Auguste Kwan - Not easy to come by

A person's origins and backgrounds will influence their outlook on things and their attitude. After growing up, their views on many things may change but there are those who will stand fast under any situation and Auguste Kwan is of the latter type. Up to now at least, he still has that belief and on a trip to Kuala Lumpur, this can be seen in detail through his leisure!

Auguste Kwan is from An Shun [Em:Does anyone know the correct name for this place] in Malaysia and is the youngest son, with two elder brothers. Their father died when he was in Junior 6 and their mother brought up her three sons with a heavy burden, but Auguste says: "We are very close and my mum loves the Malaysian trend of streetside steamboat so when I have time I will go and eat it with her." When talking of steamboat, he remembers on a street in KL where he saw a truck loaded with food and at the side there were a few pots of bubbling soup and as customers could place a skewer of food to cook in the hot water and then add the condiments so it was quite a clean way of eating streetside.

On this trip, we went to the Lan Kwai Fong of Kuala Lumpur and despite having grown up there, this was the first time that Auguste had been clubbing there and it was us that took him there. Those in the industry who go clubbing are usually drinkers and smokers but he does not smoke or drink.

"How can you not learn after eight years in the industry?"

"Ha! These are things that do not have to be learned. Actually the main reason for this is that one of my brothers is a very heavy smoker and one is a very heavy drinker so when I see them I am afraid. Moreover I am allergic to alcohol like my father was, so even if I wanted to learn to drink I can't and anyway I feel that to enter showbiz, you do not need to know how to drink and smoke."

It would appear that this young man is quite introverted and is 'direction blind'. He will not instigate a night out and he never remembers his way, so whilst in KL, if it wasn't for our suggestion, he would not have wandered the streets.

Auguste Kwan is a typical Malaysian boy as he loves his king and queen of the fruit world - the durian and mangosteen. However, he knows how to control himself and as we brought out over ten different varieties of durian, he would change into seven or eight outfits for the photoshoot and not take a bite. He then says to me: "These things don't come easy and you have to treasure them, if I am not able to control myself at this age, then it is not right. Work has to be dome first, then after it has been completed we can take our time to taste the good food and this will be more relaxed and enjoyable."

Kuala Lumpur has many lovely foods and after just flying back from Taiwan and without resting, he came to join us for eating. He is not choosy over his food and constantly suggested the delicious local dishes such as Curried Fish that was so good it made you sweat, that he could eat two dishes of rice with just the curry sauce. Whatever was left on the table he would finish off as he laughed: "Not wasting anything is a good habit."

During our night in KL, a group of us went to Karaoke into the early hours then with a 6am flight the next day, Auguste did not sleep - heading back to see his mother for a while before returning to the hotel to see us off; never before have I seen such a polite and hospitable artiste who insisted on sending us off to the airport and eating breakfast with us. Attention to detail, this has of course been taught by his mother since he was very young. Maybe you will think this is not suitable for a young person to be so 'traditional', but who does not love a warm and well mannered person? The showbiz arena is not necessarily a place for inflated egos and complicated lives, as with everything in life, there will always be an exception!

Reporter: Song Song
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