Young and pretty not enough to launch a career, top models say

Being young, with a curvaceous figure and a willingness to wear revealing outfits does not guarantee a successful career as a fashion model, two of Hong Kong's top models say.

Qi Qi and Janet Ma said they were not against the rise in popularity of teenage 'pseudo-models', but their popularity should not give the impression that the girls could skip school and make easy money simply by posing for a few photographs.

Only by living healthily, undertaking professional training and building up a determination to get better could models ensure they could make a career out of it.

Qi Qi said the fact that there were so-called pseudo-models meant there was a market for them, and she agreed that some of them were quite pretty.

'But sexing up too much is not a good thing,' Qi Qi said, referring to some of the racy pictures in photo albums to go on sale at the Book Fair. 'It's useless to be famous for just 15 minutes. I'm not against them, but they should act more down to earth and promote a healthier lifestyle. [Being a model] is not about quitting school and making easy money.'

Ma said the market for young models to simply pose for photographs or act as hostesses at events had been around for a long time, but their popularity was merely a result of the recent media coverage.