Daphne Iking from Malysia, initially wanted to take up medicine. Thanks to her mother’s hunch, she changed her degree choice to Communications and has not looked back since then.

“The ‘plan’ was to pursue medicine. In my school days, I never loved the subject but with hard working friends around me, I scored all A’s in my PMR so I had automatic admission to Science stream.

I wasn’t happy, but neither did I complain about it. Medicine was an option. Naturally dad was supportive, But my mother (call it the mothers instinct) knew best,” Daphne narrates.

Cliché, Daphne’s mother- a nurse by profession, advised her to visit hospitals with her doctor friends just to taste what it feels like to be a doctor. She didn’t survive a single day there which changed her mind. She soon found courage and was facing her father with a dream to pursue journalism. He was cynical but she went along with the plans and paved her way through degrees.

“My mother has gone through extreme ups and downs in life, but she handles all crises with grace and strength. If I was given half her strength and courage, I would be so humbled,” she says proudly.

While completing her Master Degree at USM, she was offered a job as a Broadcast Journalist at TV3 back in 2003.

“Journalism exposes you to different situations and people, different characters and quick decision making tasks. I don’t take up much of acting but when I do get a role, I suppose I treat it like any other jobs that I do,” says Daphne.

Daphne has anchored, produced and reported on numerous types of shows; from Personal Finance to light-hearted entertainment - both live and recorded. She has been working into fields of Emceeing and Djing besides journalism. She believes in deeply studying and researching any subject that she takes up so that she can love it whether it be the role/script/situation and ultimately gives her best attempt.

“Music is so therapeutic, it really works wonders. Listening, playing, singing and dancing to it. I usually like folk or country, but I enjoy the occasional commercial pop music. I enjoy listening to lyrics too,” were her thoughts and experiences over how music has affected her life.

Recently she fell in love with Diving. No matter how many times she has gone diving, it is always a different experience for her every time – even if she goes back to the same dive site. She says, “Usually I am able to remove my regulator and mask, but NEVER have I done it at the same time which was my mistake once as I lost my vision and breathing assistance. I panicked and had to ascend.”

Acting and stand up have been the fields she thinks needed efforts and a will to go out of the box.

“Acting: because you immerse yourself into another character which can be fun but exhaustive, especially if the role is a heavy role like the one I had to play for Belukar. Scripts, timing, delivery, chemistry with your crew, understanding your director’s vision, going out to crazy locations. It’s not all glamourous as how most folks would think it is.

Stand up: because the pressure to make sure your joke or punchline is understood. Delivery and timing is crucial. You may be a funny person, but your material may not necessarily be. It’s a tough business making people laugh.”

According to Daphne winning the PELAKON WANITA HARAPAN TERBAIK was the most surprising award she has ever received. Belukar - the movie was offered to her during a bleak phase in life. Hence she gave it all that she could. “I had a fantastic male lead, Bront Palare and a very understanding director called Jason Tan. The crew were fabulours, the locations were occasionally tough but the script was good. The role was tough. It was one of the first few major films I acted in as lead. It was an honour to have won that award. A true honour,” she mentions with a smile.

“I feel like a person who is able to utilise her platform to make a small diffference if given the opportunity. And I must honour this priviledge without compromising on my own ideals and beliefs. Also I have always felt blessed in ways of friends as I have the same batch since I was young and we are still very close,” said Daphne.

After reaching the footsteps of success and winning Miss Millennium Pesta Pulau Pinang winner, 2001, FHM Top 100 Sexiest, 2004-2007, FHM 20 Most Wanted Female, 2008, Glam's 20 Most Glamorous, 2009 just to name a few she did however, suddenly have an influx of ‘relatives’ and ‘bestfriends’ who claimed to be ‘super close’ to her back in school or in the past.

She laughed and said, “I find it odd how I am labeled ‘sombong’ to a group of ex schoolmates I barely knew then, but who are claiming are very close to me.”

“The most challenging time in my life was my divorce. Things were not going as planned but I had a group of supportive friends and family who stood bravely with me,” recalls Daphne. As a mother, she wants her children to follow their dreams, although her husband wants them to go for medicine, but she will always believe and make her children live the life they wish.
Daphne strongly believes in charity and serving the society. She has been volunteering and organising many events for the same. Some of them are as follows:

CHARITY:

I Choose To Reuse Campaign, Participant 
National Organ Donation Campaign, Participant 
Women's Aid Organization (WAO) 
Member & Volunteer World Refugees Day Volunteer 
Go-Kart Charity Fund Raising volunteer for Taman Megah Children Home, 2010 
Reach Org Volunteer 
Sampah Masyarakat Volunteer 
Earth Hour Malaysia Celebrity Ambassador with WWF 
Facilitator for workshop with TrEES (Treat Every Environment Special) 
Immaculate Conception Church, Penang 
Fund Raising - volunteer MAKNA monthly contributor (sponsoring a child) 
World Vision Malaysia – Volunteer 
Huminodun Foundation, Sabah – Member 
Volunteer for Tsunami Relief with Media Prima Bhd 
Aquaria KLCC Charity Dive With Sharks in Collaboration with TV3

“We are all born with imperfections. If we firstly acknowledge this and then strive to be a better person and concentrate on our positive, stronger points, we will come out as a stronger, kinder community that works together,” says Daphne.