By Yeoh Wee Teck

I WAS livid when I read about Jack Neo's affair.

I don't know him or his wife personally, nor do I have any opinions about his dalliances. But, please, can we not call his mistress, Wendy Chong, a "model"?

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but mine could not behold any in the published photos of this "freelance model".

Over the weekend, Jack's affair with the 22-year-old Wendy was revealed, resulting in pages of photos and reactions all over the media.

And the conclusion? When it comes to mistresses, Jack's tastes mirror his movies: Heartland.

Wendy and her deluded sisterhood of "freelance models" are one of the reasons that the Singapore modelling industry is in the doldrums.

When I took my ranting to Twitter and Facebook, someone replied, rather aptly: "You are not a model if you're 1.55m and you do car shows."

Another said: "Like that can be model meh?"

To be fair, Wendy is taller at 1.63m and has two Jack Neo movies under her belt and, of course, she's not ugly.

But then, no one is, really.

Do you remember the woman called Sunshine Tracy in last year's Super Import Nights saga? She just appeared at the car event and started posing sexily, then exposed too much.

In terms of looks, these two are like peas in the car show pod.

I've been involved with The New Paper New Face, which unearths fresh modelling talent, for many years. We see all kind of girls, some with illusions of America's Next Top Model but without the charisma, looks and bodies to realise their dream.

We try to be nice to these girls because I've always found them too delicate to handle the truth. And I also fear that some might snap and jab my eye with a stiletto heel.

If Wendy had walked in for an audition, I would have gently coaxed her to walk out.

For better or worse, her life is unlikely to stay the same from now on.

She may even get more bookings because of the curiosity factor. But how long that will last remains to be seen.

The only "model" who should be worried is Ris Low, because someone else is now poised to take over those 15 minutes of fame - or should it be shame?

weeteck@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The New Paper.