Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2020 i Tatler Malaysia

TATLER HONG KONG Aron Harilela, CEO and chairman The Harilela Group, stars on the cover of Tatler Hong Kong. Harilela’s company currently owns and operates hotels in Hong Kong, China, Europe and the US. Now, he’s preparing to open one of his most ambitious projects yet: The Hari, a major new hotel in the middle of Hong Kong’s bustling Wan Chai district. tatlerhongkong.com TATLER INDONESIA Actor Raline Shah shares her story of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro alongside filmmaker and conservationist Sean Lee-Davies from Project C:Change to raise funds for The Nature Conservancy’s programme in Indonesia. tatlerindonesia.com TATLER MALAYSIA Featured this month in Tatler Malaysia is award-winning filmmaker Quek Shio Chuan. He discusses his career and his films Guang and Sunflowers, which are inspired by his real life events, including his brother’s…

With great adversity comes great opportunity. Well, that’s how we viewed this golden chance to grab hold of the hard-to-pin-down Tengku Irfan for a photo shoot and interview. Prior to the travel ban, you would usually see him flying off somewhere to perform with orchestras but now, he has to stay grounded for the time being. We were fortunate to commission New York-based photographer PJ Lam to do this shoot. The lockdown has forced many creatives like her to conduct shoots virtually but she finds it refreshing and open to many possibilities. “As we already know, there are many big labels and magazines doing this. Since it’s still quite new, we can experiment many fun things based on that,” she said. Preparing for the shoot involved a pre-call with Tengku…

Kevin Kwan needs little introduction—he is famous around the world as the mind behind the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, which gave readers an inside look at the lives of Asia’s wealthy and famous. Here, he discusses his new book, Sex and Vanity, and how it differs from his earlier novels. Following the immense success of Crazy Rich Asians, did you need to step back and re-centre yourself to write a new book? I really felt the need to do something totally different. The Crazy Rich Asians trilogy was a huge part of my life for eight years. I started writing it in 2009 and I was on this roller coaster until 2018, so it’s great to be able to slow down and think about a new project. Sex and Vanity…

There is not a stone in Yarmouk Camp that has not wept over the elders, widows, and youngsters whom we’ve lost to random bombings. There is not a household in Yarmouk Camp that has not grieved a son, daughter, father, mother, or an arrest. We still cry and weep. In 2013, it was decided that my children would escape to Malaysia. But I couldn’t live without them, and followed suit in 2014. How would we adapt to a country we had never even seen before? I wondered. Over the passage of time, I have blended in with its people and felt their kindness. Being a housewife with ample experience in the kitchen has enabled me to meet the best hearts from PichaEats. When they offered me the opportunity to monetise…

What was your first reaction when you got the LVMH nomination? We were on set for our fall-winter 2020 look book when we received the call from LVMH. It was a surreal moment and we were all speechless. We were instructed to keep the announcement a secret for another week, so it was challenging to process the news without showing much emotion to everyone around us. What was the first roadblock you had to overcome? With our previous design backgrounds at larger houses, where production is usually taken care of by a dedicated team with specific skills and experience, sourcing materials and manufacturing was new territory for all three of us. We’ve also had to learn to have patience, and to be reassuring and uplifting towards one another. When was…

Shortly before her birthday in June, Vera Wang received some rather enthusiastic well wishes online from fans—only they were marvelling over her body. While Wang, who has dressed legions of famous brides (Mariah Carey, Victoria Beckham and Kim Kardashian among them), has never been a shrinking violet, she was taken aback by the sudden attention. “I was in Miami when I heard about it. I was kind of surprised,” says the designer, who had been posting more poolside selfies than perhaps was normal while spending weeks in lockdown, some with bare legs and bare midriffs. It hadn’t occurred to her that anyone would remark on her physical fitness or, for that matter, her age. “I’m a woman designer for other women, not a male designer for women,” she says. “In…

1 WILDSMITH SKIN This newcomer to natural skincare calls Heckfield Place its home. The stunning 1790 Georgian estate in Hampshire, southern England has been lovingly restored into an eco-friendly hotel. Inspired by Heckfield’s woodlands, planted in the 19th century by William Wildsmith, the eponymous brand is crafted in the UK using ingredients sourced locally, sustainably and respectfully to “restore the relationship between native plants and humans”. Originally crafted for age-defying treatments at the hotel spa, Wildsmith Skin is now available worldwide. 2 BAMFORD Daylesford Organic Farm in the Cotswolds in the UK was one of the pioneers in farm-to-table dining. When its founder, Lady Carole Bamford, realised it was equally important to reduce the chemicals in our skincare as it is in our food, Bamford Skincare set the bar as…

Yu Feihong, also known as Faye Yu, has been pictured wearing high jewellery from De Beers' Portrait of Natures collection. The Chinese actress, who is best known for starring roles in The Joy Luck Club (1993) and the Hong Kong film Tian Di (1994), accessorises a light-pink tulle gown with the openworked Monarch Butterfly ring and matching earrings. Polished and rough pastel-coloured diamonds trace the silhouette of these butterflies’ wings, while the myriad tones and textures give each piece a movement and liveliness that’s rarely seen in even the most decadent high jewellery.…

From Breguet with its fancy-schmancy Reine de Naples to Breitling with its diamond-dotted Navitimer, watchmakers have been turning their attentions to women. So, it’s welcome news that Audemars Piguet (which is a personal favourite) is doing the same. Its latest release is now the smallest mechanical Royal Oak for ladies, measuring in at a petite 34 mm. The steel version set with diamonds is a classic choice and comes with the brand’s signature blue-grey Grande Tapisseriepatterned dial.…

Yiqing Yin has collaborated with Vacheron Constantin as part of the high-end watchmaker’s One of Not Many campaign. The Chinese haute couture designer champions the brand’s elegant Egérie collection, a new line of watches that launched in February dedicated entirely to women. Yin, a Beijing native, moved to France at the age of four, and later studied at the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. She made headlines in 2015 when she became a full-fledged member of Paris’s elite coterie of haute couture creators, which is a designation protected by French law.…

The most successful watches are generally quite sober and conservative. That makes sense. The acquisition of a fine watch is similar to the purchase of a car. If you select something of high quality, the price will typically be significant, so if you can only afford one, it had better be practical enough for everyday use. When you see someone cruising in a lime-green Lamborghini, you can be fairly confident that’s not their ‘daily driver’. They will probably have something in the garage like a Mercedes SUV for the children’s school run or a BMW 7-Series for their work commute. Similarly, when you spot a person wearing a vibrant, gem-encrusted timepiece such as the Rolex Daytona “Rainbow”, it’s a safe bet that the watch isn’t the only item in the…

An accomplished classical music pianist, composer and conductor at such a young age, Tengku Ahmad Irfan Tengku Ahmad Shahrizal hasn’t let his achievements go to his head. He remains humble and earnest, not to mention unerringly polite—this is evident from my back-and-forth correspondence with him via email and Whatsapp. He comes across as shy yet open and approachable, but get him up on stage and there’s no mistaking his passion as he runs his nimble fingers on the piano keys or when conducting a full orchestra. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 22-year-old is currently quarantined in the house he lives in together with his mum, dad and two younger sisters. They moved to New York when he turned 14, in order for him to get admitted to the prestigious…

DANIEL NADEL Photographer Daniel Nadel has worked in Sydney and London shooting for clients such as L’Officiel, Net-A-Porter and Wonderland Magazine. In this issue, Nadel photographs the fashion shoot in Australia (p.70) PJ LAM Based in New York and Paris, photographer PJ Lam has contributed to multiple fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, and L’Officiel. A first for Tatler Malaysia, Lam conducts the cover shoot with Tengku Irfan via Facetime (p.142) ALEX MAELAND Creative director, designer and photographer Alex Maeland splits his time between Hong Kong and Los Angeles and has worked with the likes of Asics, Adidas and Pepsi. For this month’s issue, he shoots SK Lam, the man who brings artists’ dreams to life (p.170) AUBREE SMITH Hailing from Sydney, Aubree Smith is a freelance stylist…

Despite helming two of the top restaurants in Kuala Lumpur, this closet geek who can often be found engrossed in data and scientific journals has also authored her own cookbook, Edible Satire: French Cuisine with a Twist. Here, the former scientist-turned-chef shares some of her cooking hacks and the most memorable themed degustation dinner she’s held. One, if you can afford it, have two ovens—one for baking and the other for savoury foods that you can abuse. Two, for those who buy live Christmas trees, keep the branches of your dead tree dry when the Christmas season is over so you can use it to smoke meats. And three, instead of throwing away your herb stems and garlic or onion skin, toss them into the barbeque pit for that…

The return of the lush, ultra-bushy brow has been a source of frustration for those of us who spent our teenage years over-plucking. I, for one, had magnificently thick brows as a kid. But caving to trends, I plucked them into the thin, matchstick-like oblivion that was so trendy in the early 2000s. “They’re not going to grow back, you know!” I remember my dad telling me. Much to my chagrin, he was right. Luckily, the beauty industry is one built on selling solutions. While microblading has become a common remedy for buffing up brows over the past few years, there’s a new hero in town that goes by the curious name of eyebrow lamination. Essentially a perm for your eyebrows, this increasingly popular procedure lifts and structures your existing…

Beatrice Borromeo is an Italian aristocrat-turned-Monegasque royal with a penchant for haute couture, but she’s also well known for her elegant jewellery. The mother of two is the wife of Pierre Casiraghi, the grandson of Grace Kelly and Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and she stars in a new campaign for Buccellati. Shot by British photographer Josh Olins in Rome, where Borromeo lived and worked as a political journalist and documentary maker a decade ago, Borromeo wows in several black-and-white photographs that capture her gracefulness.…

Roses are red, violets are blue and, thanks to Harry Winston, chrysanthemums are made up of iridescent opals and scintillating diamonds. Inspired by kaleidoscopes, Harry Winston’s latest timepieces are both vibrant and vivid. Who’d be satisfied with a bouquet of flowers when they could have the Premier Hypnotic Chrysanthemum Automatic on their wrist?…

Just a few years ago, I would have never considered buying a smartwatch. But so-called “wearables” have considerably improved thanks, in part, to established watchmakers taking the reins. Hublot, for instance, has unveiled its connected watch, Big Bang e, which comes in a 42 mm case in either black ceramic, or satin-finished and polished titanium. But what are really cool are the Big Bang e’s interchangeable dials, designed by contemporary painter Marc Ferraro.…

On May 1, 2013—the coldest May day in nearly a century—more than 1,000 Hongkongers bundled up and headed to the harbourfront to welcome a larger-than-life visitor to town: a 16.5-metre-tall inflatable rubber duck. Some residents adored it: a headline in the South China Morning Post declared “Giant rubber duck has united the city”. Others weren’t so sure about the installation, which was actually a sculpture by the Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. One animation that was widely shared on Facebook pictured the duck being bombed and sinking beneath the waves. But love it or hate it, one thing was certain: everyone in the city was talking about the big, bobbing bird in Victoria Harbour. “It was totally different,” says Lam Shu-kam, better known as SK Lam, the founder of AllRightsReserved (ARR),…

A year ago, booking a last-minute holiday to a destination halfway around the world was something you could do in just a few clicks. Today, the idea of even crossing a land border is littered with speed bumps, from ever-changing government regulations to time-consuming health and safety protocols. Travel is a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the freedom and spontaneity we all used to enjoy has been lost. Being homebound has created an overwhelming sense of nostalgia among avid travellers. Where would you be right now if it weren’t for Covid-19? It’s a question that elicits all types of answers on social media: photos of long, lazy lunches in Tuscany; the glistening waters of the Maldives; a glorious sunset on a safari drive. Instagram is replete with images of…

If asked if she’d known that educational equity would become one of her biggest motivators for running MCII, Malaysia’s first collective impact organisation, Dipti Kumar would tell you what she’s told me: “Not at all,” the young CEO candidly shares. “What initially drove me and in fact still does was realising that the world was unfair, because while I grew up surrounded by people who knew the value of education and had access to it, somewhere out there is a child that doesn’t or can’t have what I had. So what can I do to change that?” THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE Growing up, Kumar recalls how her mother had made their education her number one priority, taking care to allow her children to explore their interests no matter the circumstance.…

Widely known as ‘kombucha’ or even ‘mushroom tea’ to some, the history of our favourite fermented tea is rather convoluted; some say it dates back to the Qin dynasty of ancient China in 221 BC while others believe it was consumed in other regions as well, namely Russia, eastern Europe and Japan. No matter its origin, the kombucha we know today is highly revered for its supposed medicinal qualities, and is currently going through a resurgence. Countries like Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong as well as Malaysia (to name a few) have hopped on the kombucha bandwagon since the late 2000s—one of them being ChaCha Kombucha. According to Ishaq Vadillo and Matthieu Morisset, the company was the result of a ‘perfect marriage’—the former was a personal…

SASHAY AWAY Even bags are rocking a new ’do this month, thanks to a fresh cut of dripping fringe. Yuzefi bag. FEELING KNOTTY The best way to make your summer accessories last through fall? Opt for woven details in warm leathers. ALL-ROUNDER Love a hobo bag but can never find your keys? Tod’s latest crescent shape has just enough structure to keep the mess at bay. CITY SLICKER Posh patent flats and high-shine boots: here are some shoes you want to save for a rainy day. MERCURY RISING Bin the bronze and gut the gold, another cool metal is having a turn in the spotlight. GOING DUTCH The art of making an entrance lies in shoes inspired by masterpieces. NOW YOU SEE ME In faded sunset hues and printed patterns,…

FANFAN Housed in a delicate, smaller bottle that’s more curved and rounded than the other Toupies, FanFan begins with a faint lavender note that’s soon swept away by warm saffron and fresh geranium. But at its heart, a surprising intensity of Indian sandalwood and Rose Damanscenia surges, which soon gives way to a heady mix of cedarwood, leather as well as amber. MR H & MRS Y While the world is understandably swept away by dreamier, fantastical relationships, we often forget the easy calm of simply being able to ‘click’ with our partners. Where Mr H evokes the imagery of fresh mountain air mixed with the crackling of firewood, Mrs Y is sweeter but is no less a compelling presence than her partner, carrying the faint scent of vanilla-like Tonka…

What’s special about Jardin Mystérieux? This high jewellery collection has taken almost two years to develop. Sourcing the right pearls was difficult and time-consuming, with each jewellery piece taking between eight and 12 months to create. A lot of brands nowadays choose to use technology when they make high jewellery. At Mikimoto, ours is 100 per cent handmade. What inspired this collection? The magical beauty of Paris’s secret gardens. Jardin Mystérieux is very colourful—more so than our previous lines. This year we decided to use a graduation of coloured stones, which requires high levels of expertise and knowledge. This kind of thing takes a lot of time and skill. It was a real challenge for us, which is partly why we’ve chosen to do it. What are you wearing? Black…

This year, Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen has put all its energy into furthering one of its oldest and best-known collections: Portugieser. Of the numerous new releases, two especially complicated models top the list for both their bank-busting price tags and mechanical movements, and the Portugieser Tourbillon Rétrograde Chronograph is one of them. It’s available in two versions that are limited editions of 50 pieces each; one comes in a platinum case with a silver-plated dial, and the other comes with a navy-blue dial and a case made using IWC’s proprietary Armor Gold. RETROGRADE DATE DISPLAY This watch is equipped with a retrograde date display, which shows the passing of the month with a hand that moves in an arc from the 1st to the 31st of the month. TOURBILLON The…

BLACK SAHARA METEORITE Last year’s Arceau L’Heure de la Lune designs had dials made of aventurine, which is a midnight-blue mineral glass. This year, Hermès has introduced three different meteorite dials. This Black Sahara meteorite version is decorated with silver-lacquered mobile counters and black transferred Arabic numerals, which add to the watch’s unearthly feel. HENRI D'ORIGNY Hermès’s legendary designer Henri D’Origny designed the case used for the Arceau L'Heure de la Lune, which comes in white gold and measures 43 mm, back in 1978. 30 The Blue Pearl and Lapis Lazuli dials are part of Arceau L’Heure de la Lune’s main collection, and the three meteorite watches are each limited editions. Black Sahara is limited to just 30 pieces, while the Lunar dial is capped at 36 and the Martian…

Tell us about Zenith’s latest releases. We’re really excited because, for the first time in several years, Zenith is focusing on women and we’ve come up with some amazing ladies’ models. Our Defy collection has always been very successful, and we really wanted to come out with a contemporary watch that’ll suit today’s modern woman. So, we’ve released several 36 mm models with diamond hour markers and gradient dials. What’s special about Zenith? As a brand, we’re always striving to do more. We have a saying: “Time to reach your star.” So, for our new women’s watches, we’ve used a starry sky pattern on the different grey, blue and mother-of-pearl dials. Modern women are dreamers, they are doers, and they want to take charge of themselves and be independent. We…

From augmented-reality filters that let you “try on” watches to virtual sales assistants offering up-to-date advice, today’s use of technology by watchmakers is striking for an industry that has famously clung to tradition. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, high-end watchmakers were struggling, particularly towards the end of last year after months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which is an important market for Swiss timekeepers. So when governments imposed Covid-19 lockdown measures just a few months later, the brakes were well and truly put on “Swiss Made” watchmakers everywhere. For Giles English, co-founder of aviation-themed watchmaker Bremont, the numbers are impossible to ignore. “The industry has been badly hit,” he says, “but it will certainly recover.” Watch exports plummeted by more than 20 per cent in March compared to last…

It is not often that Shannon Lee’s identity gets clocked when she is out and about. “Occasionally someone recognises me, but that happens very rarely. I’m not very recognisable.” This comment is not entirely surprising coming from the only daughter of the world’s most famous martial artist, and herself an actress and producer, but one who, until the release of a new documentary about her father, had more often appeared behind the scenes. It sometimes happens that postal workers, neighbours or even airport security agents point at the Bruce Lee T-shirt she often wears, and smile without realising that they’re passing by his daughter. “People are like, ‘Bruce Lee, yeah, that’s awesome!’ It’s an uplifting, happy and enthusiastic response,” she says. Bruce Lee was the Hong Kong-American martial arts legend…

1 TRAVEL LONGER BUT LESS “Shall we go to Bali or Bangkok this weekend?” is a tempting proposal often pitched in Kuala Lumpur. And why not, when low-cost airlines charge a pittance for return flights? Even so, the allure of short and sweet vacations someplace close by is coupled with the ominous fact that whether you travel by car or train or plane, going from A to B racks up detrimental amounts of greenhouses gases. Hence the case for taking longer, intermittent trips. The only way to reduce our carbon footprint, as underscored by Carbon Brief Ltd, is to travel less miles overall. Make it a month-long Euro trip as opposed to four weekend getaways—all the better to experience a place instead of seeing it superficially. 2 FREEWHEEL IT Now…

“The walls of your bedroom are essentially a canvas, not only for artwork or colour but also for your experience in the room,” says Alexandra Champalimaud, founder of Champalimaud Design. More than just a backdrop to your interior design scheme, a feature wall can, for instance, dramatically change the mood and look of a room and elevate the overall aesthetic. Accent walls present homeowners with a wonderful opportunity to mix and match various surface materials, colours and textures. By combining bright glazed tiles with marble, wainscoting, stone, or metallic-effect surfaces, Hong Kong-based design duo Vincent Lim and Elaine Lu of Lim + Lu have transformed bathrooms into alluring spaces. “Combining two types of materials in contrasting colours can really give a space a burst of energy. The juxtaposition of textures…