STATES OF Grace

The picture of glamour in local high society, GRACE CHNG charms us with her down-to-earth side.

-  LYNETTE KOH

For socialite Grace Chng, tickets to Bruno Mars' Singapore concert in April were free but the story of how priceless. 

She met the superstar while she and her husband were holidaying in Las Vegas in February. "We all happened to be staying at the MGM Mansion," the former model recalls, referring to the exclusive 29-villa residence in Vegas. "One evening, while my husband and I were having wine, he realised that Bruno Mars and a friend were at a nearby table and sent them two glasses of wine. The star came over to thank us and we chatted."

As fate would have it, she bumped into Mars again the next day while they were waiting for their respective rides. Upon discovering that she was Singaporean, the singer gifted her tickets to his Singapore show. It was just another day in this jetsetter's charmed life.

BEYOND FIRST IMPRESSIONS

For those who first meet Grace, it might be easy to presume that the aloof-looking beauty is... "Ho baa bai (Cantonese for very arrogant)?" she supplies with a smile, as we search for a polite term to describe possible first impressions of her.

We laugh at how unnervingly blunt the phrase is. It would certainly be the assumption for anyone watching the former model strike various poses during her photoshoot, flashing just the slightest of smiles while wearing jaw-dropping high jewellery pieces, one of which is her own necklace.