Denise Keller’s Passage of Life

We’re trudging through the middle of a tropical rainforest in 30 degree C heat. It’s sticky, hot and I’ve got sweat pouring off me. In this steamy environment, Denise Keller manages to stay fresh, vibrant and ready to shoot!

Reader's Digest Asia caught up with this human dynamo while she was on-location shooting TLC’s Passage to Malaysia in Gopeng and Cameron Highlands. Denise shares with us her thoughts on family, career and the Year of the Rabbit.

Denise, tell us about your family and ancestry.

I am Singaporean with a Chinese mother and a German father. As with most Singaporeans, I have Malaysian roots -- My Popo’s (grandmother) from Malacca. Well she’s originally from Negeri Sembilan, but her family moved to Malacca to find work and that’s where my grandmother grew up. She has a really interesting story. She was a second wife back in the days where polygamy was common. My grandfather had many wives but my grandmother was his favourite. I’m Hakka dialect and all Hakka families speak Cantonese so when I moved to Hong Kong, I actually traced my wrong roots because I thought I was actually Cantonese. But my Popo one day said, “Did you know that we’re actually Hakka and it’s a whole different dialect?” That’s my Chinese side. And Singaporean.

What about your other side?

My other side’s German. My father’s from the Southern Germany, Baden-Wüttermberg. I spent half my childhood there. I had a fine balance between Europe and Asia.

Let’s go to your career now. You started off as a model. What do you remember, most significant about those years?

Yes, I was 13 at the time. I wasn’t really a girly-girl. I was actually quite a tomboy and it was interesting how photographers had seen something in me that I didn’t see myself because I was running around in Doc Martins, jeans and tee shirts. My hair really unkempt, my eyebrows were bushy. I had no idea how to be feminine. One day, I was running around with my girlfriend in the shopping mall when this photographer just kind of saw us running around, stopped me and said, “Hey wait, hang on! What’s your name?”

A lot of people might misconstrue this as a sleazy moment where photographer meet a young girl and goes, “Yeah, I can make you a model.” It was nothing like that. He was actually quite geeky and dorky. He was a young photographer and said, “Look, I know a lot of modeling agencies and I think you look really interesting. Can I just do a test shoot of you and if it works out, I’d send you to a modeling agency.”

And I thought, “Hmmm okay, free pictures, no problem.”

And the rest is history …

Three months later, I was on the cover of a magazine. It was very interesting because not a lot of local, Singapore, Eurasian girl at 13, make the covers. I wasn’t your slimmest, I wasn’t your fittest, I wasn’t your fairest girl but I think I was quite sporty. I did a lot of sports girl (shoots). I started to take it a little bit more seriously when I won the Ford Supermodel. That was when I was 18.

So, we’re talking about the here and now, where do you see yourself in a year’s time?

The Year of the Rabbit is supposed to be a good year for me. I’ve had some bumpy rides so it’d be nice to have a clear horizon. We’re going to continue filming Passage to Malaysia and I’m still as excited as when I started the first day.

It’s always a new day with my team, they’ve become my family. We look out for each other. We’ve been together for so long, I don’t even want this passage to end.

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To read the full Denise Keller interview, pick up a copy of the March issue of Reader’s Digest Asia.