Special Feature

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P
acked with only a pair of jeans each, a few T-shirts, a wool sweatshirt, a
thermal wear and an extra pair of shoes, these two mums had set out for
The Amazing Race Asia 2, representing Malaysia. What’s more, they are the
only mums amongst the teams in this race! Bond by their passions for dancing
and physical activities, Ann Tan Li Lian, 40, a mum of three who co-owns a dance studio
cum café, teamed up for the race with Diane Tricia Douglas, 33, an entrepreneur, a
dance instructor, and a mother of two.

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The Ann&Diane... ................................................

Amazi
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Mothers in
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Text by Kua Kee Eng
Photography by
B-Photographic Studio
Make-up by Amy Ng

The
Amazi n
RACEAsiaII
g
Ann Tan and Diane Tricia Douglas, both mums, both outdoor fanatics,
and entrepreneurs, depicted as the “desperate housewives of Malaysia”
who are desperate for new challenges and adventures, had packed their
bags and set out for The Amazing Race Asia 2. Parenthood pries into
the lives of these two long time dancing buddies to check out if their
undertakings had been as simple as dancing hip hop or jazz, especially
with kids in tow and businesses to run.

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Getting Into best person to bring along,” Diane “We’ve known each other for 10
The Amazing Race continued from her friend’s remark. years. We’ve danced together,
Diane learnt that most of the spend lots of time together, fed our
“It was Diane’s idea!” exclaimed
husband and wife teams in kids together,” said Diane, “and
Ann. “I’m a big fan of The Amazing
The Amazing Race that she’d we’ve been pregnant almost the
Race. I’d watched The Amazing
watched thus far; never seemed to same time!” Ann added, and both
Race from the first season onwards,
work well during the race. And this of them giggled. “I know her very
all of them. And I always said to
prompted her to choose her friend, well, and I know that she’s very fit
myself, if the audition for this race
Ann, as her team mate, instead of and committed, and I wanted
were to come up, I’d persuade one
her husband. someone like that to be my partner,”
of my friends to join the race. But
answered Diane when asked what
the thing that matters
made her picked Ann as her partner
most is who’s the
in The Amazing Race Asia 2.

“When Diane asked me to join

her, I just said yes. I didn’t really
think much about it, as I
thought we might not even
pass the audition. When
you’re talking about
selecting a few
teams out of a

.....
few thousands
of candidates,
it’s definitely
tough and our
chances were
certainly very
low. Above all,
the candidates
were not only
from Malaysia
alone, they
were from
all over
Asia,” said
Ann.

Diane and youngest child, Michael Ann and youngest child, Tamara

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 Getting Ready for the Race

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When Ann and Diane went for the
interview and audition, they Unexpectedly, Ann and Diane were informed that they have been selected
doubted if they would be selected, three days prior to the beginning of The Amazing Race Asia because they
as they seemed to be the oldest were on the standby list, whereas other teams had known months ahead of
team in terms of age, where them, which left them very little time to make arrangements for their children
everyone else were in their and businesses. They had to spend a month away from their family for the
twenties, young and vibrant, and race and it had been a total communication cut-off with their family and
many good looking ones too. They friends, as they weren’t allowed to contact anyone beyond the sphere of
sent in a three-minute audition The Amazing Race Asia during that particular month. Thus, whatever
tape, in which they introduced arrangements they need to make with regards to their family and businesses
themselves and performed a dance have to be done before setting out for the race.
that they had choreographed. They
haven’t been told about the “It’s a bit difficult for me because I have Caterpillar (a studio cum café that
specific requirements of what to do she co-owns with two other friends), especially when we’ve expanded our
in the audition tape, except for the business and set up a café in Bangsar, and we’re opening another one
three minutes time length. “I guess soon. There ’ re just so many things to be taken care of. But I managed to
perhaps the judges just wanted to split my dance classes between a few teachers before I left for The Amazing
see our personalities and creativity, Race Asia,” Ann expressed with a sigh of relief. As
what makes us different from the for Diane, while she was away, her business
other teams, how we represent partner who is also her sister-in-law had helped
ourselves…” her with the on-line marketing of T-shirts, a
home-based business which both of them have
set up. “But my sister-in-law didn’t complain of
“Life doesn’t stop having to do all the work herself while I was away,”
after giving birth,” said Diane, grateful for her sister-in-law’s
said Ann, who assistance.
strongly believes While Diane was required to leave Malaysia for
that mothers the Race, coincidentally her husband needed
shouldn’t use to travel to America at the same time, which
‘motherhood’ as an meant that their children would be alone
excuse for not with the maid at home, so Diane called
pursuing their her mum-in-law for help. “We called
dreams.
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her on a Sunday afternoon, and she returned our call about two hours later
and told us that her flight was scheduled to land in KL early Wednesday
morning, as she’s aware that my flight would leave from KL on Tuesday
night. So she flew all the way from Holland to KL, looked after my kids for
about two weeks and took them back to Holland as it was then a summer
break for them,” expressed Diane with lots of gratitude towards her mum-
in-law.

As for Ann, her mum had helped her a lot with taking care of her children
while she’s away from home. Ann said, “I think because my two older kids
are in their teens, it’s much easier for me. But Tamara certainly misses me,
as she is still a young child.” However, Ann was thankful to her husband for
taking such good care of the children when she’s not around. “My husband
is a very hands-on person when it comes to our kids. He is capable of
looking after the kids from morning to night. He would keep them occupied
all day with activities, making sure that they have their meals on time and
so on,” said Ann.

Fortunately for both of them, their husbands

have been supportive to all things that they
have undertaken thus far. “We actually told
our husbands that we were going for a dance
camp in Melbourne, as we weren’t allowed
to expose anything about The Amazing Race
Asia to anyone, not even our spouses,” said
Diane. Ann continued, “They knew that it was
some sort of reality show, in fact, they thought
it was a dance show. They’d never have
guessed that it’d be The Amazing Race Asia.
” However, their children were very excited
when they finally got to know that their mums
participated in The Amazing Race Asia.

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The Meaning of Victory
When asked what would they do with the US$100,000 grand prize of The
Amazing Race Asia if they were to win the race, Ann answered, “If we win,
I’d save up part of it for my children’s education, expand my business
and I’d plan to set up some dance classes where the less fortunate
children could join by paying less, or may be even free. Actually, we are
looking forward to start up a communal centre in PJ, where kids who
can’t afford the luxury of pricey dancing lessons could join in, as fees
would be lowered, besides, we’re trying to reach out more to the middle-
aged, lower income group as well.” As for Diane, if she won the grand prize,
she would invest the money in her business and treat her family to a nice
vacation.

To Ann, winning or losing is not the main concern, but the experience that she
gained through this race was something even money can’t buy. It would be
an unforgettable experience of her lifetime. As for Diane, even if they didn’t
make it to the final, she’s glad that she has learnt a lot from the race. She
knew that there are lots of things that could be done to achieve her dreams,
and even if she could turn back time she would not have done it any
differently, as she has no regrets in her undertaking thus far.

“Life doesn’t stop after giving birth,” was Ann’s comments to all the
mothers out there. She said that one should never regret the life one leads,
as one would never know what will happen in the future, perhaps, something
better has yet to come. While Diane urges parents to do something for
themselves as an individual such as chasing their own dreams, and not evolve solely
around their children all the time, because there will come a time where parents need to let go
when their children have grown
up, and that’s the time when
the parents need something
else to hold on to.

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Catch Ann and Diane
in The Amazing Race
Asia 2 at AXN,
Astro Channel 701,
this month!
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