The first one is pretty obvious / but not always easy. // Stay loose. // My journey from Malaysia, / Ipoh, Malaysia to the Academy Awards stage / began with my first love / which was not acting / but dance. // I knew at a very young age / that my gift was to communicate / through movement. // In my studies, / I found freedom / in discipline / and focus. // I trained tirelessly day and night, / drilling my body in every aspect / of the craft. // More importantly, / I trained my mind to be still, / to silence the whispers of self-doubt. // Dance was my safe place, / my inevitable future, / and my undeniable path. // So I enrolled in a ballet school in England / and began living my dream. // Unfortunately, / life had other plans. // I suffered a spinal injury and just like that, / I watched everything / vanish into thin air. // Life as I knew it / was over. // With my dreams of dance crushed, / I credit the principal of my school / for giving me the encouragement / that ultimately led me to a career / beyond my imagination. // It was she who encouraged me / to stay loose about my future. // When falling, / the tendency / is to tighten up / to brace for impact. // But in truth, / the safest thing one can do is / remain calm. // Even curious / about the shifting world around you. // After graduating with a degree in creative arts, / I returned home / more open to other possibilities / outside the box. // With this awareness / came the freedom to make choices / I might not / have otherwise been able to. // This opened the door to doing a commercial / in Hong Kong, / then to acting roles / and the start of my life / in film. //