Doctor Allysha Tan wins Face of Malaysia 2021

Allysha Tan was declared the Face of Malaysia 2021 female winner in a dazzling joint grand finals of the 2021 Face Of Malaysia (FOM) and Face Of Asia Junior (FOAJ) modelling competition held at the Manhattan Ballroom of Berjaya Time Square Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on April 3.

The 29-year-old psychiatry medical officer, currently attached to a hospital in Johor Bahru, beat 10 other models to take the title.

First runner-up went to model Khloe Hoe, 24, from Seremban.

The FOM 2021 male winner was Aaric Lai.

Shining star Isabelle Tan was named Grand Champion Overall at the Face of Asia Junior (FOAJ) 2021, which was categorised by age group of Little Star (4-6 years old), Rising Star (7-8 years old), Shining Star (9-12 years old) and Teen Star (13-16 years old).

“Winning this title has really been a dream come true for me, and it will definitely be a moment I’ll cherish,” said Allysha who also won the Best Catwalk title.

The win was a defining moment in her life.  

“Although I competed with a mindset to win, at the same time I wanted to enjoy the journey, to just be myself and to do my very best. I’m truly honoured to be able to carry this title for the rest of my life while being a role model inspiring others.

“I’m so thankful to Amber Chia, Amber Chia Academy, as well as my beloved family and friends for always believing in me.”

Allysha’s childhood passion in modelling eventually led to achieve her dream of becoming a successful model after she had achieved her ambitious goal to become a doctor. She pursued her modelling dreams at Amber Chia Academy and has not regretted.

“Modelling has always been my passion and walking for international fashion shows is my goal. I started modelling after winning #IAMNEXT New Face Model Search 2019, and thanks to Amber Chia Academy, I was given the opportunity to learn from the very best.

“Driving from Johor Bahru, where I’m currently residing, to Kuala Lumpur city just to attend my modelling classes was worth it, even when I had to return to work the very next day. From then on, I’ve had great experiences walking for some amazing fashion shows,” said Allysha, who stands 179cm (5′ 10.5″) tall.

Hailed from Penang, she moved to Kuala Lumpur during her secondary school for ice skating, then spent seven years at Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University in Russia, before she returned with a medical degree (M.D) to Kuala Lumpur in 2015 for her housemanship training.

Alongside her doctor career, she is also a certified figure skating coach and choreographer since 2015 and has led many skaters won medals in competitions. She remains a postgraduate student majoring in Masters of Business Administration in Healthcare.

As a former national athlete having been actively involved in the skating scene since 1999, Allysha had accomplished many personal achievement: she is the Malaysia National Figure Skating Championship Medalist 2006-2008, the Gold Medalist at numerous Ice Sports Industry (ISI) competitions around the world and competed at the Winter Universiade Erzurum 2011 in Turkey.

Allysha is an inspiration. She juggles multiple roles as a doctor, an ice-skating coach and choreographer, a post graduate student and now taking up an additional role as a role model, and she seems like she can do it all and finds satisfaction in them.

“You may ask, how do I do it? I believe in time management and being ambitious – to have big dreams and to pursue them all. Because if we believe in ourselves and put our heart and soul into our dreams, we will be capable of achieving great things,” she said.

After winning the Face Of Malaysia, Allysha has now set her eyes on bigger goals and bigger successes, and that is to win the Face of Asia 2021 title.

For first runner-up Khloe Hoe, at 174cm (5’ 8.5”) tall, she never thought she would win the contest but she eventually won not one but three titles. The other two titles won were EDCG Subsidiary Award and Most Photogenic.

“I feel so happy and a big surprise that I won three titles. It never crossed my mind that I could be the winner and I think everyone is good enough to be winners. I’m thankful because all my hard work and sacrifices were worth it in the end and I’m able represent our country to Asia,” said Khloe, who had represented Malaysia to the Miss Harmony World 2019.

“I always dream of becoming a successful professional model since my teen years. So I started my modelling with a fashion show in 2019. I feel that it’s “something” big that I want to achieve and really passionate about. I believe that, soon or later, you will find that as long as you persist, you will get rewards.”

Allysha Tan, Khloe Hoe and Aaric Lai will represent Malaysia at the international leg of the Face of Asia 2021 competition, which is slated to take place in November 2021 in Seoul, South Korea; while Isabelle Tan will receive an award and invitation to the 2021 Asia Model Festival (AMF) Awards in Seoul.

“After more than 10 years of organising model competitions, I have to say that this one is the most challenging one because of the Covid-19 delays and restrictions, but I am so touched to everyone for not giving up on me and my team, our wonderful sponsors and business partners, as well as our incredible contestants and their supportive family members,” said organiser Amber Chia.

The top model and principal of Amber Chia Academy also added that “it really has been a very long journey for our finalists and they have really shown us what great winners they are tonight, and I’m so proud of them.”

All the winners were selected by a panel of seven judges who included Face Of Asia Pacific 2019 Lee Xuan, Face of Malaysia 2019 Leaf, Amber Chia Academy makeup guru Desmond Yoi, Malaysia’s 1st top male supermodel Joseph Chow, Asia Instafluencer Marketing founder Calvin Leo, 8Lab Studio fashion photographer Jessie Leong and Sisters Magazine editor-in-chief Yeoh Eng Seng. 

The 2021 Face Of Malaysia (FOM) and Face of Asia Junior (FOAJ) modelling competition was jointly organised by Amber Chia Academy and the Asia Model Festival Organizing Committee (AMFOC) based in Seoul, South Korea.

Originally scheduled for 14^th March 2020 and delayed several times for over a year following the Covid-19 pandemic, it was finally held successfully with guests strictly complied with the health and safety standard operating procedure (SOP) set by the government.

See the full list of winners here.

FACE OF MALAYSIA 2021 WINNERS LIST