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Dollar girl Celest Chong shows her practical streak.

November 14, 2000

By Hazel Tan
TODAY

(Click on pictures for larger image)

It was somewhat puzzling.

Here was Celest Chong, a woman with the most glamorous job in town and a to-die-for job and all she could talk of was money.

Talk of a home-theatre system and she starts tallying the cost. Speak about being a top model and she grumbles about the pay. What's with this girl? Simple. The Making Love star knows the value of money because she didn't always have enough of it.

While other kids were busy with their Nintendo games at the age of 12, the lanky beauty was busy earning her keep during the school holidays - to see herself through school.

"I didn't get that much pocket money as a child. Whenever I got my pocket money for the month, I would deduct the amount for my bus fare, the school fees, and divide the rest by the number of school days … I would be eating mee rebus every day because it costs 80 cents, the amount I can afford a day. And I would carry a water bottle with me."

Not that she is complaining. "I didn't resent anyone. I, too, wished I was born with a silver spoon. But I was never unhappy. It made me very independent and I earned the trust of my parents at a young age," she added.

Celest was a soft commodity broker, a receptionist, a waitress in a pub, and later a restaurant, an accounts assistant. She also gave private tuition to three primary school kids for several months.

 

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