Cheers and criticism: Angie Cheong’s Perak ambassadorship has netizens split

Malaysia-born Hong Kong actress Angie Cheong has released her first vlog as Perak’s newest tourism ambassador, offering a personal tour of Ipoh’s Pasar Malam (night market). The debut video has garnered over 315,000 views, 9,800 likes, 200 comments, and 560 shares on Facebook, with some netizens noting they would consider visiting Malaysia during the New Year, according to a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

Cheong, who boasts a strong fan base in Hong Kong, has dedicated much of her career to the city. After winning Miss Chinese Malaysia in 1992, she represented the country at the 1993 Miss Chinese International pageant, which led to a contract with local broadcaster TVB and launched her on-screen career.

Don’t miss: HK actress Angie Cheong appointed as Perak tourism ambassador

While netizens praise the vlog for its authenticity, public sentiment regarding Cheong’s ambassadorial role remains divided. Analysis shows 40.7% negative reactions, 24.2% positive, and 35.1% neutral. This split reflects contrasting views: some celebrate the cross-border cultural appeal of a Malaysian-born Hong Kong actress returning to champion her roots, while sceptics question whether personality-driven appointments can translate into measurable visitor growth.

Keywords dominating the conversation are identity- and nostalgia-led, centred on themes such as her “return in glory” (衣錦還鄉), the ambassadorial mandate (馬國委以重任), her Hong Kong glamour-era associations (艷星 / 當年 / 年代), and references to Malaysia and Perak.

Some commentators also drew comparisons to Fan Bingbing’s 2024 appointment as Melaka tourism ambassador, a campaign credited with boosting Chinese tourist arrivals to Melaka by over 200% year-on-year, according to CARMA. “Whether Cheong’s appointment can replicate that momentum will depend on the consistency of her vlog series and Perak’s ability to sustain narrative momentum.”

Industry reactions

Shermaine Wong, co-founder and CEO of Cult Creative, described the appointment as a strategic move rooted in authenticity. “Cheong isn’t just a recognisable face; she’s a Malaysian who made it in Hong Kong. That origin story is the creative asset. It gives the ambassadorship an earned credibility that you simply cannot manufacture.” 

Wong emphasised the emotional resonance of Cheong’s connection to Perak. “When Cheong walks through Perak and says ‘this is where I’m from’, that lands differently than a celebrity who was flown in, handed a script, and photographed in front of a heritage building. The diaspora connection is the story, and if the content team leans into that, this campaign has real legs,” she said. 

Jacqueline Yeung-Lam, managing director of Leo Hong Kong, noted Cheong’s transnational appeal as a Malaysia-born, Hong Kong-based actress with recognition in both markets. She described the appointment as “a thoughtful bridge between Southeast Asia’s rich travel experiences and Hong Kong’s cosmopolitan audience.”

She added the success of this initiative will hinge on the storytelling, not just the celebrity. "It’s about presenting Perak’s hidden gems through Cheong’s authentic lens, translating the destination’s value into content that feels cinematic, credible, and relatable."

While acknowledging Cheong’s cultural representation, Yvonne Ma, founder and managing director of Eighty20, described the move as “a nostalgic choice that falls flat - fame from dramas doesn’t equal tourism pull for Perak’s gems.” She added, “Influencer picks demand dual relevance  to the destination and the target market. While Cheong has the former—her Malaysian roots and HK fame— she lacks the latter, with weak social media impact from her limited fan base across channels.”

Leveraging Cheong’s Hong Kong fan base

To fully capitalise on Cheong’s Hong Kong following, industry experts suggest looking to Fan Bingbing’s precedent in Melaka, which boosted Chinese tourist arrivals from 204,818 in 2023 to 664,687 in 2024, alongside reports of over 1.5 billion WeChat impressions from her campaigns. 

Yeung-Lam noted that Cheong’s vlog-led storytelling around Perak’s everyday life, heritage, and lesser-known landscapes aligns with how Hong Kong audiences increasingly discover travel inspiration—through authentic, experience-led content on social and lifestyle platforms rather than traditional tourism advertising.

“The lesson is to back Cheong with sustained, platform-native storytelling and earned media amplification, so awareness meaningfully translates into travel consideration and visitation,” she said.

Cult Creative’s Wong stressed the importance of platform-native content. “The content needs to live natively on Xiaohongshu and YouTube—platform-native storytelling, not repurposed broadcast formats pushed through official Tourism Perak channels. Chinese-speaking travellers discovering Malaysia on Xiaohongshu are looking for personal recommendations and real reactions.”

Wong outlined three key factors for Malaysia to get right:

• Format: A vlog series is the right call—episodic, personal, discoverable. But it needs to be shot and cut to platform-native POV, not adapted from a tourism ad. Shoot-to-platform, not shoot-for-TV-then-adapt.
• Conversion architecture: There’s a clear full-funnel play here: partner with Hong Kong travel agencies and airlines to package Perak itineraries off the back of her content’s visibility. Awareness without booking touch points is a missed opportunity. You want someone watching her vlog at 11pm in Hong Kong to be able to book a Perak weekend by midnight.
• The metric that matters: Forget likes and views as the headline KPI. Watch search velocity—whether Perak as a search term starts climbing on Xiaohongshu, and whether inbound travel queries from Hong Kong follow. Search intent is the true conversion signal.

At the end of the day, Wong said Tourism Perak should trust the star to make content that feels like hers. "That’s what the Xiaohongshu audience rewards. That’s what builds real consideration lift. And that’s the only way to build something that outlasts a single campaign cycle and compounds into brand equity for Perak as a destination."

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