Who is Elfira Loy, the Southeast Asian actress with more than 3 million Instagram followers?
We talk to the 24-year-old Malaysian Muslim who first acted at 12, is a digital contributor to Maybelline New York and runs her own cafe and fashion lines
Nurul Elfira Loy is glowing.
When we meet at Maison Libanaise, a Lebanese restaurant in Central, Hong Kong, the Malaysian-born actress is in high spirits.
The following day the globetrotting thespian-turned-social media influencer – better known by her stage name Elfira Loy – will turn 24, so the evening that I see her marks the first of her many birthday celebrations.
Loy, who is a Muslim and has worked in the Malaysian acting industry since she was 12 and is also a television presenter, was last month named as digital collaborator of make-up brand Maybelline New York in Malaysia.
Despite negative reportage about her personal life, which saw her name hit the headlines over the past month after calling off her engagement to Malaysian singer Sufian Suhaimi in February, Loy appears to have moved on.
One look at her Instagram page, which follows her many gallivanting adventures – and our quick chat about her life and career over dinner – confirm Loy’s resilience and her “ain’t nothing can break me” attitude.
Here’s what she had to say about ...