What would inspire a Hong Konger to come to Kuala Lumpur to pursue a career in the entertainment industry? For many Malaysians, especially the Chinese, Hong Kong would be the ideal place to chase their dreams as a celebrity, given the chance. It was quite the contrary for Chui Ling, co-anchor for Melody FM's breakfast show, Morning Boss. Here, she has found not only success and a great career, but here she has also found home.

Chui Ling, who is fluent in Cantonese and English, is a graduate from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Genetics Engineering. She's not only smart, she's also very perceptive. She has raised the bar for Chinese radio by discussing about other subjects, such as current affairs, education and property.

A popular choice as emcee, she is a chameleon when engaging audiences in any event or situation. She has hosted a variety of events, from product launches to annual dinners to seminars and even sports; commentating in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand.

When one has successfully built a brand around themselves, it is only natural to expand into entrepreneurship, and in her case, apply her vast experience as an influencer and share it with many others, by co-founding a personal branding and public speaking school, School of Charisma.

This creative and multi-talented businesswoman also helms a boutique media and production agency, aW Communications; which has over the years, grown impressively due to its capability to deliver competitive and relevant solutions.

Q&A SESSION

Q: Hi Chui Ling, can you share with us what a typical day is like for you? A: I usually wake up at about 4a.m, get myself ready and go to the studio by 5.30am, as my show starts at 6a.m. After wrapping up the morning show at 10a.m, I'll go to my own office to start the second half of the day circa 11a.m. Work usually continues until around dinner time, unless I have events or evening engagements. Otherwise, I'll go home and spend time with my family. This is basically my routine from Monday to Friday.

Q: How do you manage your time and busy schedule? A: I do a lot of leveraging because I understand that I need to do a different level of work. I leverage on my producer for the production part. And then I leverage on other people because I also have a school called the ‘School of Charisma'. That's how we grow, because one pair of hands and one person won't be able to do much. By leveraging, I can buy a lot of time to concentrate on other things like strategic planning. Secondly, I know how to steal time. Or as we call it, "borrow time” (laughs). For example, I make use of technology. On average, I read about eight newspapers a day. I rely on technology a lot, by using newspaper apps. So, wherever I am and no matter what I do, I will be able to catch up on the latest headlines.

Q: I'm curious to know, as I'm sure many of your fans are too. Why did you decide to go with the name Wong Chui Ling instead of Angel Wong? A: The name Angel was used when I was in Catholic school back in Hong Kong. As I grew older, I started to feel that this name Angel didn't suit me. So when I came to Malaysia, I decided to drop the ‘Angel' and just go by Chui Ling.

Q: Let's discuss why you decided to move to Malaysia. Why here instead of pursuing your career back home? A: I used to be a serious backpacker when I was in uni, and when I graduated, I realized that I haven't been to any Asian countries at all. So, after graduation, I borrowed some money from my parents and went travelling, first to Singapore, where I stayed on for six months and then to KL. What I noticed about KL was that the city was so different from where I grew up in. I ended up getting one job offer after another and soon, I found myself stuck here (laughs).

Q: On your show, Morning Boss, not only do you talk about entertainment and pop culture, but you also touch on other subjects like current issues. How did you start doing this, was it ever supposed to be a major part of your show? A: I travel a lot to countries such as China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan and what I noticed from my travels and observations is that the people from all these countries actually have very good general knowledge and grasp of what's going on in their countries. For example, if you were to strike a conversation with an auntie in Hong Kong, she will be able to explain to you pretty well about the political and financial situations in the country. I, then, wondered why it is in Malaysia, the general knowledge among the people is averagely weak. And I soon realised that in Malaysia, people are very much influenced by the media. So, I proposed to my producer to create a show that will discuss current affairs and promote general knowledge amongst the public. The aim of the show is to educate the public with info relevant to them.

Q: What advice would you give the Gen Y-ers on property investment? A: I'd say that you need to do a lot of homework and you'd need to know how to differentiate between investment and speculation. When I bought my first property at age 23, it was all based on speculation. Needless to say, I lost a lot of money. So, I started following the current news and trends relating to property investment. Buying property is not like window shopping where you can just open a newspaper and pick something. You must actually go and ‘feel' the property yourself. You can do this each week and later decide if you like the property enough to buy it. Once you have committed to a mortgage, you will have less flexibility, so be sure to make a safe choice. Do plenty of research and do make a safer purchase as your first property investment.

Q: Have you been to Sabah before? If so, what do you think about it? A: Yes, I have been there a couple of times and I still look forward to being there again soon.

Q: What do you want to achieve in life, even after everything that you have accomplished? A: I have different targets for different phases in my life, and I don't think I will have all the time to accomplish all I want, because as soon as I've accomplished one thing, there would be another thing to accomplish. But that is exactly the driving force that makes life so much more interesting and exciting. Now, that I have my family, I have a bigger picture to work on and it will be more meaningful.