‘With a doctorate in her hand, singer-actress Soo Wincci proves that she definitely has both looks and brains.’
SHE certainly is no show-off and she did not pursue a PhD six years ago only for the bragging rights. The former 2008 Miss World Malaysia, who had been inducted into the Malaysia Book Of Records for being the first Miss World Malaysia to be conferred a doctorate in Business Administration, had always been interested in pursuing higher education.
“I was not out to prove to myself that I could do it but I figured this would help me in managing my business. Aside from that, I had always known the importance of education,” says the soft-spoken Dr Soo Wincci.
With the scroll from Open University Malaysia (OUM) in her hand, she hopes to give back to society as much as she can, in terms of inspiring the young and to connect and to motivate them to pursue the highest education possible.
Soo, 31, who read law at University Of Reading in the UK, also has an MBA from Australia’s University of the Sunshine Coast.
“A good education is everything. If you are willing to work hard, success is guaranteed, like the saying ‘teach a man to fish and he will have fish for his entire life’,” she says.
“I want to devote my time and energy to helping people, especially the younger generation, be interested in going far in education.
“I think our youths need a little push to help them stay focus and remain on the right track.”
The lanky Subang Jaya-born beauty has been offered to lecture on a part-time basis at OUM and is still weighing the proposition. “If my schedule permits, I may take it up and give lectures once a week,” she says.
Soo, who owns a talent and artistes management company, Beyond Artistes, has starred in Injustice Stranger, Destiny In Her Hands, Mr Siao and more recently 1001: Celebrity Encounters. The latter features 10 celebrities with 10 different stories of real-life ghostly and spooky encounters.
Looking back, Soo says she was glad she decided to get out of her comfort zone six years ago to work on a PhD.
“Some people called me crazy for juggling both my studies and career. They felt I should focus on one thing at a time,” says the Someone Like Me singer, beaming proudly.
“Even though I have had to face numerous roadblocks including having my thesis thrown into the dustbin, I am glad I went through the tough times and experienced the downs.
“My supervisor had high expectations of me and the topic (celebrity personal branding strategy on social media) that I’d chosen for my thesis had never been done before. So it was a challenge. There were times when I almost gave up,” she says.
It was a dream come true for Soo when her name was called at the OUM convocation ceremony at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) recently.
“It felt surreal. My dream of getting a PhD had finally come true,” she says, describing the ceremony as a “solo wedding”.
Soo will work on her autobiography next year, through which she hopes to share her experiences of juggling her music and acting careers and studying for her doctorate.
She also hopes to cut an album. The Terus Teranglah hitmaker released a studio album last year and came up with a single, My Time, in conjunction with her graduation.
“This has sort of whet my appetite for a full length studio album. But when it comes to music, I still have plenty to learn,” she says.