Model Amber Chia has come up with a book that is part-autobiography, part-modelling guide. SYIDA LIZTA AMIRUL IHSAN writes.

THREE years ago in wintry Osaka, a model and a reporter walked for what seemed like eternity looking for Takashimaya department store. The model was looking for chocolates and the reporter just wanted to savour her first trip to the Japanese city.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” the reporter asked.

“I don’t know... but I am told it is. We walk some more la and see got or not,” the model said, half shivering in the chilly wind.

“There, there... see?” She pointed at the giant department store, grinning from ear to ear and her cheeks pink in the cold.

That was my first encounter with model Amber Chia. She was doing salabianca’s country campaign with the label’s bosses and long-time friends Allan Chan and Tino Soon.

I have to admit that before I was acquainted with her, I was tickled by her poor command of English, but soon, something about her made me respect her a lot.

Maybe it’s her discipline at work, her warmth or her devil-may-care attitude that makes her a live wire in a group. She’s unpretentious and real.

Even photographer Munira commented how approachable she is.

“She’s so easy to work with. She came with make-up done, doesn’t have qualms to pose anywhere, not even under the sun.”

To mark her 10th year in the industry, Amber came up with a book in Chinese that’s part-autobiography and part-modelling guide for those interested in joining the modelling world.

And I learnt something more about her through her book project.

She is funny: There’s a part in the book in which her mother advised the teenage Amber to marry “someone who has a car”, because in the fishing village where they stayed, a car is a rarity. “Now, all my friends own cars. I don’t know who I should marry,” she giggled.

She wants to reach out to the other races too: The Chinese book will be translated into English and Bahasa Malaysia and photos in the Malay version will also be compiled to suit the taste of the market.

She is honest: The book chronicles her childhood poverty, family crisis and life with her foster parents.

“I have to be truthful. It’s initially embarrassing but that’s the reality of my life,” she said.

The RM29.90 book is published by In Publishers Sdn Bhd and printed on glossy paper with hundreds of photos, including family pictures and those of her growing up in Tawau.

Available at major bookstores, the English version will be available at the end of the month while the Malay version will hit the market end-November.

Amber said she decided to write the book as a guide to young girls who wish to be models.

“Some girls get cheated financially or end up working in nightclubs instead of runways.

“Most people think modelling is easy and that if you are tall and pretty, it’s enough. It’s not. You need hard work, discipline and the ability to stand up for yourself,” she said.

“Like anything else, my first days of modelling weren’t easy. I had to learn from scratch. I was nervous initially. I didn’t know anything about modelling, but I’ve learnt through my experiences and I have got better with time,” she said.

The book took six months to complete with late-night writing daily before she went to bed.

“When I feel and think of something, about my life, my feelings and childhood, I jot them down,” she said.

The most touching bit is about her buying a new house.

“I knew that when I had enough money, I would buy a house. When I was growing up I moved houses a lot and I wished that I could stay at one place... and that’II be my home.”

In December, she will leave for New York to study English and acting. When she returns next year, she wants to concentrate more on acting and not modelling, to do something new that gives her more challenges.

Whether the honesty in the book will be misconstrued by those who think she’s looking for sympathy and publicity, she said: “People either like or dislike me. I cannot change that. I just want to tell the truth.”