Where i am from

This Is Where It Began

I’ll give you a brief summary of the beginning of my story. Of course if you would like to know more and in details you know how to get in touch with me. If you don’t, find the ‘Contact MEow‘ button.

Here we go… 

Once upon a time…

The Very Beginning

I was born in a beautiful hillcity called Ipoh, located in the state of Perak, in Malaysia.

 

As I’m ethnically Chinese, I was born with the Chinese name Meow Chuen Hoong, which rather automatically, giving me the nickname Meow. To many of my best friends, I’m still Meow to them, which warms my heart when I hear that. Ivan was later chosen and agreed by my family as my English name, which most of you know me as.

I am the middle child to an older brother Stephen and a younger sister Vivian. 

 

My dad and my mom are loving parents who did everything they could to provide for us and to nurture us.

 My dad was an electrical engineer and he worked hard and founded his own company at a very young age. It wasn’t easy, but he managed to provide for us, and showed us the good side of life has to offer. Due to his enterpreneurial spirit, he was always curious about things, and encouraged us to be always curious and hunger for knowledge, and thanks to his hardworking nature, he taught me to work hard for the things I want. Even though he departed unexpectedly, I’m sure he’s looking down on his family and is proud of how we turned out.

My mom never had a chance to get an education due to poverty. She had to start earning and contributing for the family even before she became a teenage. That aside, my mom is the most open-minded, wise, kind, and polite person I’ve known. I am lucky enough to receive all these amazing qualities from her. Talking to her is still my favorite thing to do. She always amazes me with how much she knows and understands. To help my dad, she worked as a seamstress to custom make dresses for women and little girls, and she would use me as a model sometimes. Of course I ended up not wanting to take off the dress and ran around the house and performing.

When I was a child, I remember my favorite thing to do with her, was to accompany her to the market. She would buy me paperdolls, those you can clip different outfits and accessories on. I guess this is where my fashion sense started developing. Even though the doll’s head broke off easily, it didn’t deter me from bringing her back to life by putting scotch tape around the neck, or if it’s beyond salvage, burying her in our garden with her best dress in the collection. That was how I first realized that I won’t want to be caught lifeless with anything but glamorous & extravagant. To quote RuPaul ‘Can I get an Amen to that?!’

 

My family is the most important to me, and they are the reason of what, why, who and how I am today. ♥♥

My dad unexpectedly departed on my birthday in 2018. He’s truly missed.

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Childhood & School Life

Beside being as fantastic as I could be, I had a pretty normal childhood and school life.

I went to both primary and high school in my home town, and was active in school activities. I joined the marching band, dance troop, was the hall monitor, and of course got myself into all kinds of shenanigans. The rebellious side of me really developed during these times, and also pushed me to be critical of bullshit and unnecessary old tradition that was fed to me. I learned a lot about discipline, but as well on the flip side, learned about their illogicality, and challenged it a lot.

 

 

Out of these experiences, I made some amazing friends, whom are still my best friends up to this day. We don’t see or talk to each other all the time, but when we do, we can just pick up where we left off. They have seen all aspects of me, and still love me dearly, which I’m eternally grateful for. 

 

Let’s proceed to the next part: My Away From Home Story.

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