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Christabel Chua

Christabel Chua (born 28 March 1991) is a Singaporean entrepreneur and social media content creator.[1][2] She was once a lifestyle blogger and YouTuber but is now most active on Instagram where she has over 255,000 followers as of July 2020. Christabel Chua is also the founder of the lifestyle brand kāi, launched in 2017.

Christabel Chua
Christabel Chua 2020.png
Born28 March 1991
EducationBachelor of Commerce
Alma materUniversity of Western Australia

Background

Before embarking on her tertiary studies, Christabel Chua has modelled part-time for online blogshops, worked as a time-keeper at events, alongside various other odd jobs.[3] She was also an ice-cream scooper at Ben & Jerry's for five years.[4] When she was still an active blogger, Christabel Chua primarily produced travel and beauty content.[5] As of January 2020, her blog is no longer active, with the last public post dated 1 November 2017.[6]

Early life & family

Christabel Chua was born on 28 March 1991. In 2017, Today reported that her mother, Judy Han is a real estate agent.[7]

Education

Christabel Chua was a student at Fairfield Methodist Primary School and Fairfield Methodist Secondary School. She then attended Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) where she was schoolmates with Nathan Hartono.[8] Christabel Chua then furthered her studies at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth, Australia where she graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce.[9][10]

YouTube

BellyWellyJelly - Content creator (2016 - 2018)

Christabel Chua was active on her YouTube channel between 2016 and 2018. Similar to her blog, she primarily uploaded travel and beauty video content. Christabel Chua has created content for brands like Dyson and Fresh Beauty.[11] In 2017, she worked with Fresh Beauty to film a mini-documentary in Vietnam.[12] As of June 2020, Christabel has over 47,600 subscribers and accumulated over 3,500,000 views.[13]

TheSmartLocal - Host (2014 - 2016)

 
Thumbnail from Episode 26 of Pretty Smart.

In 2014, Christabel Chua joined TheSmartLocal (TSL) as a full-time staff and rose in popularity through her hosting. She was with the company for two years until 2016. During her time at TSL, Christabel Chua helped to develop the channel's presence on YouTube.[14]

Year Segment Role Episodes Seasons Refs.
2015 - 2016 TSL Travels Season 2 Host 15 2 [15]
2014 - 2016 Pretty Smart Season 1 51 2 [16]

Other than being the host for the above segments, she has made appearances in other TSL videos like "Singaporeans Try: Singapore Vs Malaysia Food Blind Taste Test”.[17]

kāi by bellywellyjelly

After two years of planning, Christabel Chua officially launched her product line, kāi, in 2017.[18] kāi is an online retail store selling novelty lifestyle accessories. Since its launch in 2017, the brand has worked with local and international labels to create limited edition products. kāi is the romanised word for the Chinese character ‘开’. The character stands for openness and freedom and the term ‘开心’ (kai xin) means the feeling of being happy.[19]

 
Christabel Chua pictured with one of her pouches from the sushi collection. Photo from Instagram.

Collections

kāi's products are cruelty-free and sustainable, having been made from bi-cast vegan leather.[20] Kāi has produced various novelty-designed bags, pouches, sticker sets and planners.

Year Collections Products Refs.
2019 Sushi Collection Sushi-shaped pouches and an onigiri bag [21]
Everyday Collection Clutch, case and travel pouch [22]
2018 Pineapple Collection Pouch and bag launched for Chinese New Year [23]
Sweet Dreams Collection Pouches and bags [24]
2017 Fruit Collection Fruit-shaped pouches [25]

Product collaborations

Year Brand Details Refs.
2020 Besbes kāi collaborated with Besbes to create customisable hand-free phone cases. [26]
2019 Re:erth & Nodspark The three local labels collaborated to create limited edition travel sets. [27]
Fresh kāi collaborated with Fresh beauty to create self-care stickers. [28]
Starbucks Singapore kāi collaborated with Starbucks to create lanyards and keychains inspired by summer and Starbucks drinks. [29]

Other endeavours

 
Christabel Chua (second from left) on the runway for Miss Universe Singapore in 2014. Photo from source.

Miss Universe Singapore (2014)

At 23 years old, Christabel participated in Miss Universe Singapore where she made it among the top twelve finalists and claimed the titles “Miss Photogenic” and “Best Skin”.[30][31][32]

Newsworthy incident

Private video leak (2018)

Christabel Chua was in a relationship with her former TSL colleague, Joal Ong from 2014 to 2017. In May 2018, intimate videos of her private life with Joal Ong were leaked and shared on the internet.[33] Two months later, Christabel Chua addressed the incident in an open letter that was originally published on Harper’s Bazaar Singapore.[34] In the post dated 30 July 2018, she clarified that the videos had been filmed during her four-year-long relationship with Joal, and was misused by an anonymous third party. She also stated that she had faced backlash from netizens who had privately criticised her for the videos.[35] Through her open acknowledgement of the incident and the difficulties that followed, Christabel turned her plight into an opportunity to provide support to victims of similar situations.[36]

References / Citations

  1. ↑ "bellywellyjelly". Instagram. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "The Story Of Christabel Chua (@bellywellyjelly), NYLON Feb/Mar 2019 Digital Cover Girl". Nylon. March 1, 2019. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  3. ↑ Do Not Clique. "Do Not Clique Podcast 35 - Bellywellyjelly". Spotify. September 1, 2018. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  4. ↑ Lee, Elaine. "Celeb Chow with Christabel Chua". The New Paper. July 13, 2017. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  5. ↑ Lee, Elaine. "Celeb Chow with Christabel Chua". The New Paper. July 13, 2017. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  6. ↑ Bel. "Cambodia Dreams". bellywellyjelly. November 1, 2017. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  7. ↑ Khoo, Bee Khim. "Like mother, like daughter". TodayOnline. August 11, 2017. Accessed on 11 June 2020.
  8. ↑ Do Not Clique. "Do Not Clique Podcast 35 - Bellywellyjelly". Spotify. September 1, 2018. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  9. ↑ TheSmartLocal. “Draw My Life by Bellywellyjelly - PrettySmart: EP 40”. YouTube. November 4, 2015. Accessed on 21 January 2019.
  10. ↑ "Christabel Chua". LinkedIn. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  11. ↑ Bellywellyjelly. “VACATION HAIRSTYLES VLOG | BELLYWELLYJELLY”. YouTube. June 20, 2018. Accessed on 22 January 2019.
  12. ↑ Fresh Beauty. “BellyWellyJelly’s Travelogue to the Land of the Lotus”. YouTube. December 21, 2017. Accessed on 22 January 2019.
  13. ↑ Bellywellyjelly. "ABOUT". Accessed on 11 June 2020. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/user/christabelchuahy/about
  14. ↑ Do Not Clique. "Do Not Clique Podcast 35 - Bellywellyjelly". Spotify. September 1, 2018. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  15. ↑ TheSmartLocal. "TSL Travels - Season 2". YouTube. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  16. ↑ TheSmartLocal. "PrettySmart - Season 1". YouTube. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  17. ↑ The Smart Local. “Singaporeans Try: Singapore Vs Malaysia Food Blind Taste Test (feat. The Ming Thing) | Ep 32”. YouTube. January 4, 2016. Accessed on 21 January 2019.
  18. ↑ Bel. "Dreams do come true". bellywellyjelly. July 14, 2020. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  19. ↑ "about kai". Kai. Accessed on 22 January 2019.
  20. ↑ "The Story Of Christabel Chua (@bellywellyjelly), NYLON Feb/Mar 2019 Digital Cover Girl". Nylon. March 1, 2019. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  21. ↑ iamkai.co. "SUSHI COLLECTION". Instagram. November 3, 2019. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  22. ↑ iamkai.co. Instagram. March 10, 2019. Accessed on 4 June 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu07qz5hKKI/?igshid=13qwdyee68ve1
  23. ↑ iamkai.co. "Pineapple Collection". Instagram. January 20, 2018. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  24. ↑ iamkai.co. "Sweet Dreams Collection". Instagram. March 14, 2018. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  25. ↑ Chan, Melissa. “This Social Media Darling Decided To ‘kai’ An Online Shop Selling Fruit Pouches - All Sold Out In 5 Days”. Vulcan Post. July 24, 2017. Accessed on 22 January 2019.
  26. ↑ iamkai.co. Instagram. May 4, 2020. Accessed on 11 June 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_wv0UYpzaj/?igshid=1etbr3tfltzb5
  27. ↑ Tan, Celine. "This Is What Happens When Influencer Christabel Chua & The Founders Of Local Labels Re:erth And Nodspark Do A Brand Mash-Up". 8 Days. July 4, 2019. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  28. ↑ Iamkai.co. "kai x fresh". Instagram. February 8, 2019. Accessed on 27 February 2019.
  29. ↑ Iamkai.co. "STARBUCKS X KĀI". Instagram. January 28, 2019. Accessed on 27 February 2019.
  30. ↑ By The Guy. “5 Minutes With Christabel: Getting Inside Bellywellyjelly’s Mind”. Seriously Man. August 26, 2014. Accessed on 22 January 2019.
  31. ↑ "Rathi Menon crowned Miss Universe Singapore 2014". Angelopedia. August 22, 2014. Accessed on 15 January 2020.
  32. ↑ Nurul Azliah. “Exotic mix of Miss Universe Singapore 2014 finalists unveiled”. Yahoo! News Singapore. August 3, 2014. Accessed on 4 June 2020. Retrieved from Singapore Management University.
  33. ↑ Fang, Joy. “Influencer scandals that shocked and rocked Singapore”. HERWORLD. December 22, 2018. Accessed on 21 January 2019.
  34. ↑ Joelynn. “Influencer Christabel Chua Turns Her Video Scandal Into A Rallying Call In Open Letter”. MustShareNews. July 30, 2018. Accessed on 21 January 2019.
  35. ↑ Harper’s Bazaar Staff. “CHRISTABEL CHUA FINALLY OPENS UP ABOUT THAT INCIDENT”. Harper’s Bazaar. July 30, 2018. Accessed on 30 January 2019.
  36. ↑ Tai, Hayley., Cheong, Wen Xuan. "#HerWorldHerStory: How Christabel Chua Bounced Back From The Lowest Point In Her Life". Her World. May 20, 2020. Accessed on 11 June 2020.
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