Saturday, April 8, 2017

SAMANTHA GOH SWEE YUEN, IS A COSMOPOLITAN BEAUTY QUEEN WHO HAS MADE MALAYSIA HOME, A LOVELY, GLITTERING, GENEROUS GEM TO ADD TO OUR GALAXY OF SUPER STARS!

KEE@FSWMAG.COM

THIS SINGAPORE BORN BEAUTY QUEEN AND MOST GLAMOROUS WIFE AND MOTHER HAS A SLEW OF PRESTIGIOUS TITLES AND WORKS TIRELESSLY FOR CHARITY. SAMANTHA GOH CERTAINLY IS THE EPITOME OF BEAUTY AND CHARITY.


Samantha Goh is Mrs Malaysia World 2016/17 and she also won Mrs Classic Most Elegant, Classic Best National Costume and Classic Beauty with Heart. 


She also won Mrs Malaysia International 2016/17 at The Majestic hotel ballroom last October.


2016 was a banner year for Samantha Goh as a month later she cinched the Mrs ASEAN title in Singapore!


Yet she says her  most important, precious and meaningful title is Mrs KKK. 


What's that? Though I am an expert on beauty pageants, even I have never heard of Mrs KKK title unless, God forbid, it refers to the racist Ku Klux Klan! This is impossible so how?


Smiles the ravishing Samantha Goh, "Mrs KKK stands for Mrs Kwok Ka Khiong, my husband's name!"


So clever!


With a name like Samantha Goh or Sam Goh, it was a given she would sometimes be known as Sago! But she preferred to be called Samantha and not even Sam and all her friends do so.


Though born in Singapore, she is practically a Malaysian as she grew up in Johore, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur where she had relatives. "I spent most of my time in Johor Baru", she recalled. Then she decamped to Melbourne, Australia where she studied at Monash University.


Samantha Goh is a true beauty with brains. Looking at her, you first assume she is a Miss Malaysia rather than Mrs Malaysia as she looks 22 as you would never guess she is  all of 42!


She graduated from Monash with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and not contented with that, went on to earn a Masters in Business Systems!


Despite her height, Samantha was never a model and only joined the beauty brigade after marriage and children. This is normal as I know women who joined beauty contests in their youth and lost interest after marriage and having kids while others became keen on 'Mrs' beauty contests after setting up a family. Of course it is easier to look great when you are 18 compared to 48 but ageless beauties like Samantha Goh give 20-somethings a run for the money. 


When you are a timeless beauty like Samantha Goh, it is a matter of time before friends, husband and family members start hankering her to join such pageants.

It took Samantha a long time as she has been married for 10 years and only started participating recently.


She met her husband in Mebourne while both were pursuing their degrees. "We didn't meet at Monash as he was from a different campus."


Samantha Goh attributes her good luck in finding her perfect husband to blessings from Buddha and Kuanyin!


"We met in a temple in Melbourne!" she recalls. "It was at Australia Confucius temple in Brunswick. We were members of a youth group so our paths crossed."


Another factor that drew them closer---both are vegetarians! Or rather, he became one!


Samantha's mother used to take her to temples in Malaysia and Singapore and she started avoiding meat from 12. "I love animals and pity them when they are slaughtered just to feed us.  More so as humans can survive without meat! It quickly became a habit and has been an integral part of my life for so long now. I eat egg but not a lot.


"In KL it is very easy and convenient being a vegetarian. It is not difficult to find organic vegetables. Yes I now vegetables and fruits are living things too but they don't have blood like humans and animals! I also don't eat garlic, onion and leek. And yes, I take my twins to McDonalds and KFC but I eat the chips only. I don't force my kids to be vegetarians as they will decide when older. It is their choice. I also didn't force my husband. He was courting me and as a suitor he decided to sacrifice meat for me!


"I told him early on I will not touch or cook meat. I also said my future partner in life also cannot eat meat since we would be sharing the same bed and be intimate. After the first few dates I asked if being a vegetarian would be an issue. He loved me enough to start being a vegetarian!"

Both Kwok and Goh are Buddhists and Confucians. They worshipped at Tian Tao temple in Melbourne. On weekends they listened to sermons, learned to chant, picked up Mandarin and attended prayer sessions.


"The temple was quite big and had an old folks home too. Speaking of old, I am an old mum as I was 37 when I delivered my twins!" she giggles.


This is the first time she is living fulltime in Kuala Lumpur and is loving every minute of it. Her brother and parents are in Melbourne.


"I believe in feng shui. After marriage we lived in a flat but I could not conceive. Then we moved to the suburbs and I became pregnant! So I believe you need to be in the right place at right time.


"When you move house, your feng shui changes. In the old one, we always had problems with electricity which tended to trip often or work partially. 


"For example, if I boiled water downstairs, the hot water heater upstairs would not work and you couldn't bath as the water would be cold. Or if you used hot water while showering, the electrical supply downstairs would trip. It was getting so ridiculous to the point I could not use the kettle or hair dryer at the same time!

"Or if I flushed the loo downstairs then there would not be any water upstairs! I asked contractors to come but for some weird reasons, most of the time they could not make it! And needless to say, home visits and labour costs are very expensive in Australia."


Samantha Goh seems to live a gilded life but it seems hers is not always a bed of roses. "Remember roses come with thorns! I was involved in car crashes thrice but each time nothing happened to me though I was shocked, frightened and shaken.


"The first time was a car crash where I was a passenger, here in Kuala Lumpur. The second crash was in Shandung in China where I was visiting Confucius's birthplace. My tour bus banged into some sheep and I was flung to the front but luckily I did not suffer any injuries. The third time was in Melbourne when a car banged into my car from behind at the traffic light. I jerked forward and had a whip lash but nothing serious."

She believes her good deeds, prayers and merits earned have offset serious injuries or deflected permanent physical/ mental damages. "Buddha and the gods have protected me to which I am very grateful."


Sweet and kind Samantha Goh certainly deserves all the accolades and blessings from above!


Sometimes it is fated certain unsalubrious things would happen but Buddha, Kuanyin and feng shui can help allay the losses, damages and pain!


MRS ASEAN SAMANTHA GOH  AND DATO KEE HUA CHEE. BELOW ARE PHOTOS OF SAMANTHA GOH AT VARIOUS EVENTS, PAGEANTS AND CHARITY FUND-RAISERS


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"I have an altar at home with Buddha, Laughing Buddha and Kuanyin, plus loads of flowers and fruits as offerings.

"At first I fasted on the 1st and 15th of every month. Then it became fulltime. We attended temple activities during weekends and dated for nearly 2 years. I was already 30 when we met so I started late! I was 32 when we married."


Samantha Goh worked as IT consultant in Melbourne for 10 years. After delivering twins, she felt Malaysia would be a better place to raise her children. 


Her twins are named Alun and Ella and not 'Alan' as she wanted to be different. Her plan was to bring the kids to Malaysia and hubby would visit regularly. But he wanted to follow so they packed up and returned to Kuala Lumpur last year. 


In Australia, once she gave birth, she became a fulltime housewife, sending the twins to kindergarten daycare centre from 7 am to 7 pm.

Successful as they were, it cost the couple A$200 (RM 650) per day! Here in good old KL, it costs just RM 700 per month!



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