Beauty With An Iq To Match
FORMER Miss Sarawak-Malaysia Marlene Lim Hui Nee is no run-of-the-mill beauty queen, blessed, as she is, with a high IQ that matches her good looks.
The 24-year-old looks-plus-brains beauty from Miri recently returned to her hometown after her studies in Perth, Australia. It was a four-year pharmacy course but she had to extend it by one more year because of her involvement in beauty pageants.
thesundaypost talked to Marlene in her office at Club Infinity in Faradale Garden to find out what makes her tick as a model, beauty queen and pharmacist all rolled into one.
The former student of SMK Dato Permaisuri and SRK Jalan Bintang in Miri not only has what it takes to grace the catwalk and win beauty contests but also earn a university degree in a field that requires A grades in science subjects like physics, chemistry and biology.
During the interview, Marlene, a Capricorn, touched on some of the problems faced by the pharmaceutical profession, especially the tendency to give patients prescriptions without a satisfactory explanation.
“I hope to change the perception that people can take any kind of medication without proper advice from doctors or pharmacists. For example, there are many kinds of drugs for high blood pressure but not all are suitable or safe.”
She spent two years in Prime College doing her Cambridge A Levels (science) before leaving for Perth to study pharmacy.
Her secondary education was eventful — most of her teachers remember she was an active and diligent head prefect.
She represented her school in Malay and English speech and debating contests and later also the Leo Club in many events, picking up the Outstanding Secretary Award in 2001 as the only Sarawakian from District 308-A2 to have done so.
“All these helped me a lot in developing my leadership, organisational and public speaking skills.”
Marlene intends to return to Perth for a year-long training to gain professional experience in pharmacy. She will return to Miri to do the required one-year pre-registration service and up to three years of public service working for the government to qualify for the pharmacist’s licence.
“I hope to be able to serve with the Miri General Hospital during this time,” she said.
She speaks Mandarin with a Cantonese accent as a result of picking up the dialect from her housemates during her pharmacy course but she comes from a Hokkien family.
Marlene admits to being rather “tomboyish” while growing up but she was also very studious and active in school activities.
Asked how she got started in modelling, she said it was by chance that she was spotted wearing pants and T-shirts by someone called Josephine Ching from a modeling agency whom she met at a salon.
She liked my tall lean figure and introduced me to part-time modelling. I was 18 then. My course mates and I were out asking for donations in aid of the Blind Centre at the time,” she recalled.
That was when she shed her tomboy image and took up fashion and modeling seriously.
Winning her first title — Miss Miri-World 2002 — blew her away because she lifted the crown despite her inexperience on the catwalk and lack of fashion or beauty sense.
“I was even more surprised when I won my first national title in the Miss Malaysia Queen International 2006 — I was the shortest and the least experienced,” she confessed.
Marlene wowed the judges who never expected a small town girl from Sarawak to be more knowledgeable and eloquent than her peninsular counterparts.
“Some people even teased that I was a ‘kampung girl’ but I believe if I’m true to myself, people can sense it and good judges can see through pretentious girls,” she said.
In 2005, she won the Miss Sarawak-Malaysia title plus two other subtitles, and was also a finalist in Miss Malaysia-World 2005.
Other titles included Miss Sarawak Earth 2006 plus four subtitles, and a second runner-up spot in Miss Malaysia Earth 2006.
Third in a family of five siblings — two brothers and two sisters — Marlene recalled that her mother was strict “but she is also very supportive.”
Her parents did not stop her taking part in beauty contests — they were confident she could look after herself.
“In fact, mum was very supportive, making time to watch my shows — she even helped choose my wardrobe,” Marlene enthused.
Her sisters gave her ideas and helped look for the things she needed while her father was very proud of what she was doing.
“As for my brothers, they used to tease me about my heavy make-ups,” Marlene fondly remembered.
In Perth, she was placed in the top 12 out of hundreds of contestants in the Curtin Idol 2008 competition.
In her modelling debut, she faced some problems getting used to the catwalk.
“I wasn’t taught the basics — I learned from doing shows and watching videos. Going overseas and participating in fashion shows and events also helped.”
Relating her experience in beauty contests, she said people tended to take her less seriously because she was from Sarawak and did not dress up or put on make-up all the time.
“But I surprised them when I stepped onto the stage, especially during the Q & A,” she said.
Another problem was befriending people who didn’t really take her as a friend as “all they think about is winning and getting famous.”
According to Marlene, although most pageants seem to highlight charity as the main theme, most times, it’s not really the case. Usually, it’s orientated towards publicity, profit and fame.
She claimed the results could sometimes be pre-determined, especially when the winner, other than having a pretty face, could neither speak proper English nor have a deep knowledge of Malaysian culture or history.
“Sometimes, girls are chosen just to make up the numbers — they do so many previews that the whole meaning of ‘true women essence’ is lost because the whole thing feels like a showgirl contest,” she said.
She also noted that local beauty pageants were getting more commercialised.
“I guess that’s why the quality of participants has gone down because educated girls are not keen to take part. I’m a straightforward person — I say it like it is.”
To comments that it’s degrading for women to parade on catwalks in bikini like in a cattle show, she said everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.
“The organisers are responsible to make the girls look elegant even in their bikinis. If I’m asked to do anything indecent in swimwear, I will voice my opinion because at the end of the day, I (not the organisers) will be judged by the audience. Sometimes the girls just follow what they are told to do.”
She said the main purpose of a swimwear round was to show the healthy body of a woman … that she was not anorexic or anything extreme.
“It also portrays her confidence and how well she carries herself in public. A woman will never look cheap if she knows how to carry herself.”
Marlene has groomed many models and beauty contestants, among whom are Amy Teo (first runner-up Miss Sarawak World 2006), Charlene Chai (Miss Sarawak Model of the World 2008 and first runner-up Miss Chinatown Sarawak 2007) and Natalie Chiaw (Miss Malaysia Global Queen 2008, Miss Global Queen 2008 International Level Miss Charm and second runner-up Miss Cheongsam Malaysia 2008).
On the difference between modelling and beauty contest, she said the former usually did not have a Q&A session and even if it did, it won’t so important compared to beauty pageants.
“In modelling, body proportion, height, poise as well as catwalk and posing skills are very important, not forgetting being photogenic. Sometimes, a model can have an attitude or other social problems but these are often excused. A modelling career usually flourishes following a successful contest — the models can then get more assignments and endorsements.”
On the other hand, she pointed out, a beauty pageant focused more on personality, the Q&A session and the way the contestants think and express themselves.
“Most judges can see if the answers are memorised or if they do not come from the heart. Sometimes, a tall and pretty girl can be the centre of attention but does not win due to lack of personality.
“Contestants should have a standard acceptable criterion — height, education level or experience — and are expected to carry themselves well in public as they represent the desirable qualities of women in general.
“Upon winning a pageant, a beauty queen gains social recognition and normally carries out various charity works or endorses a cause she believes in,” she said.
On the prospects of a modelling career in Miri, Marlene said an aspiring model was paid up to RM50 per show while higher rates like RM150 or more may be offered to title-holders. Models could get higher rates in West Malaysia and overseas.
“Sponsors and organisers prefer title-winning models because of public expectations and should therefore be willing to pay more for the fame and increased publicity.
“I feel sorry for title-holders who grab just any offers — even when the rate is low — because it will lower their value in the eyes of the client,” she noted.
Marlene was fortunate to have been guided by the right group of people. To aspiring models and beauty queens, her advice is to stay focused and not be distracted by the ‘glamour’ of the event.
She strongly believes academic qualifications are very important for a secure future, saying beauty and youth cannot last forever.
Asked if she intended to migrate to Australia, she said she would return to settle down in Miri after her training in Perth. She has plans to develop her career in event management and pharmacy both in Malaysia and Australia.
Although the two fields are very different, Marlene has a knack for management and multi-tasking — she is used to handling a few projects simultaneously and always ready to learn new things and improve.
She said she was holding on to event management because she owed it to the people who had helped and were still helping her.
“Event management will still be a part of my life — I’ll continue to do it for charity. Also, it’s important to have responsible people around — it makes the job a lot easier because things get done.”
Marlene devotes a lot of her time to charity work … and was in the forefront of organising the recent National Autism Society of Malaysia (Nasom) Charity Fashion Gala Runway Show on Dec 19 at Boulevard Fair. All the proceeds, including salaries of her models and her own, were donated to the Nasom Miri branch.
Among the charity events and fashion shows she had organised were Model Search of the Year 2005 (national level) where nearly RM40,000 was raised for Miri’s first Palliative Centre in the General Hospital and the Miss Model of the World Miri-Sibu-Bintulu 2007.
Ultimately though, she intends to concentrate more on her career as a pharmacist and her sisters will help her run a new studio-cum-boutique they are setting up in Perth this year.
Her hobbies include reading, singing (in any languages), karaoke, and dancing (especially modern and belly dancing). For holidays, she prefers Hong Kong, Singapore, or China.
For the moment, Marlene, a big fan of Hollywood actor Richard Gere, has no time for romance but admits to being particularly fond of “someone.”
On marriage, she said: “Only when I’m ready and when the right guy comes along.”
She loves children and her whole family is crazy about kids.
“I would love to have three to five kids … five is my dream number,” she said.
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