By LIEW HANQING

A WARDROBE malfunction and dozens of camera flashes later, she found herself exposed online for all and sundry.

When freelance model Tracy Ang, 33, noticed shutterbugs snapping away at the Super Import Nights car show at the Singapore Expo two weeks ago, she did what came most naturally - she posed for the cameras.

Never mind that her ultra-short dress made her reveal more than she intended - her black panties were in clear view, for all to see. Worse, her panties failed to protect her modesty completely.

Within hours, pictures of Ms Ang's accidental exposure were all over several popular online forums, including citizen journalism site Stomp.

In an e-mail statement to the press, Ms Ang said she was supposed to meet a friend at the car show, but her friend was over an hour late.

She said: 'While waiting for my friend, I went around looking at every car display. A photographer spotted me and requested for a single photoshoot. Then, I was swarmed by other unknown photographers.'

She said that as a professional model, she knew how to pose even without much direction from photographers.

She added: 'I had no intention to do any shoot at Super Import Night. I miscalculated the length of my dress. I was wrong, and I deeply regret going there unprepared without much protection.'

However, a netizen called Shawn told Stomp that Ms Ang was there with two photographers.

Ms Ang said that in previous photoshoots, she had worked with professional photographers, who would inform her if she accidentally exposed herself.

'However, during the photoshoot at the car show, I didn't realise I was exposing myself. Photographers without integrity resort to this - not telling the model she is being exposed - and even putting it online to jeer and laugh about.'

She said she was 'deeply disturbed' when she realised the unflattering photos were on display in online forums.

Click the thumbnails below to see how she posed. (Photos: STOMP)

Stumped on Stomp

The last straw was seeing herself on Stomp.

She said: 'My life was turned upside down. I'm feeling stressed... I feel so lost and helpless.

'I've even had to move away from my home to protect my loved ones - to make sure they will not be harassed by unwelcome visitors.'

Ms Ang, who has been a freelance model for several years, is a regular on local photography forum Club- Snap, where she advertises her modelling services. She also has an online modelling portfolio.

Under her online moniker 'Sunshine Tracy', she describes herself as someone with a 'cheerful character with no attitude problems'.

'I'm great with poses. I'm very daring to do photoshoots in unique places too,' she wrote on the forum.

But was she too daring?

Talent scout Steven Lim, who had spotted Ms Ang and signed her up as a freelance model, told The New Paper he felt she may have 'overdone things'.

He learnt of the incident yesterday when a Shin Min Daily News reporter contacted him about it.

Stressing that Ms Ang's fashion faux pas at the car show had nothing to do with his talent agency, Mr Lim said the incident was 'unfortunate'.

'I asked her why she was so silly to pose for pictures without taking any precautions. I think she probably got too excited and wasn't very mindful of her demeanour,' he said.

'She overdid things, but maybe it was because she was excited by the unexpected attention she was receiving.'

In her defence, Mr Lim described her as a 'very talented and hardworking girl' who frequently called him for acting tips when she landed an acting gig in a TV drama.

'I scouted her on the street because I found her very attractive and sexy,' he said.

This article was first published in The New Paper.