Upclose with Mandy Lieu
Model, actress and TV hostess Mandy Lieu adds mistress of ceremony to her repertoire as one of the effervescent MCs at last Saturday’s Mr. Hong Kong 2010 show, along with veteran actresses and MCs Carol “Do Do” Cheng and Christine Ng. She sits down with Johannes Pong for a Hoegaarden.
The Mr. Hong Kong gig was really challenging. I can’t read Chinese, so I translated the script in English, and then when we were doing it live, I had to convert it back into Cantonese.
American father, Chinese mom. That’s how I came to be.
I was raised in Kuala Lumpur and went to a Malaysian government school—everything was taught in Malay. I spoke Cantonese to my mom, picked up Mandarin from my neighbor, and loved reading English.
My first dream was to become a dancer. I have done ballet since I was three. Both my ballet and piano teacher instilled a lot of passion in me. Being a good teacher is not just about imparting the skills, it’s a lot to do with instilling passion.
The first job I did was as a substitute piano and ballet teacher. Then they scouted me and I was the Pantene girl from Malaysia.
I was modeling in Tokyo on and off for a year. Everyone is so utterly professional, with so much dedication to their jobs. And not just the people behind the camera—it’s everyone, even the caterer. It was eye-opening.