Monthly Archives: November 2009

You would probably know Irene Ang from her appearance as Rosie in the award winning local sitcom, Phua Chu Kang. Not only is she an actress, but she’s also a host, stand-up comedian, entertainer, and the CEO of FLY Entertainment Pte Ltd, Singapore’s first and largest Artiste Management Agency

 How did she get started all this?   Well, Irene shared with me that she unofficially started hosting at a very young age during family functions where she will dress up as celebrities; she just enjoyed the process of bringing laughter to people. Now being a professional entertainer and a CEO of her own talent management company, she conducts lessons from time to time, teaching the skills of hosting. Irene did not grow up with the intention of being an actress or a star. Instead, she had aspired to be a Sportswoman. At 20 years old, she was one of Singapore's most talented female fencers. She was the silver medalist holder for the Singapore's women fencing team in the 1991 Southeast Asian Games. She gave up her fencing dreams due to financial difficulties, she then went into the corporate industry and at the same time, continues to volunteer her services as a host for charitable organizations. Her debut on TV was in the award winning sitcom, Phua Chu Kang, where she acted as Rosie, the wife of the lead actor. Since then, audiences have liked her and embraced her appearances on TV. She shared with me one valuable lesson. She said “acting is not acting; acting is reacting”, She then continue her explanation “you should try not to act, instead you should try to be that person. Put yourself into the character.”  

So, Does Irene think anyone can enter the entertainment industry? “There are people who are talented, but they don’t dare. Or there are people who are talented, but lazy. There are also people who worked very hard, but they’re just not talented,” she says. There is no shortcut to success, and good looks alone get you nowhere in the entertainment line. Especially for people who enter this line, they would have to continually sharpen their abilities and skills through numerous attempts, and not to be afraid to make mistakes. “If you choose to come to this path, you have to invest a lot of time, make a lot of mistakes, try, and try, and try, and try, and practice and practice, and practice.” she added.   Irene’s advice to all people out there is to keep on practicing, work hard, grab every opportunity, and never give up even after going through numerous failures.  

Knowing that many of you who read this post might be an aspiring artist or model, I then asked Irene what are things to look out when searching for a talent management agency? Her advice was to always look at the company’s track record. Don’t forget to also read the contract carefully before putting down your signature. Make sure that you go for reputable ones, as there are people who sell fake hope and dream to young people, like you, ask you to pay a lot of money to go for a grooming course, and promise you that you can become a model. And then you realize that all you get is just some photographs.  

In FLY Entertainment, Irene and her team generally take up two kinds of people. One is those people who have already proven themselves in the media industry, and they require people to handle the management on their behalf. The other type of people is those who are very raw, but they possess great potential, and FLY would nurture these raw people into diamonds and eventually into stars. The qualities that Irene looks at are not much of the looks, but more into the talent, hunger, and the attitude.   Two of such examples are Chua Enlai and Mindee Ong, where the former may not have a pretty face, but he carved out a remarkable career in theatres and TV. The latter has the looks and talent, but not the timing. Before getting her big role in the local hits movie 881, Mindee worked for 5 years in short films and surviving through taking part time jobs every now and then before making her mark in the industry today.   A pretty face may not be the necessary prerequisite for anyone to enter the entertainment industry, but it can be of some help.

Being in the entertainment industry for so long and having seen so many beautiful people, Irene’s definition of a gorgeous person is“someone who encompass a lot of personality, someone who is popular, someone who exudes a lot of charm, but not essentially good-looking”, Irene says.  

Lastly, if you are looking for more information about the entertainment industry, you can either go to www.fly.com.sg or follow Irene on her Twitter.

Here's part of my audio interview with Irene.

I was down at Orchard Road with my husband, Alva and my cousin, Joshua. My cousin has this awesome camera, and guess what is the brand? ….. You all are absolutely correct, it is CANON ! But his one is more pro, because my cousin really LOVES photography. He has CANON EOS 5D. Anyway.. while we were walking down Orchard Road, I then saw this very interesting decoration

  Does it remind you of something? …… The RUNWAY for the FINALS !! hahahah…  

  Knowing that nobody was around, I was so tempted to do my pose on the runway.. And yes.. I DID IT ! hahahha….  

  After that.. more people stopped by and looked at me.. some even took picture.. hahaha.. most likely they were tourist So paiseh… hahaha.. but I guess it was nothing compared to the attention that we are all going to get on the runway during the finals @ Zouk..   It's exactly next week guys ! Hahaha… I can feel all the excitement already =)  

Yesterday was my fitting day for the Finals. This time round we went to the Bebe outlet at the ION Orchard. I was supposed to be there at 2.30pm. I reached there at 2.25pm, but as I stepped in I didn’t see any familiar faces. For a moment I thought “Oh no.. am I going to the correct outlet? Is it supposed to be at Bebe Vivocity like last time?” Hmm… I then checked my blackberry, yup.. it is correct. BEBE at ION. But where is everybody?  

  Then I realized, they are all actually at the other entrance of BEBE. BEBE @ ION is so huge.  

 Also, as you can see from the photo, Bebe is having their end season SALE up to 80% !! Wow.. you gals definitely dun want to miss it. =)  

Anyway.. when I stepped in, I met with the other 2 gorgeous people, Raine and Agnes ( apologize if I remember wrongly, but I’m pretty sure it’s you, Agnes rite?) Hahaha.. First time I met them in person, because they didn’t come for the preview last time, so can only recognise them from the photo Well, we didn’t really have much time to talk, cos we were all busy going in and out the fitting room .. Hope to catch up more next week during the finals =)   While I was talking to Dee and the stylist, Verna, suddenly someone opened the fitting room curtain behind me. I looked back and we both got a shock and eventually laughed together.. it was Lili !! the one behind the curtain.. hahhaha =) And here’s the photo that I took with my Canon camera on that day:  

  Nice picture rite? =) I'm so happy to finally meet Lili again. After trying a few outfits, I finally settled for 2 super cool outfit! Will reveal it next week @ Zouk. Lastly, before I left the place, another photo session, this time round, is with the expert Stylists =)  

Yeah.. hahaha.. no kidding !! I have been using Anna Sui for many years already. Guess what was the very first Anna Sui item that I had? It was actually an eyelash curler. I bought that about 3 years ago, recommended by my make up artist. And until now I’m still using it and it is still in a super good condition.

I have been blessed to have quite long eyelashes, Thanks to my mum who made it possible. Do you know that actually there is a trick to make your eyelashes longer? Many people said that you have to cut a bit of your eyelashes when you were baby, then it will grow longer and have more curl. So my mom took the courage to do it for me, and it works! If you are wondering whether did I cut my baby Alvernia’s eyelashes when she was born, you bet I did ! Hahaha….

Anyway, why today I talk about eyelashes and mascara, is because recently I read from the news that the Desperate Housewives star, Dana Delany, actually suffered an eye infection after trying to compete with her costars’ bushy eyelashes. She revealed that she tried his new cosmetic product which promises to help ladies grow lush lashes – but she struggled with the side effects. That’s why, for me it is very fortunate because I dun really need to put fake eyelashes or even use such products who claimed can grow more eyelashes. All I need is just good mascara. And ANNA SUI is definitely the one. My favorite is the ANNA SUI Super Black – Full Mascara.

Initially I just went to the ANNA SUI counter and buy one mascara, but then the sales girl asked me whether I want to buy the Mascara Base too, Well, I never actually used Mascara Base before, but after her explanation, she finally managed to convince me. She said by using the Mascara Base, it will hold the curl even longer and the results will be more define. So I decided to give it a try. In the end I ended up buying 2 mascaras and 1 mascara base =)  

But I’m quite happy, because in the end, the sales girl actually gave me a FREE Anna Sui Make up Bag..

Here it is.. Nice rite? =)  

If you like the make up bag, you can get it for FREE too, simply just go the the ANNA SUI counter and spend min of $120. While stock last ! Anyway.. …so late already, I better go to sleep now.. Tomorrow have a few meeting in the morning, and after that going for my fitting for finals in the afternoon =) Hope to see some of you there tomorrow. Gd Nite everyone !  

Recently, I read the news about a famous couple in Indonesia who recently just got divorced. Ironically, when interviewed, both sides can easily talked non-stop about the other partner’s weaknesses and faults, as if there is really no end to it. And I wondered, this was the person that he/she was married to and fell in love with before. How can everything be that bad? Did they really change as what the other partner said? Personally, I think it’s all a matter of choice.  

I believe relationship is about making choices. A choice to emphasize and concentrate on our partner’s faults or on our partner’s positive qualities.

Let me give you this analogy.

There’s a huge difference in the feeding habits of vultures and bees. Vultures are scavenging birds, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. They fly overhead searching for dead animals. When they spy a decaying animal, they fly down to satisfied their needs. Honey bees, however, look only for sweet nectar. They are very selective as they search through the flowers in a garden. Just as the vultures and the bees always find what they are seeking, so we will always find what we look for in our relationship. If we focus on our partner’s faults or mistakes, we will always find them (anyway, who never make mistakes, right?) and our relationship will be colored by that negative attitude. However, if our daily quest in our relationship is to find and affirm the positive qualities of our partner, we’ll be surprised at how many we find and how those discoveries will enhance our relationship.

Our choices and experiences result in the building of memories, feelings and attitudes which couples carry through to our later years.  

Ask yourself honestly, when you think about your partner, what is the most recent thing that you remember about him/her? Is it about how he was late in fetching you from work? Or when he forgot to accompany you to go shopping? Or is it about how nice when he give you a shoulder massage? Or leave a cute note on your desk?

Well, whatever your answer is, if it is the positive experience, I would like to congratulate you for being the ‘bee who seeks the honey’. Well done! But if what you’ve remembered is not a positive experience, well it’s not too late. I would also like to congratulate you for at least you’ve read my post and you know that you can start to do things differently from today onwards =)   You may be just starting a relationship, or you may be enjoying your 10th wedding anniversary. No matter what your age or length of your relationship, there is still time to make a choice. The memories you are gathering for the future will be influenced by the way you think today. Make your choice today!  

Starting a business and building an empire on your own is never easy, but it is not impossible. There are an increasing number of people today who starts out as a young entrepreneur, looking for all kinds of business opportunities to make it into a career. However, not all can be successful in their first tries.

Elim Chew, the founder of a trendsetter for hip street wear fashion retail store in Singapore 77^th Street, share with you her experiences of starting out as a young entrepreneur through my audio interview with her. Being an expert in retail business, Elim is also a social entrepreneur who founded The Young Entrepreneur Mastery (TYEM), a non-profit academy that supports and nurtures youth entrepreneurship.

Elim was a hairstylist before she started her retail business. She has started her Street Wear fashion empire 21 years ago, and today, 77^th Street has achieved an excellent standing in the local retail market, where it owns 16 outlets in Singapore and a shopping mall called 77^th Street Plaza in Beijing文化广场, China. In addition to that Street Wear is now recognized everywhere around the world. “When we first started people thought we were cult, and we used to be very odd, but today they look at us differently because we are now recognized by the world, recognized by the people, and also recognized by the fashion, high-end fashion as well” she says.

This remarkable success does not drop from sky, but it is through long period of her perseverance, hard work and building the brand that she attained all these achievements. 77^th Street first started as a very small store in Far East Plaza selling iron-on t-shirts and also corporate print t-shirts. Having the spirit of perseverance, flexibility and being opportunistic allowed Elim to grow her business. At that time Elim would agree on any of their business from printing their t-shirts, polo t-shirts, glass, balloons, to providing stirrers and helium tanks. Her advice for young entrepreneurs who want to venture into business is simple. Being opportunistic is the first step. Next is to be flexible. You have to accept all kinds of business that you think you can handle and allow the scope of your business to widen. This can effectively boost the revenue of your business and sustain it, especially at the initial stage of development. You need to do as much as possible by being flexible, so as to gain more experience in overcoming different kinds of challenges, “because entrepreneurship is about experience,” Elim says.

A lot of young entrepreneurs who failed at their businesses because they are jumping into business without experience, and also without a finance budget plan out as well. Elim set up 77^th Street with her hair salon financing the expenses. Financial control is important to help sustain the expenses of the business. A lot of young entrepreneurs “just go into it with high rental, and then roll profit, thinking that if I sell cheaper than next door I can make it, but actually it’s not true. That’s how the market dies,” she says, because this affects the whole chain where the low prices that they’re offering are insufficient to cover their costs of rental and staffs. However, not all failed businesses are your fault. Sometimes, circumstantial changes affect you, and your business fails. In this case, you’ll have to use experiences to solve the problems, and if you do not have enough yourself, you can approach mentors who have more experience for you. Keeping yourself spiritually high would help you as well. Even when things are not doing well, but if your spirit is high, you will be positive in facing the challenges thrown at you.

What kept Elim going and being inspired always is through her work in helping others to achieve success. She has also set up PaTH (Pop and Talent Hub) at Vivocity to help those under-privileged or less-advantaged people in starting their entrepreneurship as well. These people would create crafts or art or anything personally, and sell it through PaTH. Elim says, “I just want people to remember that they can use their hands to make money, and that’s basically a space for creativity. So you got a new business, you got to try something, then you try.” This is how entrepreneurship starts and being active in it would keep your momentum going.

There are a lot of females in the business arena, but there are many factors that stop them from being successful. One of the reasons is because they sacrifice their time for their children or family. They stop themselves from advancing because they want to spend more time with their family; and this is good sacrifice. However, females can be a great entrepreneur as they can multi-task – in being many roles – and they are also very detailed. But of course, it takes a good team of female and male to work together and make the business to excel.

In relation to Female 50 Most Gorgeous People, I asked Elim about her definition of gorgeous, and to her gorgeous is someone who is attractive and good looking, and also with a lot of depth, because beauty also comes from the heart. “When you’re a beautiful person, you love people, and you love what you do, it actually shows on face” she says. Before we ended the audio interview, Elim also said that networking is important in your walk of entrepreneurship or even in life. Females should network with other females during events, and this is where you’ll gain support and advices from people. Stay connected.

Click on the picture to listen to the audio interview"

11.11.08 @9.11am was the happiest moment in my life.

Simply because after 9 months of waiting and close to 24 hours of delivery process (yup!!.. mine was super long hour, and extremely tiring too..), that’s the very first time I saw my baby girl and held her in my arm. And the feeling was really indescribable.

We named her ALVERNIA MARY LIU. I know what you are thinking… if some of you, after reading her name thought that she was born in Mt.Alvernia Hospital, you are wrong !! She was a Mt. Elizabeth Hospital’s baby. We named her ALVERNIA is because it’s a combination of both my husband name: ALVA and my name: RIANA =) also, ALVERNIA means “dearly loved”

And time really flies very fast, without us knowing it, she already 1 year old today…  

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, ALVERNIA !  

Mommy and daddy really love you very much.

Here some pictures that I managed to capture since the day she was born till today.  

I’ve just finished with the celebration of Vern’s birthday. My mom flew all the way from Jakarta just to be able to spend time with her during her birthday. Cool ! We took a lot of picture during her birthday celebration today.

And Thanks to Canon, taking her pictures has never been this easy. Simply because of the super innovative Kid’s function that Canon has that allows me to take picture of active objects without missing any single shots. Will definitely upload the photos in my next update.

So stay tuned !