Asia’s Most Successful Female DJ Used to Work at a Street Food Stall

Asia’s hottest female DJ, a former beauty queen and proponent of plastic surgery, is looking to expand to the United States and Europe.

Malaysian DJ Leng Yein, went from her humble beginnings selling Laksa, a spicy noodle soup, at her grandmother’s shop to being named Asia’s number one female DJ. Despite her celebrity status, Leng has not forgotten her roots and still pays frequent visits to her grandmother’s popular Laksa stall in Kedah, Malaysia to help out.

Leng, 31, is one part of a sisterly DJ duo that includes her younger sister, Leng Sean. She is known as the more outspoken of the two and has made a name for herself in the electronic music industry.

Classically trained in piano from the age of five, Leng was ranked eighth on the World’s Top 100 Female DJ list. She is the first DJ in Asia to be signed on as the brand ambassador for RAZER alongside Dutch DJ Afrojack. She has toured the U.S., Europe, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Australia, Indonesia and Singapore and now makes special appearances as an event host and model.

Life wasn’t easy growing up for Leng who scrambled to support the family as a teenager after the passing of her father. She told iMoney during an interview:

“My dad had just passed away from colon cancer at that time and our family didn’t have any money after paying off his medical bills. So I didn’t go to college and had to start working. I’m not picky, as long as it’s not against the law. If I needed to find RM 2,000, I don’t mind working every day for RM 2,000. Some people may think that’s too low a salary, but if I just waited for a job that paid RM 1,000, I may end up with JUST RM 1,000 at the end of the day. I’m a realist.”

The Penang-born singer-musician is credited with her success as an entrepreneur, having managed a mamak restaurant, tattoo parlor, nail salon and her own fashion label. However, Leng has been the center of controversy for a number of reasons including her very public stance on plastic surgery.

“I don’t care. These haters are not paying my bills. If they say that I’m earning my money in unsavory ways, well, at least I’m earning my own money. I don’t depend on anyone else. I’m supporting myself and my family. I don’t think I owe an explanation on how I choose to earn my money as long as it is not against the law.”

During the interview last year, Leng revealed that she had spent up to $7,000 of her own money on cosmetic surgery, but has been sponsored by different cosmetic surgery companies to go under the knife for operations that cost up to $72,000. She said:

“No woman is ugly — we just have to spend the time to make ourselves look good. We put on make up, maintain and take care of our skin. I don’t have time for all that.

“What I do is: I go for surgery, so I can save myself time for more important things. Now, I can just get up, brush my teeth, draw some eyeliner and go out. For me, it’s an investment in exchange for time.”

The former beauty queen has held a total of 22 pageant titles including both domestic and world titles, according to her online DJ bio. Leng’s face can be seen on tourism ads in countries such as Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand. Much of her accomplishments were a surprise, even to her.

“I don’t have many regrets in life. If I went to college, I would be working a nine to five job now, earning a fixed salary — not out traveling the world.

“I was not and I still don’t think I am an ambitious person. When I was 17, I didn’t think I’d have the ambition to become a career woman or anything like that. I thought that being a girl, I would just eventually marry someone, stay at home and have kids. Look at me now!”

She is well known by car enthusiasts for having hosted car shows in Malaysia, the U.S., Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan. The undisputed car queen of Malaysia has also won several car show titles including the “Best Car Model Award” in the world’s largest car show, SEMA.

As a movie star, Yein has acted in several internationally-produced films, such as “Internship Stewardess” (China), “Death Rang” (Hollywood, USA), “The Green Fairy” (Hollywood, USA), “The Nude Chainsaw” (Germany) and “Lan Kwai Fong 3” (Hong Kong).

Today, Leng and her sister enjoy a glamorous jet-setting career as the Malaysian DJ Duo “Leng Sisters” and making appearances at exclusive parties in different parts of the world. During an interview with The New Paper, Leng described her relationship with her sibling:

“Since we were young, we’ve been best friends. We never ever argue. Even when people say things like my sister is prettier than me, I would agree because she’s the ‘original’ one and I’m the fake one — I am the one who has had more plastic surgery. Basically, I don’t have any friends. My sister is my only friend. “

While many netizens have been very vocal about their criticism of the artist, others look up to her as a role-model. Leng has a massive social media following with nearly three million fans on Facebook and half a million followers on Instagram. She also has popular Facebook hate page, which someone created for her. The page, she said jokingly, is a source of pride with over 60,000 subscribers.