With a path fraught with controversy and personal demons, Alicia Amin has managed to push boundaries and use her voice, speaking up for herself and those who can’t
Alicia Amin is hungry. She orders a Malaysian-style beef broth dish served with rice when we meet up at Ben’s at 3.30 in the afternoon. She skipped lunch that day, as she was checking out of St Regis KL. I ask her if it was her first time staying there. No, she replies. She had to be there for an event so she booked a suite there to get ready for the big night. “I was already a model for eight years at the time so it was a big deal for me to be recognised by people in the industry, like a personal validation at all the effort I have put into my work.” She remembers thinking it was a nice hotel so she kept that in mind, hence the staycation.
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Modelling in Asia
The eldest daughter of a heart surgeon, Alicia was a bright, straight-A student and undertook a double degree in psychology and social work in RMIT University. She began modelling at age 15 and had stints in India, Qatar and Germany. Her participation in Asia’s Next Top Model cycle 5 had thrust her into It model status and while she did gain a lot of bookings following that, it was still difficult breaking into the European market. “I was hoping that AsNTM gave me some weight but they don’t care. The agencies were like, congratulations for everything that you’ve achieved but I don’t know what 80k followers from Asia is going to do for us here,” Alicia says, who was referring to her number of Instagram followers at the time. The refusal probably also had to do with the strong market preference for Chinese and Indian features; Alicia notes that models with Southeast Asian features have yet to be casted on the runways, and she hopes that time will soon come. However, she adds: “I always appreciate that kind of honesty more than people who beat around the bush. That equipped me with what I need to make the decision, to realise that your opportunities are back home right now.”