She's not just a pretty face, she's a woman you don't want to mess with...when it comes to intelligence!
From a Valedictorian and Merit Scholar to FHM Malaysia's Most Wanted Woman in 2006 and 2010, Hannah Tan has it all. Hannah has always striven to be the best in everything. Aside from having a top Honours degree in Computer Science, she received her first of two music Diplomas when she was only 13 and in 2007, Hannah had her first album called "Crossing Bridges", which gained a huge hit even in the United States. With a Kelabit-Chinese inheritance in her blood, there's no need to wonder where she gets that glowing beauty from.
Hannah has been the face of many TVCs and other advertisements including LUX, Celcom, Maybeline, Nescafe and many more. Her hosting ability is as strong as her beauty and intelligence, a few of the many shows that Hannah has hosted include 8TV's What Women Want, Astro's Motorsports@Petronas and TV3's Ringgit Sense.
WoM: Congratulations on the continuous success of your career! At what age did you start being active in the entertainment industry? What makes you want to be in this line?
Hannah: I still have a long way to go but thank you very much, you’ve been very kind! Well... I joined a pageant...umm it’s quite embarrassing actually (laughs) that was in 2001 so yeah I’ve been in the industry since then. Gosh, that shows my age! And the thing I like being in the Malaysian entertainment industry is that it gives entertainers a platform to be able to reach out to the young people and to be able to give positive influence because the media has a really huge reach, and now we’re talking about social media so I think the opportunity of being able to impact lives and touch hearts at the same time with what we are passionate about is something that keeps me going.
WoM: What is/are the current project(s) that you are working on right now?
Hannah: This year I’m trying to focus more on my first album as an independent artist and I’m really nervous about that! Because it was a really bold step, you know, as an independent artist it means that in terms of funding, you’re on your own. But what I like about it is the creative freedom and the opportunity to do what best represents you as an artist. It’s taking a longer time than expected because you know, everytime I go into the studio and I record something and go back and listen to it I said “Woah I wanna do that part again and re-record again”, but the great thing is that you set your own time frame so it’s been very organic because I’ve been writing songs but I haven’t had the chance to actually record it. What I’m learning is to actually strike the balance between a songwriter’s composition and trying to make it commercial, something that’s digestible to the mainstream audience so ultimately, we wanna do our own content but we still wanna have content that sell right? So that’s what I’m focusing on right now. Few other charity projects, we ventured into a new business this year and it’s a social enterprise and that’s what I’m really excited about, being able to help people to get healthy and for the people that have financial stress, to be able to help the young people today to start businesses that could potentially generate RM30k – 40k a month in revenue within less than a year, so I think that will change a lot of lives. And at the same time, if underprivileged kids can benefit from that, why not?
WoM: How do you find time to balance yourself between your work and personal time with friends and family?
Hannah: Well that’s a tricky one because we are each given only 24 hours in a day, I’m one of those people that always say “Oh why can’t we have 48 hours? And why do human beings need to sleep right?” (laughs) So that’s a tricky part because we need to ‘cari makan’ but you still have priorities for your family and friends. I try to incorporate work and play at the same time so we started a business that friends and family can get involved as well so as we spend time making money and doing what we love, we have the people that we love around us, it’s all-in-one so I think that’s the ultimate, ultimate dream.
WoM: What do you do to keep yourself motivated each day? Any personal tips that you can share with us?
Hannah: I think it’s important to identify why you wake up in the morning and do what you do. The ‘why’ of a person is very important and for me, I think it’s a basis of what keeps me going because if we don’t have a strong enough ‘why’, then there’s basically no reason why we should work so hard or wake up in the morning to an alarm clock. So I believe it’s really important to be able to identify what you want in life and set clear distinctive goals, measureable goals with a timeline and for me, knowing exactly what my goals are and actually sticking my ‘why’s and goals on my walls and mirrors is a driving force and basically the fuel that keeps me going every single day to work 18 to 22 hours a day. But the thing is, I enjoy it and I’ve got a reason to do all that so the stronger the ‘why’, the harder you push and the further you go, the faster you hit your goals.
WoM: Do you consider yourself as a confident person? Why?
Hannah: By nature I’m actually an introvert! (Laughs) But it’s great to have the people around you and it’s the team that gives me the confidence because I can’t do everything alone and my capabilities, my skills and my talents are all very limited so that’s why I choose to work with the best of the best. They give me the confidence because they are pros at what they do and I cannot live without my team. Period.
WoM: Lastly, is there any personal message or advice that you would like to share with all the young women out there in Malaysia?
Hannah: I always believe that the dictionary is the only place where success comes before work. I believe everybody has a dream and it’s a matter of identifying why you wanna do, what you wanna do, your ‘why’s are very important. Then you go to ‘how’s and your ‘what’, how am I going to get there and what am I going to do to get there. I meet a lot of people and people that have big dreams, but they give up along the way so I guess the key is back to basics, just three very important words: don’t give up. And it’s all about what you have up here (points to the head), so I’d like to encourage everybody, especially the women of today to invest in this (the mind), invest in books, read books, attend seminars because you’re working so hard for most people to achieve the fortunes that they want to be able to retire with. But remember that your money will always shrink to the size of your mindset, like Jane Marrrone said, “If you would’ve give a million bucks to someone, give it to a millionaire because chances are he’ll know how to keep it. If you give it to a child, it’ll disappear within a year”, so you know, invest in this (the mind) and everything here (money) will come in.
WoM's THIS OR THAT TRIVIA:
WoM: Coffee or tea?
Hannah: Tea
WoM: Pink or purple?
Hannah: Pink!
WoM: Flats or heels?
Hannah: Flats
WoM: Love or money?
Hannah: Love
WoM: Spicy or sweet?
Hannah: Oooh...sweet!
WoM: Sports or shopping?
Hannah: Shopping!
WoM: Eat or sleep?
Hannah: Eat!
WoM: Ryan Reynolds or Gosling?
Hannah: Okay I had a hesitation between the two...
but after Shafiqah showed me a really...um 'memorable' picture of Gosling,
I pick Gosling for sure!
but after Shafiqah showed me a really...um 'memorable' picture of Gosling,
I pick Gosling for sure!
WoM: Usher or Timberlake?
Hannah: Umm...USHER!
Photographer: Nick Dorian (Candid Photography)
Wardrobe: Madukara Suteramas
Make up: Jaja Radzwan
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