Once upon a time, Siew Pui Yi had to reinvent herself due to threats of blackmail from a malicious hacker. Her determination to not let them control her fate led her to become one of Malaysia’s highest-paid content creators.
Now, Siew, more famously known as Ms. Pui Yi, is reinventing herself once again, walking away from the world of risque content to show the world that she’s much more than a sexy bombshell. She talked about that and much more during our recent Cocochats interview, which you can watch right here:
Siew’s already come a long way from her humble beginnings. Born in urban Kuala Lumpur and raised in a town 3 kilometers east of Georgetown, in Butterworth, Pulau Pinang, Siew grew up in a lower-middle-class family with her mother working as a hawker and her father a salesperson.
Her fame skyrocketed in recent years after she ventured into the world of OnlyFans, the subscription-based platform best known for its adult content creators, where she quickly became one of its top earners.
But the 25-year-old’s ambitions are far greater than that. These days, she’s spreading her wings to take on new challenges in the worlds of music, acting and philanthropy.
Life after OnlyFans
In December, Siew announced that she would stop producing content for OnlyFans, walking away from the business that was earning her over US$1 million per month.
Siew told Coconuts during our interview that she received some backlash when she announced that she was going to stop creating risque content.
“There was definitely a lot of heat in the beginning because people were debating what was going on and they have been so used to seeing me in this scene.”
“However, it’s been a few months and people are a lot more supportive now.”
Prior to joining OnlyFans, Siew was already a social media influencer, posting mostly PG-13 type content. However, things took a dramatic turn for her after she became a victim of blackmail.
In 2019, her laptop got hacked after she sent it out for repair. When she logged into her Google account she realized what had happened after the perpetrator demanded that she hand over US$1,200 (RM5,200) or her private intimate photos would be leaked.
She went to the police but investigators were unable to help her and soon she found that some of her private photos had already been posted online. She said it was the lowest point in her life.
“It was then that I decided to take control,” she was quoted as saying on The Vibes TV. She decided to post more risque content to her IG and then adult content to OnlyFans in order to take away the power the hacker had over her. Her fan base exploded, as did her fame and income.
In January 2022, she even became the first Malaysian and the first woman from Southeast Asia to appear on the cover of US adult magazine Penthouse.
However, Siew has said that she would never have posted risque content in the first place if it hadn’t been for the hack.
So now that she has already achieved fame and fortune, she has decided to start a new chapter in her career, focusing on a range of pursuits including music, acting, and modeling.
The 25-year-old has been seen DJ-ing at a few events in the past few months. She also has a single track titled ‘Men-mory’ (which I must say is pretty catchy).
She was also cast in the upcoming Malaysian horror thriller, ‘Pulau’, which will be in theatres on March 9.
When asked whether she got her role in an upcoming local horror thriller ‘Pulau’ because of her status, Siew said she had to audition just like everyone else.
“It was a very unique experience and I’m very lucky because this is my first movie yet I get to act in such a diverse cast. I also get to promote Malaysia in a different scene while pushing for its tourism,” she said.
“I also learned a lot from Euho (the director) because he will tell you what exactly he wants from you and the other more experienced actor also taught me how to be more expressive on screen,” she said adding that it was a good learning curve.
The film, which just had its first screening for the media last night, caught flak last month over its trailer which showed Siew in a steamy scene with another actor and other actresses in bikini tops.
Siew said some of the scenes were reviewed again and have been altered to better suit the film’s PG13 rating. She also dismissed allegations that the movie was heavily sexualised.
Meanwhile, the actress-singer-DJ-model has also ventured into philanthropy, recently launching a scholarship fund worth RM4.3 million (US$1,000,000).
She said because she grew up with Buddhist teachings, she has always been interested in helping those who are less fortunate. She said she has received about 100,000 applicants for the scholarship from all over the world.
According to Siew, 2023 is going to be a very “vibrant” year for her. She said her fans could expect new music and movies from her, as well as collaborations with other talented Malaysian artists.
“Hopefully it’s going to be a very exciting year for us!”
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