true. Some judges and girls are just too close. At the start of the competition they are strangers but by the final night, some girls are like the judges' close friends if not more.

There is always one question appear on anybody who encounter situation like this, “Since when she is so close to this person? There must be something that I am not aware of!”

The above points that I have just mentioned is just a small fraction out of the big pageant picture. However, this may not happen to every pageant and definitely case to case basis. Pageants are never a fair game. Pageant in the modern context is just like any political game than a beauty conpetition. You need more than the physical beauty to win the competition. The cliché 'beauty with brains' alone does not necessarily work. Connection is everything in the pageant game!

Please follow my next blog on “The Correlation between Plastic Surgery and Beauty Pageant”

Models, Supermodels and Wannabe Supermodels

2009-10-23T00:57:00.000-07:00

A Model is employed for the purpose of displaying and promoting fashion clothing or other products and fashion advertising and promotional purposes. Models are generally not expected to verbally express themselves. Not all models are considered “beautiful”,however, many high fashion models have what could be called 'quirky' attributes and memorably unusual faces. These “unusual faces” are used by high fashion brands as people are likely to remember their brand name and associate it with an interesting face. Types of models include fashion, glamour, fitness, bikini, fine art, and body-part models.

Supermodels are highly paid fashion models. Also, can be known as cover girls, appear on top fashion magazine covers and in fashion shows. A legitimate supermodel should be standing not less than 5 feet 8 and the average weight is supposed to be between 108 and 125 lbs. But it is not absolutely necessary that this the exact weight. It is believed that when you walk on the ramp that the camera adds another 15 lbs. Among the the prerequisites are that the model is long legged and lean. There is also the BMI or Body Mass Index to contend with which is becoming much debate in the fashion world.

During the 80s and 90s, only the so-called “Big Six” were officially recognized and accepted by the fashion world as supermodels: Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista. In the late 90s, as clothes became less flashy, designers turned to models who were less glamorous, so these models wouldn't overpower the clothing. Models imported from Brazil such as Gisele Bundchen, Adrian Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio become very popular after they signed contract with Victoria Secret.

In the Asian market, there are no fixed criteria for any models. In general, most performing artists seem to dominate most of the endorsements. Pan Asians are very popular among agencies and TV ad producers. i.e. Maggie Q. Back in 2007, the Malaysian Government decided to ban “Pan Asian” models to encourage more “Malaysian Looking” models in the local TV ads and print ads to reflect Malaysia. However, there is always a market for Pan-Asians in Malaysia because there is always a demand for Pan Asian in the local modeling industry.

Supermodel wannabes are models who are trying very hard to be accepted as Supermodels. These Supermodel wannabes will try to appear in most of the magazine pages regardless of the status and quality of the magazines and regardless of knowing their own strengths or weaknesses. They just want to be out there to let people perceive that they are popular, they might even go on cost cutting to get more jobs. They just want their faces to appear everywhere. They will at most times party and get drunk until the wee hours of the morning. They hope to do networking and be spotted by talent scouts. Their lack of knowledge and updates of the fashion world do not help either. They will be found doing the supposedly horse strutting move on the runway which is passe. Their misconception is that being a supermodel is all skin and bones and unfortunately suffer from anorexia or bulimia where in actual fact the fashion world in the West is already putting a stop to the skinny models.

Sad to say these supermodel wannabes are the ones who cannot get into the main stream or they do not possess supermodel qualities (eg. the mininum of 5 feet 8 or the “quirky” look) There might be a few supermodel wannabes out there in the market who see themselves as supermodels or vicariously be one, but Malaysia is still lacking a legitimate supermodel for obvious reasons ranging from height and the exposure to the big time and fashion world and the money made. There might be a few popular models in the local modeling industry but we are still searching for a real Supermodel. But certainly not through copycats of reality shows shaped on the original Tyra Bank's Next Top Models. It is becoming a chore watching these ersatz wannabe shows.

Life after Pageant

2009-10-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Pageant winners gain sudden fame, where will be these beauty queens heading to after their reign period? Maybe Aishwarya Rai is one of the few Beauty Queens who is able to make her name, not just in Bollywood but Hollywood. Another home grown Hollywood star – Michelle Yeoh hails from my hometown, she is one of the few successful Beauty Queens who can make it big into the international screen. The question is how many of those other Beauty Queens are successful in entertainment industry?

Winning a pageant cannot guarantee you a career or prolong your shelf-life visibility wise but this requires talent and luck to embark on a successful career in entertainment business. Often, we observe that most of these Beauty Queens have a problem to detach themselves from the pageant title before they can build their OWN names in the entertainment world. Some of the unfortunate ones will keep on attaching their names with the pageant title until they leave the industry.

As for myself, holding a prestigious pageant title for the past two years, I did not find my title particularly help me in getting more modeling assignments or more recognition from the industry. On the other hand, I need to focus on my talents to get myself out there for the public to perceive me and hoping the public will recognize my talent.

Why there are so many girls desperately joining pageants? Apparently, these girls hope to get themselves into the industry and eventually build their names up from there. From pageant, these potential talents can be able to find their way to work on their talents and commercialize their talent. If you join pageants with the intention that you will be a big star in the entertainment industry but without the requisite talent, then you are having a misconception on pageant.

There is still a long way for these Beauty Queens to be a celebrity in the entertainment world. Celebrity life is tough, and I believe that only through hard work and talent can pay off the price of fame. There are many people in or outside the industry who will try to bring you down no matter how hard you try to prove that you are capable in what you are doing. My advise to those who want to follow a pageant path is Be Patient and think twice whether you are ready to take the challenges. Make an analysis of your strengths and weaknesses. In pageants, you will receive a lot of criticisms, judging from your outlook to your substance. Are you ready for the challenges? Are you ready to take the beaten path or the road less traveled?

How To WIN A Pageant

2009-10-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

I am sharing my experiences from my past pageant experience. Below is my pageant resume:-

Miss Malaysia Tourism 2007 (Top 5)

Miss Malaysia Model of the World 2007 (National Winner)

International Model of the Year 2007 in Korea (top placing)

Miss Model of the World 2007 in China (Top 15 in World finals)

Miss Malaysia Universe 2009 ( Top 8)

Miss Malaysia World 2009 (Top 10)

It will be more meaningful and make sense for you to read this blog together with my previous blog, "How Not To Win A Pageant"

1)Charming smile

A Beauty Queen should possess a good charming smile. A winning smile is more important than a pretty face. Don't be surprised that there are many girls out there who practice smiling in front of the mirror everyday. Please visit your dentist before you join pageant!

2)Can you sell tables on the finals?

This particular aspect does not happen at all pageants but I can't say it had not happened before. Organizers are not philanthropists but are shrewd business people. If you can be able to assist them in selling tables or market their pageant, they tend to favor you. Ask yourself, how many supporters you can bring to the finals? Don't be surprised that there are some pageants which solely depend on the tables/supporters you have on the grand finals.

3)Lend a helping hand

Learn to share your things with others, you will be surprised what you will get in return. Often, pageant girls will try to look their best in the pageant. Sometimes, these girls are not willing to share their things with other girls. However, this is not the case! Being self-centered in the beauty contest will not bring you far in beauty contest. My best advise is to share your stuff with others during the pageant and take care of others who need assistance. This will also lighten the chaperon's work.

4)Politics is everything

Most of the time in competitions, politics is the last thing that cannot be avoided as you are given certain amount of time to impress others. Before joining competition, please flip through “The Prince” and learn about being Machiavellian. The end justifies the means. I am not praising the art of manipulation but this is one of the survival skills to stay in the beauty competition. There are tons of beautiful girls out there, only the one with the tactic for survival will eventually win the crown.

5)Looking like a million in every picture

A picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures are important for the public to judge whether you can be a potential queen, that is why it is crucial for you to look good in every picture. Also, this will help you to open more doors for castings and to getting nearer to your potential bosses. From the pageant history, Miss Photogenic is always the hot pick among the rest.

6)Be honest

Please be truthful about yourself, to avoid sending the wrong messages to others during pageant. Others can feel whether you are being fake or the genuine you. If you fake your feelings throughout the pageant, this will not just backfire your standing in the competitions but you have failed to open your heart for potential friendships or fail to build a good rapport with organizers.

7)Quality contacts

You literally need to count how many back support that you have to consider your probability in winning the contest. There are many contestants who rejoin the same pageant and won because of the contacts they have built on. Henceforth, you need to expand your networking into the industry people if you dream to be a beauty queen.

8)Be punctual

Being seen as the first few to report to the Chaperon is a strong way to build your reputation as a disciplined candidate. This shows that you are committed and responsible for your cause of action. Also, you are somebody that the organizer can rely on when you are alone in the world finals. Being punctual is an important criteria as a beauty queen, as this shows that you can fit into the team work. Please make this as a habit not just in pageant but also practice punctuality in other modeling assignments.

Pageants are never a fair game, you at your own risks when you join any pageant. An angelic face or voluptuous body cannot guarantee you the crown. You need more than the physical beauty to win the competition. The cliché 'beauty with brains' alone does not necessarily work. Nowadays, pageants are just like any popularity contest which means that other than the above points, your charisma is the predominant factor to determine whether you can do well in pageants. Please follow my next blog on “Life after Pageant”.

How not to win a Beauty Pageant

2009-10-08T02:27:00.000-07:00

I am now calling an end to my pageant life. I have always wanted to try pageant since that being a beauty queen is my childhood infatuation. I wonder why pageants work? The mystique. I know is kinda old-fashioned of social events but people are still attracted to this concept? Well, essentially, in the sociological context, beauty queens are symbolic representations of collective cultural identities. And beauty pageants operate as avenues of commodification and consumption in a world influenced by globalization and media. It is true that our society places a huge emphasis on physical beauty, because we are all beings who enjoy seeing beautiful things- especially beautiful girls. How to judge beauty? This is totally subjective as the old saying “ Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”. How does Beauty Queens win pageants?.

From the recent case of Ris Low, pageant news are always at the center of attention. Often I hear from others that pageants are unfair and are totally biased. I do not believe that pageant organizers will pre-select the winner before the pageant even started. However, finalists play a major role in winning the crown regardless that you are the pre-determined winner. By holding an accomplished resume, I then decided to carry out my research on the nature of beauty pageants, which I won some, lost some. Like an anthropologist, I stepped into the realm of Pageants and Beauty Queens!

HOW NOT TO WIN A BEAUTY PAGEANT

Do not possess good PR skills

If you are not a PR person, my advice to you is stop dreaming to become a beauty queen. Finalists should be able to communicate with EVERYONE during the pageant. Not just selected people. Furthermore, the capabilities of making everyone comfortable talking is equally important as you can speak with the Queen's English. A Beauty Queen should be able to communicate well and friendly to the rest because the chosen one will be the ambassador for the next one year.

Not a good exhibitionist

A Beauty Queen need to look good in every occasion, literally means that a Beauty Queen needs to look great every second! You need to have your prefect hair and make up all the time. Cameras are shooting at the Beauty Queen 24/7, that is why a Beauty Queen has to look good all the time. If you are not a dress up lady, or you do not like to put on make-up, then pageant is not for you. Throughout my pageants experience, I personally think that those finalists who constantly look good in any event and occasion are the potential winners. You would not want an under-dressed girl and suddenly you see her transformed into mega-star only for the final night. Organizers and public want a winner who can possess the femininity, poise and elegance throughout her reign period, not just for some special events. Hence, you need to be an exhibitionist at all events. Please prepare to bear your own costs of beautifying yourself.

Learn your performance for talent presentation at last minute

There are many girls who aim to win the talent contest by learning their dance moves or singing at the very last minute. Originally, talent contest means that you have some kind of special talent to perform on stage and your special talent will capture the audience heart. However, there are many contestants who will learn some last minute routine or prepare some songs just to make themselves occupied and look good in the talent round. If you fail to present the talent the way that is expected, then you are making a fool of yourself. Please do not learn your talent at last minute, is better to tell the organizers that you do not have a talent then making a fool of yourself in front of others.

Failure to build rapport with the Chaperons : Behold, The Virtual Queen Makers

Last but not least, the chaperons.

Chaperons do play a crucial part of the whole evaluation during the the selection process. Let me recount the history of the beginning of chaperons in beauty pageants. Early organizers were worried that the girls would be distracted and led astray so they invented chaperons for the contestants and brought into the contest a degree of supervision that assured that they are perfect embodiment of female virtue. In the modern day beauty pageants please do not underestimate their power as they are the eyes of the judges and they can be ultra vires in their actions. They can control the media coverage and present your attitude evaluation to the public. However, this evaluation may be superficial, as it is not within their job scope to judge the finalists' character. They are not professionally trained in human science nor as psychologists to give you any judgments. Therefore, molly-coddling chaperons will assist in a big part of getting the crown.

Chaperons are so powerful that they can influence to shape others to perceive you. Even if you have fake nose, fake boobs, or even caught smoking in the pageant, they can help you to hide the reality because you fraternize and molly-coddle them! There will be lots of SELECTIVE reporting style from the chaperons to the judges. In fact, favoritism can exist among Chaperons but not the organizers or the judges. The reporting starts from the chaperons, so make sure that you court the chaperons like Queens!

Also, another thing to be wary is to obey the chaperon's orders during the pageant. If you failed to do that, they take umbrage, and then you can be easily categorized as having an ATTITUDE problem. If a chaperon does not like you, then this is the easiest way to bring you down in the pageant. Situation such as lateness and answering back to the chaperons. These are the things that can easily bring you down, though there were no evidence nor substance to support that statement. How can you judge a person's attitude in a few days? I cant even make judgment of my friends even I know them for years? Strange? But this is the pageant reality.

Chaperons are way too scary to mess around. Treat them like Queens during your boot camp, no two ways about it. Chaperons have a stereotyped perception of themselves and also they have a stereotyped perception of the contestants. It's as if the chaperon's sub-text “It behooves I am to be respected. And it behooves you respect me!” Professionally chaperons are supposed to assist, look after the contestants and ideally give encouraging words to allay the nervousness of the contestants, not put pressure and become hostile and expect all contestants to be docile and obedient. It behooves on chaperons themselves to have a high level of tolerance instead of it behooves only on the contestants to be resilient and tolerant. It is not surprising chaperons always have nice things to say about the judges when they meet and greet them but treat some contestants like they are from Adam.

Rule of thumb, please prepare for surprises at the finals. There is always a Dark Horse. For those who want to follow a beauty pageant path , I wish you all the best in this endeavor.

THE POWER OF BEAUTY

2009-09-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

The power of beauty can be for positive and negative use. For positive use can be for charity that is promoted by Miss World pageant. For negative and selfish use to attract attention like attracting another woman's husband. Beauty can be in various forms. As a hot and sexy beauty or girl next door beauty. Using beauty for harmless flirting or dangerous seduction resulting in failed marriages or in tragedy. Beautiful women at most times with their feminine wiles get away with things like traffic summons when stopped by police. Beautiful women also tend to get what they want.

Nations went to war because of beautiful women like in the case of Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousands ships. Cleopatra purportedly used her beauty to get Caesar and Mark Anthony to help her run her empire. Matahari, a dutch exotic dancer used her beauty to get war secrets from German officers and passed to the British during the First World War. She was the classic femme fatal.

Beauty is seen as pervasive and negative force in society, but I think it has a positive influence on women of different ethnic backgrounds, size, height and skin color. Once a woman gets attention, the “snowball” effect gives women a feeling that they can achieve anything that they want when they are regarded as beautiful. The power that women attain, makes them gain respect and admiration in communities, they become well known and perceived as trustworthy. They also go on to use their beauty to enhance other women's experiences. Feeling beautiful is a powerful effect on your attitudes and habits, but it has to be balanced with reality. Unfortunately sometimes this power we achieve can become a dilemma for women who are unable to balance with reality, especially the younger women when they are most susceptible to outside pressure.

There is no measure for beauty as beauty is totally subjective. It is true that our society places a huge emphasis on physical beauty, because we are all beings who enjoy working with and seeing beautiful things. Therefore, based on the society's belief, these beautiful women use their physical beauty with panache and chutzpah to get what they want. Undeniably, beauty is a powerful weapon for women with which to achieve their goals. However, beauty can fade through time. If a woman is purely dependent on her external beauty in life, how far can she use her physical beauty? Next decade? Twenty more years?

With the aging factor, women need to maintain their beauty with their inner charms. A woman is beautiful because she is well-equipped in multiple aspects i.e. education, social contribution, career etc. Most importantly, she also has admirable values like empathy, kindness, thoughtfulness, selfless. She is willing to counter social standards for what she strongly believes in. Also, she believes that women do not have to be a size 2 size 0 to be beautiful. Most importantly, she utilizes her beauty to implement programs that help raise awareness that beauty can come in all shapes and size. A beautiful woman is not a fool who spreads foolish and cruel standards. A woman who can be able to be well-equipped with physical beauty and inner beauty is a woman with substance and eternal beauty.

Some historians say Cleopatra was not truly that beautiful. It seems she used her charm and ambition instead of beauty to make the two Roman leaders to fall in love with her.

Generally, power corrupts. Henceforth, possessing the power of beauty comes with responsibility. A pageant beauty, therefore, must use her beauty wisely and for the common good.

About Me (Chantelle Chuah)

2009-09-22T04:29:00.000-07:00

I describe myself as quirky and witty. My name can probably tell you more about myself.

C - Charismatic
H - Happy-go-lucky
A - Accomplishment
N - Nice
T - Tough
E - Energetic
L - Lively
L - Lovely
E - strive for Excellence

I always strive for excellence and continuously challenge my own competences and capabilities to move out from my comfort zone. My strict upbringing and education background had shaped me to be a well-rounded person. I have Ibanese heritage which can be traced back to my maternal descendant.

My childhood

Throughout my childhood, Ballet dancing has been a big part of my daily routine. Maybe because of my parent's separation, I always wanted attention to compensate for my insecurities and loneliness. Hence, since young I love stage performances.

Michelle Yeoh is no stranger to many Ipohans. Since young, I have considered her as my role model because she is from Ballet background. From a small-town girl who aspired to be a Ballerina, then turned beauty queen and mega-super star on the screen. She is somebody I look up to and hope to be like her in future. It was from her, my idol, I started to dream to be a beauty queen one day.

After 13 years of Ballet training, I was determined to get my diploma in Ballet and to pursue a Ballerina career. It was when I was seventeen, my Ballet teaching asked me to stop pursing my dream as a Ballerina. My figure is too tall for a professional Ballerina which make me have difficulties to master Pirouette. My Ballet coach's words were sharp, and until now I still remembered vividly that the moment I need to seek for another direction in life after her advice.

Other than Ballet, I have been an active member in school Coral Speaking team and participated at the national level. Despite having finished my secondary education from pure science stream; I faced difficulties to opt between study accountancy and anthropology. Anthropology is something which really stirred up my interest to carry out in-depth examination of context cross-cultural comparisons. However, having an interest on accountancy was purely because of calculating with currency seems something fascinating to me. After all, I have chosen to become a chartered accountant and later I was sent to Manchester to further my studies.

From the East to the West

My first year as an overseas student in Manchester was unbearable yet exciting. I realized that I suffered from ‘cultural shock’ as an Asian trying hard to adapt into the British lifestyle. However, this was the golden opportunity for me to learn to become independent and be acquainted with people from all walks of life. This is the period of transformation from a geek to a ‘university socialite’. Soon, I became accustomed to the British routine, getting used to the ‘dry humour’.

Participated in the Manchester Student Dance Stuart

From my past experience as a ballerina, I got involved in my university dance team. I was first captivated by the three-inch dance shoes . Taken by surprise; I was selected as Manchester's representative to compete in the inter-university dance competitions. Through all the endurance of the challenging training sessions from my dance coach, my dance partner and I successfully won awards in Latin and Ballroom dance competitions

Meanwhile, I was elected to be Honour treasurer of the Manchester Dance Society. I felt flattered to be accountable to the society’s funds and being an active dance member for my university.

Scout in Leeds

In one summer, while I was having fun time with my mates at Leeds town centre, I was approached by a white guy asking whether I was interested in modeling. The first thing on my mind was to ignore him and thought that he might be just some rascal trying to pick up girls randomly for a chat.

He continued to follow me and explained his motive. Then, he confessed that he is looking for a Japanese girl to do a photo shoot for his modeling agency and asked me to go for a casting. After a few days I was informed that I got the job to model for Onisuka Tiger (One of the top sport retail brand in Japan). This was my first ever modeling experience.

This photo shoot was instead the turning point of my life. The experience of being a model seems enchanting, yet controversial to my ‘nerdy’ life. Hoverer, the amount of satisfaction I have earned from my first shoot was significant enough to inspire me to be a top model.

The Discover

After graduating from my postgraduate studies, I moved to London for my internship. As an account trainee in hospital, my daily routines required great amount of discipline and hardship. I briefly worked in London for about a year before I decided to come back to my home country – Malaysia.

During my holiday in Malaysia, I took opportunities to join model search and some pageants. To my amazement, I was announced to be in top 5 in national final in my first beauty pageant. Two years ago, I decided to try out my luck in Miss Malaysia Model of the World 2007, I was announced as the national winner for that year. I have great experience to carry the honour to represent my country in Miss Model of the Year 2007 in China. I was one of the top 15 finalists competing with nearly 70 models around the world. In the same year, I was sent to Korea for International Model of the Year model competition, and I got into the top 10 at international finals.

Since then, I focus more on my professional life and ACCA than actively involved in local modeling industry. However, I still happened to appear on Deal or No Deal Season 2 as #7 briefcase girl.

Life as a Professional

After two international competitions, I redirect my focus on my accounting profession. I worked in audit firms, whilst studying for my ACCA. Life was tough as an auditor, however, the experience from my hardship was rewarding. The experience that I have gained from audit work, helped me build up a foundation and a platform to be a prominent business consultant in future. I get a lot of satisfaction by helping my client to improve their business effectiveness and performance.

From my growing profession in audit firm, I gradually involve myself actively in Toastmaster Club – which is a public speaking club. I have played my roles during our Toastmaster meetings. From there, I improved my public speaking skills and present good speeches in front of the crowd.

Turning Point in my life

After one and half years of professional training in audit firm, I started to question whether I am following the right career path. I realize I wasn’t really working on my passion for fashion. I think it is time for me to follow my innate talent to embark on fashion/ modelling career. I quit my professional job and decided just to be me, or rather to follow my gut feelings to chase my dream to be Fashion Stylist (Eco-stylist) and top model in the fashion industry.

Things That I Am Passionate About

2009-09-19T01:20:00.000-07:00

Dancing is my passion. I love to dance since young. Maybe because of parents' seperation, I always wanted to perform on the stage, to compensate for my insecurities and loneliness. When I was still a kid I was fascinated with a Ballerina performance on the stage. My mother noticed my interest on Ballet dancing and she sent me to Ballet school when I was only 4 years old. I am always on my tutu and running around in my house showing off my Ballet skills to my family members, especially to my mother and grandmother.

Every time my dance coach organized a concert, I put in all my efforts for rehearsals and stage performance as dancing on stage was something that I have great interest in. When other children spent time having fun, I always stay home and do my Ballet practices and always looking forward to get to perform more on the stage.

It was on my thirteen years of Ballet training, my Ballet coach advised me to stop chasing my dream to be a Ballerina as my body figure is too tall for a professional Ballerina. I was devastated when I heard this bad news, I told myself that my Dancing had not even started and need to end up too soon. I always knew that I had great passion in dancing, however, I followed my Ballet coach's advise and I decided to put a full stop in my Ballet journey.

Even I cannot continue Ballet, I took up Latin and Ballroom dancing when I started college and university. At first, I was being captivated by the beautiful three-inch high heels worn by the female dancer who could dance provocatively around the male dancer. Immediately, I started dancing Latin and Ballroom to fill my spare time while I further my tertiary education.

My passion and enthusiasm managed to convince my coach to allow me to represent Manchester in my university dancing team. The journey throughout my experience as Manchester representative was fulfilling and exciting. Not just that I managed to travel throughout the whole of UK for dance competitions, but I was able to learn more about competitors' steps and routine. However, coming to the end of my university days, I left my dance Stuart. Since then, I dancing remains as my hobby.

Other than dancing, I have great passion in doing public speaking. I was in my school team for choral speaking during my school. I always loved to grab the center of attention, that the reason I always made the effort to answer my teacher's questions in the class. I was briefly in my college debate team. The experience as a debater is great because it is challenging to debate and argue under stress.

When I started to work in audit firms, I participated in the Toastmaster meeting frequently and start to be a active member in Toastmaster club. The whole training in Toastmaster class helps to improve my public speaking.

RAISING FUNDS FOR UNDERPRIVILEDGED CHILDREN

2009-09-19T01:11:00.001-07:00

As someone who is trained in corporate social responsibility (CRS) specifically in being environmentally concious, with empathy for the under-priviledged and my inclination towards fashion, I am embarking on a project with two pronged goals.

I shall endeavour as an eco-stylist to raise funds for under-priviledged children through promoting eco-friendly fashion. There, killing two birds with one stone. One is to help in anyway I can the needy children and the other is to do what I can with helping with the environment especially in raising awareness.
Children who are under-priviledged need our sympathy and help because they cannot fend for themselves and they need our protection. They cannot be allowed to go out in society to do odd jobs because this will only put their well being in jeopardy exposing them to bad elements.
The environment needs protection from no other than us humans who cause pollutions, create harmful gases, disposing garbage and toxins, destroying plants and living organisms and all the above are somehow attributed to manufacture materials to make clothes.

I shall therefore discuss in great lengths about eco friendly materials and clothings in order to give a clearer understanding more than the modus operandi of raising funds through fashion and fashion shows using ecofriendly materials for the needy children. This will also involve providing eco friendly materials for the outfits of student dancers I train at stART Foundation.

I would endeavour to make Malaysians to become more conscious about the products they are buying and how these products are made. It will be beneficial for manufacturers to be aware of creating styles crafted from sustainable resources. From clothes to accessories, eco-friendly products can be a welcome alternative that are designed to work in harmony with nature. When you buy a product that is organic, recycled or produced in an environmentally friendly way then you have spent wisely and helped create a demand for alternative products.
Eco Friendly products is a new in the apparel industry and it will take time to make it to the mainstream in a more significant way, but as time goes on more products will be available for the consumer who is environmentally concious..

Eco-friendly clothing is becoming the rage these days and with the current world economy and our ever changing daily lives eco-friendly apparel is the way to go. Eco-friendly clothes are made from natural materials like bamboo, soy, organic cotton, and alternatives to leather.
Organic clothing and recycled clothing are significant ways to respect earth and at the same time be fashionable and hip. The styles can range range from plain white t-shirts and hats made of bamboo, and casual wear created with recycled plastic bottles. There are pros and cons to eco friendly clothing such as it is more expensive, but in the long term, the benefits far outweighs the disadvantages. As more people become more aware and it catches on, the eco-friendly clothing will be more affordable.

Eco-Friendly Apparel is designed for healthy lifestyles and for the people who care about the environment enough to be aware of the impact their clothes have on those around them. We have a responsibility to leave earth to the next generations to live in a conducive living situation like we did. Even small gestures in wanting to contribute to making the earth's environment healthy goes a long way.

You can be eco-conscious, socially responsible and also be stylish at the same time. Be kind to the environment – buying eco-friendly clothings is the way to go!
Corporations through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) can also play their part in this using their available capital and human resources.

Types of eco-friendly clothing and the benefits

Bamboo fabric is made from the bamboo pulp. It does not require chlorine to bleach it and it can be dyed easily without much use of water. Fabrics that have difficulties in dyeing are often treated with harsh chemicals and a lot of water, hence an organic fabric that dyes easily is good for the environment.

Organic cotton is much more environmentally friendly than the conventional one as it entirely avoids pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides during the growing stage. There are many who are growing this crop, and we can expect the number to increase.

Recycled clothings has various benefits for the environment. Benefits include reducing the use of fuel, reduces discarded clothing, and as a result, reduce air, water and soil contamination. When a polyester clothing reaches a rubbish dump where they burn some of the garbage, polyester creates toxic emissions that will pollute the air – recycling of these garments reduce that toxic emission.

With the information above and further awareness to be disseminated through blogs, editorials, fashion shows and fund raising, those who shall benefit will be the children, society, and future generations. Children are among the best to educate as they are the future stakeholders of the earth's sustainable environment.

About Me (Chantelle Chuah)

2009-09-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

I describe myself as quirky and witty. My name can probably tell you more about myself.

C - Charismatic

H - Happy-go-lucky

A - Accomplishment

N - Nice

T - Tough

E - Energetic

L - Lively

L - Lovely

E - strive for Excellence

I always strive for excellence and continuously challenge my own competences and capabilities to move out from my comfort zone. My strict upbringing and education background had shaped me to be a well-rounded person. I have Ibanese heritage which can be traced back to my maternal descendant.

My Childhood

Throughout my childhood, Ballet dancing has been a big part of my daily routine. Maybe because of my parent's separation, I always wanted attention to compensate for my insecurities and loneliness. Hence, since young I love stage performances.

Michelle Yeoh is no stranger to many Ipohans. Since young, I have considered her as my role model because she is from Ballet background. From a small-town girl who aspired to be a Ballerina, then turned beauty queen and mega-super star on the screen. She is somebody I look up to and hope to be like her in future. It was from her, my idol, I started to dream to be a beauty queen one day.

After 13 years of Ballet training, I was determined to get my diploma in Ballet and to pursue a Ballerina career. It was when I was seventeen, my Ballet teaching asked me to stop pursing my dream as a Ballerina. My figure is too tall for a professional Ballerina which make me have difficulties to master Pirouette. My Ballet coach's words were sharp, and until now I still remembered vividly that the moment I need to seek for another direction in life after her advice.

Other than Ballet, I have been an active member in school Coral Speaking team and participated at the national level. Despite having finished my secondary education from pure science stream; I faced difficulties to opt between study accountancy and anthropology. Anthropology is something which really stirred up my interest to carry out in-depth examination of context cross-cultural comparisons. However, having an interest on accountancy was purely because of calculating with currency seems something fascinating to me. After all, I have chosen to become a chartered accountant and later I was sent to Manchester to further my studies.

From the East to the West

My first year as an overseas student in Manchester was unbearable yet exciting. I realized that I suffered from ‘cultural shock’ as an Asian trying hard to adapt into the British lifestyle. However, this was the golden opportunity for me to learn to become independent and be acquainted with people from all walks of life. This is the period of transformation from a geek to a ‘university socialite’. Soon, I became accustomed to the British routine, getting used to the ‘dry humour’.

Participated in the Manchester Student Dance Stuart

From my past experience as a ballerina, I got involved in my university dance team. I was first captivated by the three-inch dance shoes . Taken by surprise; I was selected as Manchester's representative to compete in the inter-university dance competitions. Through all the endurance of the challenging training sessions from my dance coach, my dance partner and I successfully won awards in Latin and Ballroom dance competitions

Meanwhile, I was elected to be Honorary treasurer of the Manchester Dance Society. I felt flattered to be accountable to the society’s funds and being an active dance member for my university.

Scout in Leeds

In one summer, while I was having fun time with my mates at Leeds town centre, I was approached by a white guy asking whether I was interested in modeling. The first thing on my mind was to ignore him and thought that he might be just some rascal trying to pick up girls randomly for a chat.

He continued to follow me and explained his motive. Then, he confessed that he is looking for a Japanese girl to do a photo shoot for his modeling agency and asked me to go for a casting. After a few days I was informed that I got the job to model for Onisuka Tiger (One of the top sport retail brand in Japan). This was my first ever modeling experience.

This photo shoot was instead the turning point of my life. The experience of being a model seems enchanting, yet controversial to my ‘nerdy’ life. Hoverer, the amount of satisfaction I have earned from my first shoot was significant enough to inspire me to be a top model.

The Discover

After graduating from my postgraduate studies, I moved to London for my internship. As an account trainee in hospital, my daily routines required great amount of discipline and hardship. I briefly worked in London for about a year before I decided to come back to my home country – Malaysia.

During my holidays in Malaysia, I took opportunities to join model search and some pageants. To my amazement, I was announced to be in top 5 in national final in my first beauty pageant. Two years ago, I decided to try out my luck in Miss Malaysia Model of the World 2007, I was announced as the national winner for that year. I have great experience to carry the honour to represent my country in Miss Model of the Year 2007 in China. I was one of the top 15 finalists competing with nearly 70 models around the world. In the same year, I was sent to Korea for International Model of the Year model competition, and I got into the top 10 at international finals and was awarded best in evening gown.

Since then, I focus more on my professional life and ACCA than actively involved in local modeling industry. However, I still happened to appear on Deal or No Deal Season 2 as #7 briefcase girl.

Life as a Professional

After two international competitions, I redirect my focus on my accounting profession. I worked in audit firms, whilst studying for my ACCA. Life was tough as an auditor, however, the experience from my hardship was rewarding. The experience that I have gained from audit work, helped me build up a foundation and a platform to be a prominent business consultant in future. I get a lot of satisfaction by helping my client to improve their business effectiveness and performance.

Turning Point in my life

After one and half years of professional training in audit firms, I started to question whether I am following the right career path. I realize I wasn’t really working on my passion for fashion. I think it is time for me to follow my innate talent to embark on fashion/ modelling career. I quit my professional job and decided just to be me, or rather to follow my gut feelings to chase my dream to be a fashion stylist and to be top model in the fashion industry.