Gadis Melayu

At first I was invited to be the judge for two of the auditions in Kuala Lumpur to select the candidates for a reality show organized by TV9 called Pencarian Gadis Melayu. This second season they are looking for extraordinary urban malay women with multiple talents, great personality and creative attributes and skills.

The auditions started a month ago and the search was conducted all over the states of Malaysia.

I was given the privelage to conduct the one in Kuala Lumpur together with Adam Salleh the Chief Editor from Berita Harian, Izza Saffinaz Ibrahim , the Editor of Cosmopolitan magazine and Nurfarahin Jamsari from the Brand Management of TV3.

I must say that I do have high expectations from the candidates as I believe that we women of the new millenium must be aware of our strengths and use them to our own advantage.

However during the two days audition I found that most of the candidates were truly dissapointing. They came unprepared not only physically but also mentally. I mean , would you turn up to a job interview that you so much wanted in jeans , worn out T-shirt and oh my god.....slippers?! Ok so I could still tolerate the jeans but slippers ...no way. I'm talking about slippers not sandals. Bear in mind that this was an audition for Gadis Melayu of whom will be trained as tv presenters. Is this what Gadis Melayu is all about and is this the message you are trying to convey? And oh by the way ...no make up and greasy hair and complexion. Come on ladies , don't you love yourselves?! So what do you expect from us?

Appearance is one thing but atitude is another issue here...When asked what have they prepared to show us, the answer was, ' Oh I just came to try my luck as I just accompany my friend but i'm interested to be a newscaster or presenter.....'. Hhmmm.....should I say more?

I can still recall back the time when I was preparing myself to go for a job interview with Malaysia Airlines as a Flight Stewardess. I preapared my attire a week in advance and did my research about MAS and mingled with some of the stewardesses to get some hints of their work culture. I prepared my own resume not to mention I re- checked and re-done it several times until I was truly satisfied with what I will be presenting to them. To me , image is perception. I always tell myself be the best that you can be and do the best that you can do then the rest leave it to the almighty.

Nobody knew about the interview as my parents initially objected to the idea but my uncle was the only one who said to me 'Every job is a profession and you will be a professional if you do it professionally'. So i took it from there and of course with much determination , courage and hardwork , I got the job and worked there for 7 years!.

It all comes back to how much you want it and how far would you go to get it. Hard work pays and I never believed in short cuts coz it does not last. So ladies if you are one of them reading this I only have good intentions to share this with you. Never be a victim of your own limited beliefs. Believe in yourself , don't hesitate and show to the world what you've got.

By the way now they hired me to be the host of Gadis Melayu. Thank you Tv9 for the generosity.

To all the 12 candidates chosen to be in the show , all the best to all of you. This is the beginning of an interesting journey and make sure you make the best out of it.

Quote:' Give A Girl The Right Shoe And She'll Conquer The World'- Bette Midler.