Poh Ling Yeow (; born 1973) is a Malaysian-born Australian cook, artist, actress, author and television presenter.

Early life and history

Born in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, Malaysia, into a fifth-generation

Malaysian Chinese Malaysian Chinese (; Malay: ''Orang Cina Malaysia''), alternatively Chinese Malaysians, are Malaysian citizens of Han Chinese descent. They form the second largest ethnic group after the Malay majority constituting 22.4% of the Malaysian p ...

family, and her mother is of

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

descent. Yeow attended

SMK Convent Bukit Nanas S.M.K. Convent Bukit Nanas (abbreviated CBN) is an all-girls school located at Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest schools in Malaysia and is widely known as CBN. Convent Bukit Nanas is one of the f ...

. She immigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

at age 9 with her parents and brother, eventually settling in Adelaide, South Australia. After attending Seymour College and then the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

(where she earned a

Bachelor of Design A Bachelor of Design (B.Des. or B.Design) degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree in the field of design awarded for a course or major that generally lasts three or four years. It is the undergraduate equivalent of the Master of Design, ...

degree), Yeow worked as a freelance graphic designer, illustrator, and makeup artist. Yeow's corporate clients as a makeup artist included

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, ...

and Attitude magazine, the

Australian String Quartet The Australian String Quartet (ASQ) is a chamber music group founded in 1985 and based at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. It delivers an artistic program of performances, workshops, commissions, digital content and education projects ...

and the short film M''y Last Ten Hours With You''. Her personal clients included

Megan Gale Megan Kate Gale (born 7 August 1975) is an Australian model and actress. Born in Perth, Western Australia, Gale won a model contest when she was 18 in her home town. In 1999 she was cast in a series of commercials for the Italian telecommunicat ...

and Lisa Ho. Freelance work as a

makeup artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions incl ...

led to her preparing models for artist David Bromley, increasing her understanding of the art market. Yeow has acknowledged that she posed as a nude model for Bromley. Yeow adopted the Western first name Sharon until age 25, but reverted to Poh Ling as a part of embracing her cultural heritage. She became a full-time professional artist in 2002.

Career

Artist

Yeow works mainly with acrylic paint on canvas. Her early works featured heavily textured backgrounds whereas recent works present a smoother, more refined and highly detailed finish. Elements of her Chinese heritage feature in her work, including the goldfish, a symbol of prosperity and good luck in Chinese culture, lotus flowers, ponds, and Australian flora and fauna. A recurring character in Yeow's recent work is one that she calls ''The Girl'' ("my autobiographical twin"), who she refers to in the third person, although the character's facial features are clearly similar to Yeow's. She says "I guess he Girlwas developed as a cathartic act, in terms of embracing everything that I did hate about myself physically: the broad nose, the Asian eyes, the broad face". A further theme behind her recent body of work was Yeow's split with her partner of 10 years, with titles including "Was That the Last Goodbye?" and "You Haven't Left and I Miss You Already". Her Mermaid series, with The Girl's clothes fashioned from goldfish scales and fins, is about losing your identity and taking on your partner's. In 2003, Yeow donated an artwork to raise funds for breast cancer research at Flinders Medical Centre. She was also a judge for Youthscape 2008.

Exhibitions and media

From her first solo exhibition in 2002, Yeow has been a regular exhibitor at the Hill Smith Gallery. She has also appeared regularly at Libby Edwards Gallery. Yeow's work has been featured or critically reviewed in publications such as ''

Vogue Australia ''Vogue'' ''Australia'' is the Australian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. ''Vogue Australia'' became the 4th edition of Vogue in 1959 after '' Vogue'', ''British Vogue'' and ''Vogue Paris''. Prior to becoming a stand-alone issue, the Australian edi ...

'', ''House & Garden'', '' The Advertiser'' and '' mX''. In 2007, Yeow's artwork was used on the cover of the book ''The Chinese Exotic'' by Olivia Khoo. In 2009, Yeow appeared in a glamour shoot for '' Who'' magazine. In 2018, Yeow was the subject of a lengthy radio interview with

Richard Fidler Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

on ''

Conversations Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focu ...

''.

Cook

Beat the Chef

Yeow first appeared on the

ABC television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

program '' Beat the Chef'' on 13 April 2005. Her auntie Kim Thoo assisted her in the studio kitchen, where she prepared Ying Yang Prawns. She returned to the program on 15 June 2005, assisted by her friend Felicity Electricity. This time she prepared Basil Thai Fried Rice and Deep-Fried Dory Fillets with Green Mango.

MasterChef Australia

Yeow was selected in the top 20 contestants for the first series of ''

MasterChef Australia ''MasterChef Australia'' is an Australian competitive cooking reality show based on the original British '' MasterChef''. It is produced by Endemol Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Ca ...

'' from over 7000 applicants. Competition and eliminations began in May 2009. Yeow was eliminated on 18 June 2009 when she incorrectly guessed the ingredients in

minestrone Minestrone (; ) is a thick soup of Italian origin made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice, sometimes both. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, leaf vegetables, stock, parmesan cheese and tomatoes ...

. She was one of three eliminated contestants allowed to return to the program on 1 July 2009. She survived further eliminations to compete in the final on 19 July 2009 against

Julie Goodwin Julie Goodwin (born 31 October 1970) is an Australian cook, author, radio and television presenter. She came to public attention when she won the inaugural season of '' MasterChef Australia'' in 2009, defeating artist Poh Ling Yeow in the final ...

. Goodwin won the final, with Yeow runner-up. In 2019, Yeow returned to ''

'' as a mentor, sharing the position with season eight runner-up Matt Sinclair and season seven winner

Billie McKay Billie McKay (born 11 July 1991) is an Australian cook, known for winning the seventh and fourteenth series of MasterChef Australia. Early life McKay was raised on a dairy farm in Bowraville, New South Wales and attended Macksville High Sc ...

. In 2020, Yeow returned to ''

'' as a contestant in Back to Win and placed 6th.

World Chef Showcase

Yeow appeared with

Matt Preston Matt Preston (born 21 July 1961) is an English-Australian food critic, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his role as a judge on Network Ten's ''MasterChef Australia'' between 2009 and 2019, and for his weekly national food ...

in the World Chef Showcase in October 2009.

Poh's Kitchen

Yeow signed with the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

for a cooking series (''Poh's Kitchen'') and a two-book publishing deal with

ABC Books An alphabet book is a type of children's book giving basic instruction in an alphabet. Intended for young children, alphabet books commonly use pictures, simple language and alliteration to aid language learning. Alphabet books are published ...

. The production on the series began in November 2009 in her home town of Adelaide. The series was aired from 10 February 2010. Yeow was nominated for the Logie Awards of 2011 in the category of Most Popular New Female Talent. In 2011, the ABC broadcast a second season of ''Poh's Kitchen'', entitled ''Poh's Kitchen on the Road''. Yeow travelled to all Australian states, as well as Singapore and Thailand, to film stories on produce and cooking. A third season premiered on 11 September 2012.

Poh & Co.

In 2015, Yeow launched a new series, ''Poh & Co.'', on SBS. It features various styles of cooking, and also the renovation of Yeow's backyard.

Jamface by Poh

Yeow opened a gourmet food stall, ''Jamface by Poh'', at the Adelaide Showground Farmers' Market. In 2016 Yeow opened a cafe at Adelaide Central Market, also named ''Jamface by Poh''. It closed on 15 October 2019.

Film and television appearances

Yeow has appeared in four films: '' Human Touch'' (2004), ''Peaches'' (2004), '' Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger'' (2008) and the

Tropfest Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. It has also become known as the world's first global film festival. Founded by actor/director John Polson, Tropfest began in 1993 as a screening for 200 people at the 'Tropicana Caffe' in ...

short film ''Jackie's Spring Palace'' (2009). She is also credited as

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

on ''Jackie's Spring Palace''. Aside from her cooking programs, Yeow had substantial roles in ''

Room 101 The Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty are the four ministries of the government of Oceania in the 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', by George Orwell. The use of contradictory ...

'', '' Can of Worms'', '' Reality Check''. She appeared in the 2013 ABC comedy series ''

It's a Date ''It's a Date'' is a 1940 American musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Deanna Durbin, Kay Francis, and Walter Pidgeon. Based on a story by Jane Hall, Frederick Kohner, and Ralph Block, the film is about an aspiring actress ...

,'' along with

Dave Lawson Dave Lawson (born 25 September 1978) is an Australian comedian, actor, and TV and radio personality. He is a regular performer on the stand up comedy circuit, and at one time participated in a talk back radio segment on the commercial radio st ...

. Yeow said "I've always just followed what I've enjoyed doing ... in all areas of creativity." From 2021, Yeow appeared as one of the hosts of the Australian version of ''Snackmasters''. From 3 January 2022, Yeow appeared in the eighth season of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. In November 2022, Yeow appeared as a celebrity contestant on the 2022 ''Lego Masters Australia'' Christmas special.

References

External links

Personal websiteYeow Family Website and Blog
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeow, Poh Ling 1973 births Living people Australian people of Chinese descent Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian emigrants to Australia People from Adelaide People from Kuala Lumpur 21st-century Australian actresses Australian women painters Australian television chefs MasterChef Australia 21st-century Australian women artists 21st-century Australian artists I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (Australian TV series) participants University of South Australia alumni