Doing her media rounds in Tokyo as Shiseido's Whitening Ambassador for 2009, Hong Kong actress-singer Miriam Yeung is appropriately clad in a pristine, white pant-suit.

With her dark hair slicked back in a classic ponytail and tasteful diamond bracelets encircling her wrists, she looks radiant and serene - very tame and understated, if you consider her often madcap, bubbly and happy-go-lucky film persona.

In conversation, the 35-year-old is sanguine and philosophical. Ask her how she manages to keep her reputation as fair and spotless as her complexion, and what follows is a treatise on relative values.

"Every experience in life is kind of gain and creation. You can't categorise things into either good or bad only," she replies quietly. "So scandals are ony in the eye of the beholder."

She adds: "When something disastrous happens to you, it's merely a way for you to become more successful. Everybody needs to learn how to fail before they can find perfection in success."

Indeed, this year is shaping up to be a busy and successful one for Yeung.

In January, she won the Most Popular Female Singer at broadcaster TVB’s Jade Solid Gold Awards, unseating the award’s five-year winner and hot favourite Joey Yung.

After a year-long hiatus from making movies, she is preparing to shoot an action-comedy helmed by famed Hong Kong screenwriter James Yuen Sai Sang (The Warlords; He’s AWoman, She’s A Man).

She has also set her sights on breaking into the lucrative mainland China market. Earlier this year, she filmed a drama serial in Beijing in which she played a swordswoman and is hoping to record more Mandarin songs.

When it comes to questions about her skincare routine, the diplomatic star offers more concrete and specific advice.

She reveals that fair skin is something she has to work for: Her skin tans easily in the sun, so she wears sunscreen all year round, even during winter.

To give her skin a break, the star, whose favourite product is Shiseido’s White Lucent Brightening Eye Treatment, tries to go without make-up when she is not working.

A former nurse, she credits her pre-showbiz occupation for grounding her in reality.

Describing her nursing training at the age of 18 as “a very disciplined way to grow up”, she says: “I saw life, death and separation. Once, I told a patient’s family not to grieve anymore as he had already died.

They turned around and scolded me: ‘What do you know? You’re just a lass’.” Such episodes impressed upon her that life is just a cycle and helped her cope with the demands of fame.

Her pensive sincerity is convincing. Early on in her career, she had attracted media criticism for her aloof and blunt nature.

If there was a whitening product for the soul, which personality trait would she want to magically remove?

“When you go overboard with being straightforward, you may hurt other people and hinder your career prospects. It’s easy to recognise this but hard to curb it.

I still need more time to work on this,” she says readily.

Single since breaking up with fellow singer-actor Ronald Cheng in 2004, she displays shades of melancholy when talking about her favourite things.

For example, she says of her favourite actress Drew Barrymore: “She portrays single women who are independent and successful but also increasingly lonely in their personal lives. I think that’s something every single girl can relate to.”

On The Little Prince, her favourite book, she muses that she identifies with the Lamplighter character, who lights and extinguishes a lamp on an asteroid which rotated from day-to-night in a minute.

“Some days, I feel that I’m just clocking in at work without passion,” she says. “After reading the book, you find it easier to forgive other people and yourself.”

So when her Mr Right does emerge, will he be – in accord with her latest endorsement – tall, fair and handsome?

With a hearty laugh, she says: “I like men who are tanned and healthy-looking. If they are too pale, it’d seem as though I need to take care of them.”

This article was first published in The Straits Times.