Month: December 2011

Amber Chia: 1Malaysia won’t happen in a day

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by Gan Pei Ling / 26 September 2011 © The Nut Graph

(All pics courtesy of Amber Chia)

WHEN she was 18, Amber Chia flew to Kuala Lumpur from Tawau, Sabah with only RM300 in her pocket to fulfil her dream of becoming a model despite her parents’ vehement opposition.

Chia stumbled around for some time before she found the right modelling agency. In 2004, she got her big break when she was chosen as international spokesperson for Guess Watches. She has since represented various international brands like Sony, L’Oreal and Mitsubishi.

Apart from modelling, Chia has acted in Chinese movies such as Possessed, and made guest appearances in sitcoms and TV shows in Taiwan and China.

The 30-year-old started her own company Amber Creations in mid-2009 and a modelling school Amber Chia Academy in August 2010. She married her manager Adrian Wong in March last year, and gave birth to their son Ashton Wong in September.

Her year-old son and business are her main focus now. The model-turned-businessperson shares her humble beginnings and future aspirations in an interview on 29 July 2011 at her academy in Petaling Jaya.

TNG: When and where were you born?

I grew up in a fishing village in Sekinchan, but I was born in Ipoh on 14 Dec 1981. There was no hospital around Sekinchan or Kuala Selangor, so my mother went to Ipoh to give birth to her six children. I’m the third child. I’ve an elder brother, elder sister and three younger sisters.

My family moved to Tawau, Sabah when I was nine.

Eight-year-old Chia

What was it like growing up in a fishing village? What are some of your fondest childhood memories?

My dad was a fisherman. He would go out for days to fish. I had to help my mum take care of my three younger sisters and I learnt to cook when I was very young.

We stayed in a wooden house and had lots of animals: ducks, geese, turtles, cats, dogs and birds. Although my family was poor, my siblings and I had fun growing up together. We played together, climbed trees, or went to the beach to catch sea snails. The place we stayed at was always flooded, but we were happy when it happened because then we didn’t have to go to school (laughs). I used to cycle to school.

Can you trace your ancestry?

My dad is Teochew and my mother is Hokkien. I can speak both dialects.

My paternal grandfather came from Chaoyang in China, but my dad was born here in Sekinchan in 1950. I don’t really remember my paternal grandfather because he passed away when I was very young.

What about your mother’s side? Where did your maternal grandparents come from?

Chia and her parents

My maternal grandparents were farmers from Anshun, China. My mum was born in Perak. She married my dad when she was 26 and moved to Sekinchan.

My mum told me they got married after their first date. They watched a movie together. Their parents wanted them to get married. Although it was an arranged marriage, and they sometimes fought when I was young, my parents love each other dearly.

How was life in Tawau when your family moved there?

My elder sister, elder brother and I each went to stay with a different foster family or relative as my family had financial difficulties. My three younger sisters stayed with my parents. It was difficult to be separated from my parents. I was sad and missed them very much, but I understood the situation.

My foster parents treated me well. I consider them my parents’ friends as they were also from Sekinchan, originally. My foster father has already passed away, but I still keep in touch with my foster mother. They have four sons and they are like my brothers, too.

I moved back with my parents after primary school and started working part-time. Compared to Sekinchan, Tawau was a larger town [with more job opportunities]. I’ve done all sorts of jobs: kindergarten teacher, shopping mall promoter, and helped my dad sell fish in the market.

When did you decide to leave for Kuala Lumpur?

After I finished SPM, I told my parents I wanted to go to Kuala Lumpur to work. I’ve always wanted to be a model. I wanted to go to Kuala Lumpur to look for modelling agencies that could help me fulfill my dream. But when I told the people around me, they always dismissed it.

I even fought with my parents because they had negative impressions of the modelling industry and were against the idea. They were worried I would take the wrong path, all on my own at a young age in the city.

But I was very stubborn, so I bought an air ticket and only told my mum after I had arrived in Kuala Lumpur. I can’t be so daring anymore as I’ve started a family and have responsibilities.

I only had RM300 in my pocket when I first arrived in Kuala Lumpur. Looking back, it was quite amazing I managed to survive to be who I am today.

It was very tough in the beginning, I didn’t know where to go, what to do or who to go to. I tried looking up several modelling agencies, but many were more like makeup academies, and the people were more interested in selling me their makeup courses, which I couldn’t afford.

Chia took her first studio photos at age 14

It took me a pretty long time to find the right agency. That’s the reason I told myself when I made it big, I would open my own academy to help those who want to join the modelling industry but don’t know where or how to start.

I love challenges. I believe if you work hard and have a [fierce] determination to achieve your dream, you can do it.

Is there any part of your identity that you struggle with, as a mother, woman, model, or Chinese Malaysian?

The older generation like my grandmother always favoured boys, so my elder brother was pampered in the family. He would always be the one who got the chicken drumsticks. Whenever anything happened, my brother was right and I was wrong.

That’s also the reason my mother continued to have children, because my grandmother wanted to have one more son in the family. That’s the gender part I’ve had to struggle with.

As for my identity as a Chinese [Malaysian], when I was growing up in Sabah, I had friends from different races in school, so I didn’t feel I was any different.

What about when you come to Kuala Lumpur?

I didn’t feel much difference as well.

With her family

Describe the kind of Malaysia you would like to see for your children in future.

Although I don’t feel the differences, I know what the government is trying to achieve with [its] 1Malaysia [project]. I believe it cannot be done in one day as language is a major barrier. Not everyone can speak fluent Bahasa Malaysia or English. Malaysians need a common language, and it could be either Bahasa Malaysia or English.

But I hope we can achieve 1Malaysia. We’ve lots of interesting cultures, and in the local entertainment industry, you can see more movies being made using different languages. There are also different ethnicities in the modelling industry.

I believe one day we can become a united country.

The book Found in Malaysia, featuring 50 of our best interviews plus four previously unpublished ones with Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir and Ramli Ibrahim, is available at all good bookstores for RM45. Found in Malaysia Volume 2, which was launched recently, will also be sold in bookstores soon.

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The nuclear waste dilemma

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by Gan Pei Ling / 19 September 2011 © The Nut Graph

A person was killed and four were injured in a French nuclear waste treatment plant on Sept 12, 2011. This piece of news drew my mind to the fact that debate over nuclear waste treatment and disposal in the light of Malaysia’s own nuclear plans, is still lacking. More often, worries are focused about potential meltdowns in nuclear plants. This is because although the probability of a meltdown is low, its impact could be devastating, as we have seen in Japan‘s case.

Najib (file pic)

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said nuclear power remains an “option”, and that a study is being conducted to identify suitable sites for nuclear plants. Tellingly, it was reported that the Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation under the Prime Minister’s Department is searching for a public relations firm to build public support for nuclear power.

Public reactions have been strong against the building of nuclear power plants. While there are pros and cons to nuclear power, despite the risks, it is recognised as the only long-term replacement available for decreasing fossil fuels in terms of continuous bulk energy supply.

So if the government is really going to go ahead, I am personally more concerned with how we are going to store our nuclear waste. This must be answered. Are we going to ship the waste out and dump it in another country? Can we emulate Finland and build a huge underground storage to keep the waste away for the next 100,000 years?

Thinking into the future

In the US, nuclear waste remains a thorny subject. The country has been dumping nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada for the past few decades, but has yet to find a permanent site to store radioactive waste. Similarly in the UK, nuclear waste has been stored temporarily at Sellafield while its government continues to search for a permanent dump site.

Is the same going to happen to Malaysia? Are we going to build our nuclear plants first and then scramble to find a suitable storage site for radioactive waste decades later, like the US and UK? I have requested the Malaysian Nuclear Agency for answers but to date, have not received any response.

Even if Malaysia does build a permanent storage facility to bury our radioactive waste, how are we going to ensure the waste would stay buried for thousands of years? I did not realise the scale of the problem and the engineering feat required until I watched the documentary Into Eternity made by Danish filmmaker Michael Madsen.

The documentary centres on Finland‘s permanent nuclear waste repository, currently under construction since 2004. It is expected to begin storing waste in 2020 and will permanently be sealed in 2120. It is supposed to last for the next 100,000 years.

However, Finnish experts admitted in the film that they cannot predict whether humans would still be around at that time. And even if humans were still around, no one could predict whether future generations would understand our present languages and signs. How do you communicate to people or other beings 100,000 years in the future that nuclear waste is hazardous and that they have to stay away from nuclear dump sites? How do you ensure they do not open a dump site at any cost, if they were to stumble upon one? Several ways were suggested in the film, including putting up menacing architecture, but perhaps the best way is to not to put any signs at all.

“Full” responsibility for our waste

A nuclear power plant in France (source: Wiki Commons)

The nuclear industry proudly proclaims that: “Nuclear power is the only energy industry which takes full responsibility for all its wastes and costs this into the product.”

Seriously, I wonder how the industry could make such a claim to full responsibility for radioactive waste that is likely to outlive human civilisations.

I sincerely hope that one day, scientists would find a way to transform the 300,000 tonnes of high-level radioactive waste that are accumulating worldwide in temporary storage facilities into non-radioactive elements.

But meanwhile, as much as I enjoy the convenience of abundant electricity and would like to continue doing so, I think Malaysia needs to consider whether we are okay with leaving behind such a legacy before we go ahead with our nuclear plan.

Gan Pei Ling still thinks Malaysia needs to try harder to take renewable energy like solar mainstream and implement energy conservation steps before going nuclear.