Who am I?

I SERIOUSLY think I look like everyone and anyone.

Throughout my life, people have been telling me I look like so-and-so. Or they find me familiar but simply can’t recall where they have seen me before, or who I resemble. Over the years, I’ve gotten used to such remarks and will usually smile or shrug it off. But if I’m in a really bad mood, I will snap at the person. For example, some years back, a stranger stopped me on the streets and asked if I were Ms Tay. I lost my cool and said “No, I’m Ms Choo!”. The poor lady got a scare and walked off sheepishly.

Not only do I look like numerous so-and-sos, I also look Malay, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese and Taiwanese. In Singapore, some taxi drivers speak to me in broken English because they think I’m a fair Malay or Indian. And I get stopped along Orchard Road on weekends by card promoters who ask if I’m Singaporean. I usually shake my head and pretend to be Filipina. In Bangkok, the Thais told me I looked more Thai than Singaporean. In Ho Chi Minh, the locals spoke to me in Vietnamese. When I was in Taipei, a Singaporean expat thought I was Taiwanese. But the most ridiculous instance was the time when a former colleague asked me if I had Eurasian blood. I think she was either seriously myopic or trying to find favour with me.

So who am I really? Well, sometimes when I look at myself in the mirror, I see Pamela Anderson.

Posted in: My Life Story