I have time in the morning to
exercise, then send my son
to school before going to the
office. Today, I [squeezed in] a
horse-riding lesson ’cos I’m
going to Mongolia and will
be going horse-riding there. I
may have a second exercise
session at the office — we
have a gym, basketball court and pool there
— and try to get the models in for a group workout.
Usually after office hours, I’ll head out for social
engagements — dinner, drinks or events — and then
I’ll wind down at home.
With Instagram and #OOTDs these days, it seems
like many people think of themselves as models.
Is this helping or hindering the industry? The
industry has changed for sure, and there’s no way we
could’ve stopped it. Everything now is so accessible,
so young wannabes can just find the e-mail addresses
of well-known photographers and ask them, “Do you
want to shoot me?” I wouldn’t say it’s audacity, but
the confidence of young people these days who think
that it’s okay to do that is quite interesting. Whether
it’s realistic is a different story altogether. Just ’cos
your friend takes a beautiful picture of you and you get
10,000 Instagram likes doesn’t make you a model —
it makes you a pretty girl. It’s up to the young individualsto keep a good head on their shoulders, be realistic and
not get too caught up in their online persona.
You started modelling at 15. How do you think
your 15-year-old self would handle this whole
social media thing? (Laughs) It’d be quite a shocker
to me. My 15-year-old self was just so awkward, even
though I joined and won the modelling competition
[held by now-defunct Go magazine]. I took part [even
though I was very shy] ’cos we were bunch of girls who
thought, “Oh my god, you’re so pretty, so you must do
a photo shoot!” (Laughs) It’s one of those things that
girls at that age did at the time. There was no Internet,
even phone calls had to be made from the landline at
home. So publications were the only things we had that
allowed us to dream about this glamourous life of being
a model.
For more info, go to http://www.mintsingapore.com.Son-shine and rainbows: Serena often takes
up modelling gigs with her six-year-old son, Evan,
who does about three to four campaigns a year.
Not bad for someone who’s been modelling since
he was four months old. “His first was a campaign
we did for Guardian Pharmacy. We sell ourselves
as a mother-son duo — it’s easier [to work] because
we have that bond and chemistry. It’s fun for him.
But if it’s a full-day shoot, it’s hard for kids to
manage and he has meltdowns once in a while, so I
won’t let him do it,” she says.STORY (^) JASMINE TEO PHOTO CHEE YAN
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