Daphne Eleanor M Iking (born Daphne M Iking), known as Daphne Iking, is a Malaysian television personality, an emcee and an occasional actress.

Early life

Daphne was born in

Keningau Keningau ( ms, Pekan Keningau) is the capital of the Keningau District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is the fifth-largest town in Sabah, as well one of the oldest. Keningau is between Tambunan and Tenom. The town had an es ...

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

to a former nurse, Naili Juliah Ganahong (b. 1954) who was a resident of that town and a former policeman, banker turned local politician Mozes Michael Iking (1951-2016) who hailed from

Tambunan Tambunan ( ms, Pekan Tambunan) is the capital of the Tambunan District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 35,667 in 2010. It is located 80 kilometres east of the state capital, Kota Kinabalu ...

district. She is the second eldest amongst four siblings and grew up in the UK before moving back to Malaysia in 1988, where she resided in

Penampang Penampang ( ms, Pekan Penampang) is the capital of the Penampang District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 93,616 in 2010, with ethnic Kadazan as the majority. It contains, or is synonym ...

. before leaving to Penang to further her tertiary studies there. She completed both her degree and master degree in Communications at the

Universiti Sains Malaysia Universiti Sains Malaysia ( 'Science University of Malaysia'; abbreviation, abbreviated as USM) is a public research university in Malaysia. Founded on 1 June 1969 as a statutory body with its own constitution, it is among the oldest institute ...

, Penang in 2002. She converted to Islam in early 2011.

Television and other ventures

Prior to her career in television Daphne worked as a marketing executive for Skywalker TV. Iking first entered the television scene as the model in a

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advertisement. The next year saw her co-hosting ''Ringgit Sense'', a TV3 show on finance, alongside Nazrudin Rahman. Daphne Iking won the beauty queen title of

Unduk Ngadau Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan is a beauty pageant held annually during the Kaamatan cultural event in Sabah, Malaysia. Profile The Unduk Ngadau beauty pageant is held to commemorate the spirit of Huminodun, the mythological maiden who was of total be ...

of Sabah in 2003, representing Klang Valley. Iking quickly became a recognisable face as the host of reality show '' Explorace'', a reality show similar to ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

'', in 2004 for two years where she is known for her lively personality. She then went on to host ''PNB World Investment Challenge'' on TV3, ''Vector Challenge'' on 8TV, ''Explorace Kids'' on TV3 and ''Health and Beauty Capsule in May/Antabax''. She also reported for TV3's factual programmes ''The Brand'' and ''

Majalah Tiga TV3 (pronounced as ''Tivi Tiga'') is a Malaysian free-to-air television channel owned by Media Prima conglomerate. TV3 is the third and third oldest TV station in Malaysia. It was launched on 1 June 1984 as the country's first and oldest private ...

''. In 2006 she gained a supporting role as Daphne in 8TV's dramedy series '' KL Lights''. She also hosted with Nazarudin Rahman again in ''My Australian Adventure'', a sponsored

travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...

show in TV3. As well as having hosted ''My Australian Adventures'', the Malaysian celebrity was also the scriptwriter for the show. Later that year, she moved to ntv7 and hosted ''The Breakfast Show''. She was the assistant producer of ''The Breakfast Show''. She was a supporting actress in telemovie ''Adik'', in 2007 and played a minor role in Singaporean drama ''District 9 Pilot''. In 2009, Iking was nominated in the Malaysian

Shout! Awards The Shout! Awards was an entertainment award show created to celebrate the Malaysian entertainment scene which was said (at the time) had rapidly developed. The award recognised people of music, television, film and radio industry as well as t ...

for "Favourite Television Personality" as host for ''The Breakfast Show''. Iking played a con-woman in ''Belukar'', a Malaysian independent film released in 2010 and won the "Most Promising Actress" for this role In late 2010, Iking played as a nurse suffering from domestic abuse which is one of the characters included in the short film ''Prelude in F Minor''. She was also the supporting actress in the local comedy film ''My Spy'' in 2010. In October 2010 Daphne Iking was nominated for the second time for "Favourite Television Personality" as the host of ''The Breakfast Show'' during the ''Shout! Awards''. Iking left ''The Breakfast Show'' after four years in 2011 as she was invited to be part of an English Women's programme called "Bella" on ntv7. Daphne has stepped out of her comfort zone hosting shows only in the English medium, and started taking offers to do Malay programmes. RTM commissioned a production house to create a new program “Ekspresi Kreatif D.I.Y Daphne” with Daphne as the host - a show that depicts her love for DIY projects. Recognised as a well-known face in the Malaysian entertainment industry, Daphne was offered to host TLC's hit reality show "Say Yes To The Dress Asia" alongside fashion designer Dato' Jovian Mandagie. She appeared for the third time in the list of

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Malaysia's annual ''Most Wanted Female 2010'' at number 40. She also appeared in music video "Sumandak Sabah" by

Marsha Milan Marsha Milan Londoh (born December 6, 1985) is a Malaysian singer and actress. She gained fame for being a contestant in the third season of the Malaysian reality show contest ''Akademi Fantasia'', in which she won the fourth place. In 2013, Ma ...

and Velvet Aduk alongside the Unduk Ngadau winners. In 2019, she was invited to share her journey as a Mualaf on Astro’s Naura Shares, followed by a guest host stint with Sheikh Hussin Yee. In August 2019, she was invited to host a 10 episode show “Girl’s Day Out” with fellow activist friend and TV Personality, Lisa Surihani for Astro Naura. The show talks about Women’s Rights in Islam and debunking the common myths surrounding Muslim Women and their roles in society.

Personal life

By October 2006 she started a relationship with businessman Ryan Chong Yiing Yih. They met while Iking was filming ''KL Lights''. She revealed that she was getting married, in a live talk show. The wedding was held in Bali, Indonesia in January 2007 and the event was published in the Malaysian edition of ''

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'' magazine. The couple had a daughter, Isobel Daniella. In 2009, Chong accused a managing director, Darren Choy Khin Ming under the Penal Code of 498 of Malaysian law for "enticing or taking away or detaining with a criminal intent a married woman". Iking and Chong divorced that year. She embraced Islam, prior to her wedding with entrepreneur Azmi Abdul Rahman.

References

https://www.mstar.com.my/spotlight/hiburan/2011/02/25/daphne-kahwin-peluk-islam-selepas-melawat-taj-mahal

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iking, Daphne Malaysian television personalities 1978 births Converts to Islam Living people Kadazan-Dusun people People from Sabah Malaysian film actresses Universiti Sains Malaysia alumni Malaysian Muslims People from Keningau District