November 2007

VJ DENISE

By Lennat Mak

Page Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next

What's life been like for you for the last five years? You took a short break to New York for a couple of months and came back.

I was in New York last year and I learnt so much out of that as well. I had a bit of a hiccup when I came back from New York. My grandmother, whom I'm very, very close to, ended up in hospital. It was very personal. I had to be there everyday for her. That was one of the biggest challenges and struggles that I had. And I think I am comfortable talking about it. Before, I used to go, "Don't worry! Everything is fine!" But now, I am a bit more honest to myself and I know what's really important to me. Fundamentally, my family has always been very important to me. My grandmother was in hospital and it got to a point where she was in ICU and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to smile for the cameras anymore. There was no motivation and it was a struggle every day. It was like, "I don't want to cry." And then you try to be there for your mum, your sister and vice versa. We were all trying to get through life and the daily things that we have to do.

But now, my grandmother is great! I went through six months of physiotherapy with her. She really had a big nose dive that scared the living bejesus out of me. But she's fantastic right now. There was so much tension and stress. But those are the obstacles you go through in life, ups and lows. And this was the big one for me but now the biggest hurdle is over. I'm happy!

Is your grandmother a big influence in your life?

Oh yeah! My grandmother raised me. I think a lot of people look at me and go, "Oh, she's really Caucasian looking!" But honestly, I was born and raised in Singapore. I went to a Chinese kindergarten! And then everything changed and I was thrown into a German kindergarten. But I still have my Chinese life at home with my grandmother who made me this exceptional Chinese buffet of food. She will always be there for me, you know? And I think it's pretty common in Singapore or in Asia to be raised by your grandparents. They are disciplinary but not too disciplinary because they know the one that needs to discipline you is your actual mother. So they are the cooler ones! And my grandmother is cool because she's got a gold tooth. Nobody knows this, but I always admire her gold tooth. I don't know if I should actually say this, but I always thought she's really gangster and that she's from the 'hood. [Laughs]

When you were faced with such a dire family situation, do you somehow feel that the entertainment industry is kind of frivolous by comparison?

I think that goes for every industry. But I enjoy show business. It makes me young and younger. I still feel like I'm a teenager. When you are faced with obstacles, it's harder to conceal. You have a job to do and it's in the limelight. You can't breakdown. You have got to be strong. If you breakdown, then everyone knows and you don't want to explain that. You want a good amount of people to be there for you and that is sufficient for you to do your job. And I was very blessed and lucky to have really good friends.

Do you plan to branch out and explore your options?

I'm going back to my roots before I signed on with MTV, which is fashion. I really enjoy it. I respect how a collection is born. I have a lot of local designer friends and I've got some friends in London and Paris. Every time they come up with a new collection, they go, "Denise, you have to see it and give me your opinions!" And I'm like, "Really, you want my opinion?" And so, I won't say I'm going back to my modeling days but more or less studying fashion and have a more in-depth understanding about the fashion industry. I covered the Singapore Fashion Festival for MTV so I have this fine balance of music and fashion, which is quite my idea of a dream job. Fashion is really related to music. Every music video that you watch, every pair of shoes that Christina Aguilera wears on the red carpet, it comes from a designer. There're thoughts going into that particular shoe. And fashion makes a music video, so it's very relevant.

You really have this passion in your eyes when you talk about fashion. You must really like it.

I really do! I don't know what happened to me. I spent so much time at the hospital looking like a frump. I would go there with my sweat pants and shirt, sleep on the floor or the couch and just pass out. One day, when I looked at myself in the mirror, Florence (MTV Asia's in-house makeup artist) said, "You are looking really bad!" I'm like, "No!!!" And then I went through this make-over and I just put on extra effort and an extra mile to look better. So that's what I do everyday. I like it. [Laughs]

Page Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next