Hunny Madu is a woman who wears many hats. She started her career as a radio DJ, and is now the host of TV show Nasi Lemak Kopi O, a rapper-cum-musician, and regular emcee for events. And she does all this while taking care of her 3-year-old daughter, Eva.
Hunny shares her thoughts on motherhood, as well as insights on her daughter Eva who regularly appears on her Instagram page.
1. Hi Hunny! How’s motherhood been for you so far?
Hello! I realised that with my career, I really need to be clever in managing my time. But no matter how tired I am, the minute I get home I just look forward to making my daughter Eva laugh, making her feel happy that I’m back again, and I don’t feel tired anymore.
In that sense, I’ve become selfless. Motherhood has changed me in a lot of good ways; I’m better with my time, I’m more driven because I want her to have a good role model, I cherish a lot of moments with her.
2. You wear many hats: Radio DJ, rap artiste, TV host, actress, etc. How do you manage work and motherhood?
My schedule is sometimes very tight, or somedays it is flexible. What I do is if my schedule starts early in the morning and ends late at night, I’ll make sure that I’ll spend time with her at least once a week. Bring her to the playground, do things that kids would love to do with their parents.
Bonding time with my kid is the most important; it is not only about the toys or the clothes I buy, it’s about that time too.
3. What is your favourite thing about being a mum?
Her laughs, when she loves to eat the food that I cook. Just her smell, her busuk smell that I miss so much. When I’m away, I love that part, that part to me is priceless.
4. What are your favourite places to shop for Eva?
To be honest, Eva is very blessed because she gets clothes all the time from everywhere. If you’re talking about countries, a lot of people give her different clothes like from US and UK.
For me personally if I do buy, I like Gingersnaps, I think their choices of clothes are really nice, but you can find things anywhere actually like H&M, Cotton On. There are so many cute kids clothes. Right now, I can’t put her in anything, she chooses what she wants to wear everyday. She’s got her own mind.
5. What do you do to relax?
I actually love doing nothing on the beach – that’s so typical right? Otherwise, I’ll just be at home with my daughter. I’ll just be a geek on the computer, go on YouTube, watch music videos and get inspired by these things that I read online, all these crazy forums, music forums. I’m always online actually, I like to catch up with things, I like to know what’s new, I like being part of that world.
6. What surprised you when you became a mom?
How come my stomach is not flat straight away? Haha! I think it was the fact that I was able to breastfeed straight away, that thought scared me. I was surprised that I could do it right away, and the transition was smooth. This surprised me the most because I read up a lot, did a lot of research when I was pregnant and what feared me the most was delivery and breastfeeding. Going through that now, it was easier than I thought.
7. What do you hope for your daughter?
I want her to be passionate, passion is important. I would teach her about finding her passion from an early age, I would try and spot what her personality is like, where I think she would excel in, I wouldn’t just force her to be an accountant or a doctor, I would ask her opinions.
I would do so because my parents taught me that way, they never forced me, they’ve always asked “what do you like”, “what do you wanna do” and that has always open up doors for me because I was clear about my path. I always say I wanna do music. And they said, “Ok do music, but make sure you complete something, your studies… Or something that will help you.”
8. On the topic of the #livemysunshinehpv campaign, what can girls and women in Malaysia do to protect themselves from HPV infection and cervical cancer?
Honestly, the best way is to go to a legit website, get all the information you need. If you feel like its something you’re shy to talk to with your friends and family, go and see a doctor, ask your doctor, he/she will be able to analyze you and give you advice on whether you should go for vaccination or pap smear.
A lot of people probably don’t know about HPV infection and cervical cancer. If you’re curious about it, do some research online and remember that the best way is to speak to your doctor, your doctor will be able to help you.
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Image credit: Tyler Lim and Hunny Madu’s Instagram.
