Seremban (The Star/ANN) - Two lucky tea lovers beat 400 other contestants at the Ultimate Royal-Tea Competition for a chance to meet royal couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Both Ser Yin Ting, 28, and Ashikin Mastura Amirudin, 15, who won by submitting photos of themselves enjoying tea, will now meet the royal couple in a private tea party during their visit to Malaysia next week.
Ashikin Mastura, the winner in the under-18 category, said her mother had egged her on to join the contest.
"I am not a fan of the royal couple but I thought it would be fun," said the teenager, whose winning entry was of her and her friend, Mohamad Umar Haikal Mohd Azmi, having tea beneath a 100-year-old raintree near her home in Ipoh.
"We snapped the photo during the Raya holidays. It was a fun project for us and our families," she said.
Ashikin Mastura said they wanted a simple photo which combined elements of British tea with traditional Malaysian clothes and food.
In contrast, Ser went to great lengths for her entry of her having tea with her friend, Cynthia Ang, even to the point of having test run sessions for the scene.
"We knew there were going to be many great entries so we had to come up with something better than the rest," said Ser, who is a big fan of Prince William.
Ser and Ang, both pharmacists, enlisted the help of their close friends for ideas and test runs before their big shoot.
"It was a tough project. We tried many poses, angles and retakes," said Ang, who is captured in the photo pouring Ser a cup of tea while jumping in mid-air.
The royal tea party, to be held on Sept 14, will be hosted by British High Commissioner Simon Featherstone at his residence in Jalan Langgak Golf.
Other guests include London 2012 Olympics bronze medalist Pandelela Rinong Pamg, international actress Datuk Michelle Yeoh and shoe designer Datuk Jimmy Choo.
The party is part of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's three-day visit to Malaysia in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.