You'd never guess that beauty-queen-turned-singer Soo Wincci (pronounced win-see) was teased mercilessly about her weight as a child.
After all, Miss Malaysia 2008, who has five albums under her belt, is a picture of elegance, standing svelte at 1.7m and weighing 54kg. These days, she gets on the treadmill one or two hours every day, in order to look fit.
Recounts Soo, who is from Petaling Jaya in Selangor: "I was the biggest girl in my year when I was about eight years old. I was 55kg, but quite short, with a height of 1.5-something metres.
"My friends used to call me Godzilla and say that I shouldn't go to the canteen lest I finish all the food," says the down-to-earth 28-year-old with a hearty laugh.
Her weight is just one of the many hurdles Soo had to overcome on her journey to becoming a singer.
Music was never the plan...
The only daughter (she has two brothers) says her parents, who run their own business, were initially against a career in showbiz.
At 16, she fell in love with singing after attending music classes at the Lee Wei Song school of music in Malaysia.
"That changed my whole life.
"I've always loved to sing, but before I received vocal training I was tone deaf and struggled with stage fright," she says.
But her father saw the lessons as a waste of time.
"I neglected my studies a bit because I had to attend so many rehearsals and we started arguing because of that," she explains.
"Music was never the plan.
"My parents are traditional, and I dreamt of being a doctor because I was very interested in science then, especially chemistry," adds the self-confessed "tuition freak".
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Hanky Panky in the music industry
Despite his initial reservations, Soo's father eventually relented after seeing her passion for music.
But first, she had to promise him that she would keep clear of the industry's sleaze.
"Especially at smaller competitions, you really need to be careful. They can offer you anything. They'd put it in a very nice way: 'I think you have potential to win, can you come out with me for dinner, maybe we can chat about it.' I just tell them I don't do this kind of thing," she says.
Soo claims she has not taken up such offers and if she goes to dinner with the men, her parents tag along.
"I've heard stories of other girls getting into this sort of stuff, but I don't blame them because everyone wants different things," she says.
"It's all up to your conscience - as long as you think it's okay, then go ahead."
The shady requests extend beyond Malaysia. She has been asked by producers if she is the sort who would "pei chi fan" (a phrase which could also mean sleeping with someone).
She admits she has been tempted before, especially because the market is competitive and it is expensive to launch an album. But Soo claims she has stuck to her conviction to make it on her own. She took a RM1 million (S$396,000) loan to fund her career.
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(Photos: Soo Wincci, Beyond Artistes, The Daily Chilli, The New Paper)
Click on the photos for more tips from the beauty queen and pop star.
