Meet Dee Hsu, the ‘international professional superstar’

SINGAPORE – It’s celebrity spotting weekend in Singapore. Apart from the stars of the new Captain America movie being in town, so are Oscar-winning Cate Blanchett and K-pop starlet Dara of 2NE1.

And now, there’s Dee Hsu, better known to television audiences as Xiao S, who turned up to grace the opening of fashion brand iROO’s newest boutique at Raffles City last night (April 22).

While she may be one of Asia’s favourite fashion icons, but her daughters aren’t always her biggest fans. Speaking to media, the comedian said her youngest daughter – whose cheekiness has won her more than 120,000 fans on Facebook – sometimes compares her unfavourably with other stylish mothers.

“My older daughters are now very polite, and they know not to step on my toes, but I don’t know what my third daughter is up to,” said Hsu, whose daughters are 10, eight and four years old. “One day, she told me that someone’s mother was prettier than I was ... and even looks better than me when she doesn’t use make-up.”

She continued: “I was very upset, and when I asked my husband if she had gone overboard, he actually said, ‘Children don’t lie’. I really didn’t feel like going home that day.”

Regardless of her daughter’s opinion, the Taiwanese star’s charm and popularity are undeniable. Hsu and on-screen partner Kevin Tsai were hosts of Here Comes Kang Xi, one of the most popular variety television shows until it ended its run after 12 years on air. Hsu is also a tour de force on social media, with more than 1.7 million followers on Facebook, and more than 20 times that number on Weibo. Recently, the 37-year-old was also featured in the New York Times’ fashion and style section, after making an appearance at Milan Fashion Week.

“After Here Comes Kang Xi ended, a lot of netizens left comments on my social media pages, saying I must be posting so many exercises videos and photos of my cooking because I am unemployed. I find that quite funny,” she said.

“To be honest, I was also quite worried that my career would go downhill after the show ended, but I have been getting many work invitations. So even though I couldn’t bear to have the show end, I am more excited about the challenges to come.”

One such invitation came from Taiwanese fashion label iROO, which has five outlets in Singapore. At the Raffles City boutique, Hsu was greeted by throngs of screaming fans, who shouted her name as well as her alter ego, ‘Elephant Dee’.

Hsu jokingly introduced herself onstage as an “international professional superstar”, and asked journalists to send photos of her to Kate Moss, but she was decidedly unpretentious when journalists asked her about her favourite fashion accessories.

“I think I can’t live without nipple shields,” Hsu said without hesitation. “But no, I can’t live without my hoop earrings. People who follow me closely on Weibo and Facebook will notice that I often wear the same clothes and the same pair of earrings. They are right – those photos were taken on different days, but I always wear the same outfit!”

Meanwhile, Hsu wants to enjoy what’s left of her trip to Singapore – sans her family. “The last time I came to Singapore was only about six months ago. I brought my parents-in-law, my three daughters and my husband. We went to Universal Studios, and on the flight home, I heaved a sigh of relief that it was over,” she quipped.

“But now I’m here for work, I hope to extend my trip by a day, because there are so many restaurants I would like to try.”