No Turning Back
Female Malaysia|August 2017

WHEN SHIKIN GOMEZ WAS 15, SHE WAS TEASED FOR HER HEIGHT – HER SCHOOLMATES WOULD TAUNT HER WITH NAMES LIKE PANJANG. INSTEAD OF KEEPING QUIET, SHE WOULD TURN AROUND AND TELL THEM OFF, THAT THEY WERE UNFORTUNATE TO BE SHORT BUT SHE WAS AVERAGE ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS. TODAY, WITH THAT SAME SASSY ATTITUDE, SHE’S BEEN CROWNED THE RUNNER-UP OF ASIA’S NEXT TOP MODEL CYCLE 5. VASENTA SELVANAYAGAM GRABS THE OPPORTUNITY TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS OUTSTANDING YOUNG WOMAN WHO HAS GONE AGAINST THE ODDS TO MAKE MALAYSIA PROUD.

 

Vasenta Selvanayagam
No Turning Back

THE JOURNEY UP FEMALE: HOW WERE YOUR GROWING UP YEARS LIKE?

SHIKIN: “When I was 15, I had to change schools because my parents shifted. So, from SMK Damansara Jaya (where the students were a li’l better), I moved to SMK Damansara Damai 1. I’m proud of the fact that English is my first language but the students here always referred to me sarcastically as the Melayu who spoke English. I was the new kid on the block who was thin, tall and carried the surname Gomez (my dad was a Christian). I was never really bothered about what the students said because I knew they had a different mentality but when they called me papan or panjang, I always turned back and told them off, that it’s really unfortunate that they are short and according to international standards, I’m average.”

F: WHAT SPARKED THE IDEA OF BECOMING A MODEL?

S: “On my 13th birthday, a friend gave me a book that narrated the life of a model. The book was filled with glitz and glamour. The model was travelling around the world in a private jet, going for shoots, walking on the red carpet… everything in that story was so beautiful. I then told myself that I wanted to be a model (at that age, you want to become anything you read!). Then I forgot about it until my friends who studied photography asked me to become their model. I did it as a favour and it felt great. I’m not a person who takes selfies but I didn’t mind people taking pictures of me and I liked how the pictures turned out.”

F: SO YOU’RE FINALLY A MODEL! HOW DID YOU MAKE THAT DREAM COME TRUE?

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