Wilson arrived at Emm-a-man launch last week at Millesime Solaris Dutamas looking all dashing and stylish in his black jacket and skinny pants. His shades are Prada and standing at more than six feet tall, all eyes were on him. After some simple exchange of words and handshakes, he sat down and sigh a breath of relief and told me about how he has been rushing from one place to another attending events and casting.

But this hardworking small town lad is not going to slow down anytime soon. With so many projects in the pipeline, Wilson Tan is busy building his own empire and getting more people to notice his talent in the modelling industry. He was spotted just a couple of years back by an agent when he was working as a chemical engineer in one of the local firms in Kuala Lumpur. His career in modelling kick started right after representing Malaysia and winning four medals in modelling category at World Championship of Performing Arts ( WCOPA ) in Hollywood, Los Angeles 2009. He went on to win The Best Asia Model Awards / Model Top Star Award (as the appreciation of Malaysian Top Male Model) in 6th Asia Model Festival Awards 2011, held in Seoul, Korea. Since then, Wilson has worked with some of the most well known photographers and designers as well as walking at prestigious local fashion events such as MIFA, STYLO and MODA.

Wilson looks up to local supermodel Amber Chia for her success and humble attitude. They are very close friends and he has been modelling his career after the success of Amber herself. Throughout the time we spent talking about his career and Malaysian fashion scene, I can see his passion and how committed he is about his mission to take his career to the next level. This includes taking up acting, which according to him is something very new, as well as his future plan to tackle the international market and walking for couture runways someday. He is also currently busy training new faces in modelling for a local modelling academy.

Being in the industry which requires good looks above everything else, I was curious about how this male model maintain his physique and impeccable style. Wilson told me that he watches what he eats and hit the gym at least three times a week. He always tries to get his two and a half hours of gym sessions despite his hectic schedule. He also takes care of his skin and styles himself whenever he steps out of his house for events and casting calls. When he asked me whether I hit the gym as well, I simply told him that I was just too busy, while staring at my half-eaten oily “char kuey teow”.

Wilson gushes about how wonderful responses from the people have been. His Facebook profile is now demanding for a fan-page as it has reached the limit of 5000 friends. Facebook according to him has helped a lot in boosting his career and getting the feedbacks he needed to put him forward in the industry. He has some very loyal fans that keep track of his modelling career and supporting him along the way.

It was almost dark and Wilson had to go to another event for the evening. I watched him leave the restaurant where we had our dinner and interview earlier thinking, if there is one local male model who’s going to make it big in the international fashion scene, Wilson Tan might just be that person.

Photos: Wilson Tan’s Official Facebook