Leona Chin Featured in The Star – RAGE

The Star

Wednesday July 15, 2009
Spicing things up By IAN YEE

A baker, a vandal, a drifter and a hip-hopper.
That’s just how some people would see the four young KLue Blue Chilli Awards 2009 finalists whom R.AGE spoke to recently, in spite of the potential they’ve shown in their respective fields.

But that proves one thing: with the Blue Chillies Award, it doesn’t matter how under-appreciated, misunderstood or even obscure your field of expertise is — if you’re talented and have been making waves in your industry, you’ll stand a chance of getting recognised for your hard work.

Since 2006, the KLue magazine’s award has brought attention to the work of people like indie gig organiser and singer-songwriter Reza Salleh, online youth opinion website youthsays.com co-founder Ng Khai Lee and most recently, social entrepreneur Raj Ridvan Singh, who has been helping youths in Timor Leste get holistic education.

This year, 10 finalists for the award were selected from candidates nominated by the public, and they include an actor, fashion photographer, director, dance choreographer and several others; but the four we spoke to come from even less conventional careers. The winner of the Blue Chilli Award will be announced this Saturday.
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Drift car racer Leona Chin hopes to one day compete on the international stage, especially in the Japan GT.

After going with her guy friends to see some drift events, Leona finally got her chance to try it out when one of her friends, a professional drifter, offered her a few quick lessons. Since then, she’s never stopped burning rubber.

Even as a girl in what’s essentially a male-dominated sport, (there are only three or four other females doing what she does), Leona believes she can continue to carve out a long-term career from her need for speed. “There are a lot of things you can do in motorsports. You can race in local events, be an instructor or who knows, maybe even become an international racer,” she added.

Just like the other finalists, her nomination for the Blue Chilli Award is the result of years of hard work and lots of sacrifices. “We have to practise a lot, because we have to keep improving our times, keep going faster. We practice at an open car park in Shah Alam, Selangor, for drifting and the Sepang International Circuit for track racing,” she said. “It’s also an expensive sport; I spend about RM2,000 every month on my car, mostly on the tyres. It doesn’t really pay well either, so I’m hoping for more sponsors to come along.”