SOCIAL media darling and Malaysia’s top influencer Siew Pui Yi has recently announced that she will be acting for the first time in the upcoming local movie “KL Love Story” as a sexy DJ.
But what’s next in 2023 for Pui Yi who shocked the entire Malaysia by baring it all for adult magazine Penthouse cover in January 2022?
Since then, she has taken the social media scene by storm with a huge following – 20.1 million on Instagram (beating second-ranked Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin whose following totalled 8.9 million), Tik Tok (1.3 million), Facebook (one million) and YouTube (65,300).
Francis: There are a lot of Pui Yi wannabes out there who want to be popular by being sexy. Do you feel threatened by their existence?
Pui Yi: Being sexy is not something new. There are a lot of girls in the past wearing bikini but I try something different. I don’t feel threatened that they follow my style because they can create their own content. But my piece of advice to them is to invest in a better camera, and do more better promotion.
Francis: I notice that you have been flying to the US lately. Is this one of your big plans in 2023?
Pui Yi: Yes, we have just released our music video which I collaborated with online casino God55 featuring former boxer Mike Tyson together with international superstars Gary Chaw and DJ Leng Yein.
This music video is a success. And I hope for my next few trips, we will be able to seal some movie or music scene deals or some fashion runway show. My future plans include involving myself in movie premiers and even fashion runway shows.
Francis: I must say you are quite a “sex”trepreneur (laugh). A very enterprising celebrity indeed. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs out there to succeed like you?
Pui Yi: You need to always have a game plan or strategic planning. We plan six to 12 months ahead. There are a lot of contents that I have planned but not yet announced. Planning content is not like get one content done and that’s it.
Most influencers get their content done at one shot. For me, I need to approach this in a way that our marketing works. For instance, when the video is out, we drop the video on YouTube and there will be high expectation of what the video is all about and what’s next? People love the fun and humour I brought in my videos.
Francis: It’s good that you have a game plan. Are you contented with where you are now?
Pui Yi: In this industry, everyone is quite close to one another. In Taiwan, they got couple swapping with other YouTubers. They really go wild and crazy. I also realise when we are kind to people, people will help you out.
We don’t want to get into bad book because we do not know who will help me out in the future. To me, we just need to spread positivity. Positivity breeds positivity.
I have kind of reached the capacity for my category. Right now for me, ‘m not yet happy with my percentage of reach for I aim to reach “Pui Yi Globalisation”.
I do consider myself to have reached the maximum in the Asia level but I want to venture out to other regions. For Malaysia, I need to chart myself in many different categories. But in some countries, I still need to make myself prominent. Overall, I still consider myself somewhere in the middle. 
Francis: A lot of celebrities did some CSR or community service. I don’t see this in you yet? Is that in your plan for 2023?
Pui Yi: It will take some time for people to be able to accept me doing community service if you see where I was coming from. But definitely, this will be in my future plan. For the big organisations, they are very careful with their branding. So it is not easy.
Francis: What are the key challenges you expect to face in 2023?
Pui Yi: Penetrating into other regional markets where they have bigger issues.
Firstly, when you enter into different markets or regions, everyone has their own different culture. Secondly, every regional market has their own strategic marketing. You might have to change your way of marketing to suit one specific country or region.
So it is simultaneously doing advertisements for five different markets in under one platform. You have to find a balance point for all different countries.
Francis: You mentioned earlier that your focus is not just the US. Which nations will be under your “Pui Yi Globalisation” plan?
Pui Yi: In my list are the US, Japan and South Korea which are the pioneer of Asian entertainment, followed by Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia.
So we couldn’t pinpoint like I want it here because my platform is so big especially when my insights show like 10% here and 10% there. It is like shattered all around the world. So I need to do my homework and know what content in hand that I can leverage upon.
I know my point, I am very clear. I am a marketer. I’m able to detach myself from the real Siew Pui Yi. This is you and that it’s just the character that you are playing. So you shouldn’t have any personal string attached. That is why when it comes to boyfriends, when we speak this kind of stuff to the person, they may not understand the industry we are in because they are not into my industry.
So they think whatever you do is you. They can’t distinguish between me and the character I am playing. – Nov 26, 2022
Francis Yip is a fashionista and an award-winning writer and HRDF (Human Resource Development Fund)-accredited Trainer. He is also the CEO of Franciswriter Dot Com and guest lecturer in The One Academy.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
