Recently on a Wednesday, I was on my way to the train station and was happily thinking about what sort of fabric I was going to get.
*Tap tap*
A lady randomly tapped on my shoulder. And she's from China, with something held really tightly in her hand.
She was speaking to me in Mandarin, and because it was her native language, it was so fast I had hard time catching on to what she was saying. It was like Chinese rap, at the speed of light.
For a moment I thought she was lost and was asking for directions.
But then she passed me her name card... It was for some modelling agency.
I know and have heard of the scams in Singapore, after all there really isn't that many agencies that have sent "scouts" all over Singapore to look for "potential models".
And because the "scouts" earn money, like $1.50 for every valid name and number you get from the person you hand the name card to, and maybe because I was thinking that the lady was desperate, I just gave her my name and number.
I am not the most confident of my own face, but if I were to send out a body part of me to face the world, I would send my face, or at least my upper body, out.
The next day, I got a call from the agency for an interview the day after.
I went down, with Ah Munna, for that interview which had turned out to be a rather informal briefing about the company.
And for the composite card that every model should own, I was to pay $690 for the most basic one which had 3 or 5 outfit changes.
I had a friend who was from that company back then. But she has since left to join another company because the other company offered her an exclusive contract and she said that she only had to pay 1/3 the amount of what I was told for her composite card. But of course, that was 3-4 years ago.
Time value of money, people.
$100 today is not of the same value of $100 back then 5 years ago.
I was given options, options that would help me in making my decision of joining that company.
I could pay that $690 via 3 payments, and I was given 3 days to think about it.
Today marks the second day.
If it was me back then, I would have grabbed hold of this chance that I was presented with my dying will. That was how badly I wanted to be a model, because having the MODEL status actually reflects to society that you are someone of great beauty.
But now I really am thinking about it, whether this was something I wanted. I want to go to Korea more than anything right now, and I do share the same opinion as another friend, Chu, about this whole pay-money-to-groom-you system.
I seem to always be chasing after this immaterial thing called fame, be it through my blog or Youtube, or just getting picked off the streets by a random stranger to be a model of their company.
Fame doesn't come easy, but it's not like it won't ever come to those who work hard for it. :/
Dear girls who are reading this blog post, I hope to enlighten you on something...
If a company has scouted you off the streets, please bear it in mind that if the company really has all interest in grooming you to be the next top model/celebrity/whatever in the country you are in, then instead of paying, they should be the one who pays for your portfolio.
Singapore is really a small country so having someone who is sponsoring for your portfolio is rare. It has happened before, but it really is very rare.
So please, before you give away your life savings to a dubious company who has picked many many many girls off the street to join their company, really think about it, whether that price is worth it.
You are not even guaranteed jobs. So it's at least $690 for something you might not even get to earn back.
Just in case anyone's wondering, I have decided not to go for it.
There are other ways for me to pursue fame, and I decided that being a model who is represented by a dubious company is just not going to cut it.
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