| Beauty queen with an IQ to match
By Chin Kee Leong
FORMER Miss Sarawak-Malaysia Marlene Lim Hui Nee is no run-of-the-mill beauty queen, blessed, as she is, with a high IQ that matches her good looks.
The 24-year-old looks-plus-brains beauty from Miri recently returned to her hometown after her studies in Perth, Australia. It was a four-year pharmacy course but she had to extend it by one more year because of her involvement in beauty pageants.
thesundaypost talked to Marlene in her office at Club Infinity in Faradale Garden to find out what makes her tick as a model, beauty queen and pharmacist all rolled into one.
The former student of SMK Dato Permaisuri and SRK Jalan Bintang in Miri not only has what it takes to grace the catwalk and win beauty contests but also earn a university degree in a field that requires A grades in science subjects like physics, chemistry and biology.
During the interview, Marlene, a Capricorn, touched on some of the problems faced by the pharmaceutical profession, especially the tendency to give patients prescriptions without a satisfactory explanation.
“I hope to change the perception that people can take any kind of medication without proper advice from doctors or pharmacists. For example, there are many kinds of drugs for high blood pressure but not all are suitable or safe.”
She spent two years in Prime College doing her Cambridge A Levels (science) before leaving for Perth to study pharmacy.
Her secondary education was eventful — most of her teachers remember she was an active and diligent head prefect.
She represented her school in Malay and English speech and debating contests and later also the Leo Club in many events, picking up the Outstanding Secretary Award in 2001 as the only Sarawakian from District 308-A2 to have done so.
“All these helped me a lot in developing my leadership, organisational and public speaking skills.”
Marlene intends to return to Perth for a year-long training to gain professional experience in pharmacy. She will return to Miri to do the required one-year pre-registration service and up to three years of public service working for the government to qualify for the pharmacist’s licence.
“I hope to be able to serve with the Miri General Hospital during this time,” she said.
She speaks Mandarin with a Cantonese accent as a result of picking up the dialect from her housemates during her pharmacy course but she comes from a Hokkien family.
Marlene admits to being rather “tomboyish” while growing up but she was also very studious and active in school activities.
Asked how she got started in modelling, she said it was by chance that she was spotted wearing pants and T-shirts by someone called Josephine Ching from a modeling agency whom she met at a salon.
“She liked my tall lean figure and introduced me to part-time modelling. I was 18 then. My course mates and I were out asking for donations in aid of the Blind Centre at the time,” she recalled.
That was when she shed her tomboy image and took up fashion and modeling seriously.
Winning her first title — Miss Miri-World 2002 — blew her away because she lifted the crown despite her inexperience on the catwalk and lack of fashion or beauty sense.
“I was even more surprised when I won my first national title in the Miss Malaysia Queen International 2006 — I was the shortest and the least experienced,” she confessed.
Marlene wowed the judges who never expected a small town girl from Sarawak to be more knowledgeable and eloquent than her peninsular counterparts.
“Some people even teased that I was a ‘kampung girl’ but I believe if I’m true to myself, people can sense it and good judges can see through pretentious girls,” she said.
In 2005, she won the Miss Sarawak-Malaysia title plus two other subtitles, and was also a finalist in Miss Malaysia-World 2005.
Other titles included Miss Sarawak Earth 2006 plus four subtitles, and a second runner-up spot in Miss Malaysia Earth 2006.
Third in a family of five siblings — two brothers and two sisters — Marlene recalled that her mother was strict “but she is also very supportive.”
Her parents did not stop her taking part in beauty contests — they were confident she could look after herself.
“In fact, mum was very supportive, making time to watch my shows — she even helped choose my wardrobe,” Marlene enthused.
Her sisters gave her ideas and helped look for the things she needed while her father was very proud of what she was doing.
“As for my brothers, they used to tease me about my heavy make-ups,” Marlene fondly remembered.
In Perth, she was placed in the top 12 out of hundreds of contestants in the Curtin Idol 2008 competition.
In her modelling debut, she faced some problems getting used to the catwalk....."
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