
Chua: [My Instagram posts] have to have a certain type of quality and vibe, and I always make sure they are edited to perfection. Crazy collections
Interestingly, Chua was asked to audition for a role in the Warner Bros film Crazy Rich Asians, which is based on the 2013 bestselling novel by local author Kevin Kwan and premiers this week. She has never read the book nor its sequels, and says she declined the offer because of time constraints. “I don’t exactly know what a ‘crazy rich Asian’ is, but if you measure it in terms of shoes and bags, then perhaps you can call me one,” she remarks. The “craziest” purchase she has ever made in her life, she says, is a Hermès handbag that she bought for about $300,000, or the equivalent of a three-room HDB flat in Singapore. The Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Birkin has more than 240 diamonds encrusted on the hardware. According to a press release issued by Christie’s in 2016, the Diamond Himalaya — as the bag is also known — is so rare that only one or two are produced each year, making it one of the lowest production runs for handbags. “I don’t think I’ve done a lot of creative or crazy things with my money, but it was a crazy price to pay for a handbag,” laughs Chua, who admits on hindsight that the superlative piece was a rather impractical buy. “She [the bag] is still sitting there on the shelf and I don’t really take her out a lot.” Besides designer clothing, bags and shoes, Chua shares that she also has a collection of more than 300 Barbie and Madame Alexander dolls, which she used to display at her previous home before she moved to her current home about a decade ago. “They’re all kept in cupboards now, but I’ve always loved dolls, even when I was younger. I always wished to be Barbie with a pink convertible,” she says wistfully. She also has a few hundred Alexandre de Paris hair accessories, which she began collecting when she started buying them for her daughter Calista, who is turning 20 soon, as she was growing up. A ‘wooden’ spoon
Undoubtedly, Chua is far more affluent than the average Singaporean — or the way most would see it, swathed in fame, wealth and glamour. But this was not always the case for Chua, who jokes that she was born with a “wooden” spoon in her mouth rather than a silver one. At the age of 15 and being the eldest of three children, she was already working as a model to help her parents support her two brothers.

Aside from running her skincare line, Chua plans to eventually venture into other businesses in the healthcare and F&B industries . Beyond the camera
Laid out on a porcelain cake stand at the dining table are four Instagram-worthy tarts from Tarte by Cheryl Koh, each split down the middle (after she has snapped a photo of them on her iPhone, of course) so that we can try a variety of flavours without having to eat a full portion. Observing her indulge in the sweets liberally, moving on from cherry crumble to peach in a matter of minutes, I can imagine that her vast collection of food-related shots on Instagram are not just for show. Despite her evident penchant for gourmet dining, Chua discloses that she recently embarked on an intermittent fasting regime, specifically the 16:8 method of only consuming meals within an eight hour window each day, to maintain her svelte figure on top of body contouring treatments. She adds that she also has the genes of her late father, who passed away in 2015, to thank. “I have never, ever been to a gym,” Chua says emphatically when asked. “I refuse. I don’t want to be exercising with other people looking at me... There was a period of time when I was doing HIIT exercises alone at home, but then I got lazy. I now prefer going for machine treatments at La Source Spa [formerly known as LS Philosophy] because then I can do my work at the same time.” Chua’s home may be immensely spacious, but it is often bustling with family and friends. She owns three dogs — a pug, border collie and Cavalier King Charles spaniel — and lives with her mother, daughter and two full-time domestic helpers. Her nieces and nephew visit the house on an almost-daily basis. Her 24-year-old son, Cleveland, is currently studying in London.