This Merdeka, we celebrate some Malaysians who have unusual jobs.
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 31 — There are two reasons why little girls just can’t wait to grow up: make-up/cosmetics and stilettos.
It’s a dream come true to be able to use name brands such as MAC, Estee Lauder and Chanel on a daily basis, for their job. To a lot of them, it seems so glamorous to be able to do something like that for a living, and if they’re lucky enough, they can travel around the world, meeting world-class models and celebrities.
Yes, being a make up artist can be glamorous, but would it be the same if the client is motionless, cold (literally) and essentially dead?
Chan Yan Ling, 38, calls herself a beautician, or a “white lady” (in NV Multi Corporation Bhd where she works, make-up artists for the dead are called white ladies) whose job description includes dressing up and making female corpses look pretty. She told The Malaysian Insider that there is not much difference applying make-up on her own face, and on her “clients.”
The job
“The make-up skills required is similar to applying make-up for the living,” she said nonchalantly.
Chan explained that the client is first bathed, then the body would be wiped dry, next they would dress them, and the make-up would come last.
On the face, she would first apply baby oil or lotion, which she explained is crucial to absorb the cosmetics, then she said the rest would just be like making up a living client.
However, she said, for accident or disaster victims who might have some physical imperfections, they would be perfected with a special kind of wax first. She added that she gives light massages to her “clients” so they won’t be stiff it came time to dress them.
Chan said they usually have to work on their “clients” immediately after receiving the body because usually the family would want the whole process to be done quickly.
“Because of that, we’re always on standby,” she said.
The process before make-up would be the embalming, which usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
She explained that immediately after embalming, the body would be handed over to the “white lady” team. As most of her clients are Chinese, the body is usually at the house of the deceased for three or seven days, and they would need some touching up, depending on the cause of death.
“Many people call me gutsy for doing what I do, and say that not everyone can do this,” she said.
The mother of three kids — the eldest, a graduate from TAR, another who is already working while the youngest is in Form One — said she gets satisfaction when she gets sincere compliments from the family of the deceased.
Chan had never dreamt of being a “white lady” if not for a life-changing event which she chose not to elaborate.
“To satisfy the requirements of my clients’ families is the most important thing,” she said
Nirvana has two teams of “white ladies”, and there are two people to a team.
The two teams are on call 24/7 but office hours are from 8am to 5 pm. For night shifts, however, each team would be on call weekly. Nirvana’s deputy general manager Lim Nee Theng said the two teams are sufficient for now, although there are a good number of walk-ins who are interested in the job.
She said normally, the whole process would take about 30 to 45 minutes but for special cases where parts of the face has to be “perfected”, it can take up to five hours. Chan explained that if there were no clients, she would have to check the make-up box to ensure all the tools and make-up essentials are there because they are on standby 24/7.
The “beautician” said in addition to her basic salary, which she confirmed was “definitely” more than RM2,000 when she was first hired, there are incentives, depending on the number of clients, in addition to allowances and benefits.
Chan said no prior classes or training is required as the company provides on-the-job training. During her tenure, she was sent to other countries such as Hong Kong for advanced training and will be sent to the Philippines soon, for additional training.
Myths and rituals
Contrary to the urban myth about how trapped air can make corpses sit up or sigh, Chan said that those are only made-up horror stories.
She said convincingly that she had never experienced any “presence” or encountered anything out of the ordinary.
She added that before she dresses the client, she would talk to the corpse, comforting the “client” and ask for her permission. “We will talk to them, tell them to relax and that we will do our best to make her look good,” she said.
Lim, the deputy general manager said that in a month, they would get about 55 to 60 clients. However she added that it would depend on the time of the year.
She claimed that they get more clients closer to the Chinese festivals that are related to deaths, such as the Ching Ming Festival or the Tomb Sweeping Day and the Double Ninth Festival which is a time for the living descendants to pay homage to their deceased ancestors.
In addition, the seventh month in the Chinese calendar is called the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits come out from the underworld to visit earth.
She claimed the reason behind the increase is because the Chinese believe that Ching Ming is critical to those who are already sick that if they survive until after the festival, they will be spared at least another year.
Pricing for the service
Lim explained that usually the make-up part would be included in a comprehensive package. However, if the client’s family wants to order the service a la carte, it would cost RM750 per service, which includes the embalming, the clothes and make-up.
Chan said they would use pictures from the family members as a guide to their personal style. “We try to meet the family’s requirement as much as we can,” Chan said, adding that they would provide advice to the family on the practical ways to dress their loved one up.
Life prior to the job
“When I first started, my mum asked if I was afraid, she said if you are, don’t do it,” Chan recalled. She admitted she was a little nervous, attending to her first “client” but was at ease after that.
She added that at first being a “beautician” was only a paying job but later on, she realised that she was passionate about it.
Chan said it gives her “satisfaction” and “enjoyment”.
She had no prior professional experience with make-up, other than applying make-up on her own face. She was a kindergarten teacher up till two years ago.
The Johor Baru native said she wanted have a fresh start in life and just decided to drive to the capital with a friend. She said she was just randomly driving around, attempting to get a job.
“One day, we just drove to Semenyih and saw the huge Nirvana Memorial Center building right in front of us and I told my friend I wanted to work there,” she explained.
She said without hesitation that she wanted to be a make-up artist, when asked by her friend. “I think that’s fate,” linking the coincidence of driving to Nirvana and the gut feeling she had to take up the challenge.
Essentially, it was her interest and courage that made her passionate about her unusual job.
