She's the heiress and brand ambassador of local hair and beauty chain Jean Yip.

The eldest child of co-owners Jean Yip and Mervin Wee is also a beauty queen. She was crowned Miss Singapore Universe 2009 second runner-up and, more recently, Miss Singapore Chinatown 2011.

But Cheryl Wee insists she's no "princess".

"I live a life pretty much the same as anybody else.

"People may think that I'm a princess maybe because of my fortunate circumstances," said the 24-year-old.

In any case, she now has the battle scars - as it were - to prove it.

The aspiring singer recently survived a bizarre military-style bootcamp to emerge the winner of the 7th China-Asean Image Ambassador 2011 contestin China- the first Singaporean to do so.

The contest aims to promote Chinese culture and international cultural exchange. It was organised by the Chinese government as part of the 7th China-Asean expo, a global trade fair that aims to promote cooperation and development between China and Asean.

The competition was held over 10 days in Nanning, Guangxi province last month.

Wee and 45 other contestants - of whom three were from Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam and the rest from China - were whisked away to Taohua Dao (Cherry Blossom Island) for five days as part of the contest's training programme.

The island is a few hours' boat ride from Nanning and is so remote that Wee could not get a mobile phone signal.

Among other things, she had to wade knee-deep in muddy water and look out for snakes underfoot. She said: "At the island, the organisers asked me if I knew what was 'jun xun'. I didn't know what it was atfirst.

"After they told me it was military training, I immediately contemplated running away!"

Wee said the girls - who had not been told of this programme earlier - had to do drills and march at a training ground facilitated by a hired military commander who gave commands in Mandarin.

Those who were late or did not take the training seriously had to do squats and push-ups.

All participants were given bright pink tracksuits as uniforms, which they didn't get to wash during their time there.

Said Wee: "We ended our days at 1am and woke up the next day at 6am. So there's no way we had time to wash them."

The girls also shuttled between their training area and sleeping quarters in a sampan.

Wee said: "The moment we walked out of the hut (where they slept), it was flooded and we had to walk through the mud with our bags to reach the sampan.

"We rolled up our pants and carried our shoes and when we reached the training ground, we had to clean and dry ourselves and put on new socks."

Despite the hardships she endured during the competition - which included heavy-duty rehearsals for dance items for the grand finale - Wee took things in her stride.

"Even though everything was tough, I saw that there was value in the training and said, 'Okay, I'll just go with it'," she said.

That attitude paid off as the contestants ended up being assessed during their time on the island without their knowledge.

"The trainers were looking at the way we presented ourselves despite being tired and uncomfortable," shesaid.

Wee was sent to China by her management company, Music & Movement, as a way of broadening her portfolio and getting experience overseas.

A representative from the company said that it sent her after discussions with organisers in China, who felt that Wee was suitable for the contest.

The company said it was unaware of the tough training, but thought it would be good to prepare Wee for her singing career.

Apart from winning the title, Wee felt the biggest prize was the life lessons learnt during her time there.

She said: "This competition has opened my eyes to the lengths people will go to build up discipline. "It taught me that no matter where you are, you have to be humble and down to earth."

On taking over her mother's empire, Wee - who has a younger sister, Rachel, 23, and younger brother, Russell, 16 - insists it's not a matter of direct "inheritance".

"My parents believe strongly in meritocracy when it comes to work," she said.

As a 10-year-old girl, she remembered following her mother to work at the reception counter and giving out haircut vouchers at road shows and selling coupons.

Today, Wee works part-time for her mother's company as a management trainee for the six nailcare stores under the Jean Yip Group.

"I saw the store grow and I've always understood how difficult it is to earn money," she said. Although she has the option to go full swing into the business her mother built, Wee has always liked the idea of being in the limelight and a showbiz career.

Wee, who graduated from the National University of Singapore with an honours degree in psychology, is a full-time artiste with Music & Movement, which is producing her first Mandarin album.

She earns from $1,000 to $1,700 a month, depending on the number of events she is engaged to performs at.

On trying to break into the entertainment scene via the beauty pageant route, Wee said: "I didn't know which avenues to go into at first. My singing isn't that fantastic and I didn't have much experience acting-wise.

"Then I saw how (MediaCorp artistes) Joanne Peh and Jade Seah went on to have careers at MediaCorp after joining Miss Singapore Universe and used it as aplatform."

Her latest experience at the 7th China-Asean Image Ambassador 2011 re-affirmed the values that she strongly believes in.

She said: "For anything that you do in your life, you have to be mentally and physically prepared. "It was a reality check because these qualities are important for me in order to survive in the entertainment industry."

This article was first published in The New Paper.