Cheryl Tiu • Sweet & sincere

MANILA, Philippines - Refinement is written all over Cheryl Tiu. When she talks, sincerity is felt in her lilting voice. When engaged in further conversation, she becomes introspective, almost philosophical. The more she talks, the more she reveals her beauty.

“I had a happy childhood,” she begins when probed where her distinct yet quiet joy is emanating from. “My parents (Jerry and Lianne Tiu) never failed to show each of us five kids their love, care and support. I grew up with my brother Chris since we are just two years apart. We did everything together like horseback riding, music lessons and summer sports.”

At a very early age, Cheryl already discovered the meaning of the word “cool” when she fell in love with rock music — Bon Jovi, Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Hole. When Bon Jovi came to the Philippines in 1993, she begged her dad to take her and Chris to the concert. She was only nine years old then.

 â€œI learned to play the drums and played in two bands all throughout high school (at Immaculate Conception Academy),” she says. She was a member of a band when she was 10. When she was 20, she managed a band.

She finished Communications Technology Management at the Ateneo. She was an exchange student at the business school École Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers (ESSCA) in the Budapest, Hungary campus (2003) and the Angers, France campus (2005) for a semester each. In 2009, she took up a six-week post-graduate publishing course at Columbia University in New York.

Cheryl is thankful that she was born to a family that supports the yearnings of her heart and mind. “My parents are very religious and it is because of them that we have such a strong faith in God. My mom always encourages us to lift up our problems to God, and she always posts beautiful messages outside our doors. Dad always tells us, ‘Work hard, and don’t make enemies.’ Both my parents also espouse the values of kindness and humility, and remind us that we don’t have to stoop down to a low level whenever we are slighted,” says Cheryl, who is both associate publisher and deputy editor of Lifestyle Asia and columnist of The Philippine Star. She is also a writer for CNN Travel.

In August last year, CNN producers who were in Manila covering the onslaught of habagat asked Cheryl to assist them in breaking the news on cam. She did it while submerged in waist-deep floodwaters.

Despite her charmed life, she also considers life-changing the three days she lived within the New Bilibid Maximum Security Prison as part of her immersion course in college.

Cheryl’s view of life is summed up in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

“There will always be setbacks in life, and wallowing in misery and sorrow will not help. Self-pity is the most useless emotion. Tomorrow is another day, another chance to live and to better your life,” she ends.

   Photography by RITA MARIE ABIOG • Creative direction by LUIS ESPIRITU JR. • Styling by MIKKA VELASQUEZ • Makeup by SARI CAMPOS • Hairstyling by CHA VICUÑA •

Green dress by MAUREEN DISINI; white lace cape by PUEY QUIÑONES • Jewelry by MILADAY JEWELS • Shot on location at the RAFFLES LOBBY