Amber Chia (born December 14, 1981) is a Malaysian model. She was born in Ipoh, Malaysia, but grew up in the city of Tawau, in Sabah, East Malaysia. She began her modeling career at seventeen, after being discovered in Kuala Lumpur, where she was working as an accountant. Chia gained international fame after winning the 2004 Guess Watches Timeless Beauty Contest, which was a global model search for Guess Watch's brand ambassador worldwide. The win also meant that Chia became the first Asian model ever to win a top global professional modelling contest. Chia was subsequently voted Model of the Year by the Malaysian International Fashion Awards in 2004 and 2005. One of her most defining features is her pouty lips, which are not typically found in ethnic Malaysian Chinese. She is also the creator of Malaysia's first modeling reality competition I Wanna Be A Model. A number of well-known companies have used Chia in their advertisements, including Sony, L'Oréal, and Mitsubishi. On the other hand, Chia drew fire by appearing in the Indonesian edition of Playboy Magazine. The photographs were non-nude, however, and Chia defends them as "tasteful, stylish and sensuous but not pornographic." Her photos appeared in the "Celebrity" section of the magazine. Chia has graduated to being a well-known actress with successes in Chinese productions and serials such as The 3rd Generation, Possessed, and Trio & a Bed. Chia is now also a well-known actress in Taiwan and China, appearing regularly in TV host shows and sitcoms. She recently starred as co-lead in a CCTV production 热浪岛, currently in post-production and will be broadcast China-wide in 2008. Amber Chia is currently managed internationally by Looque Models of Singapore.
