Malaysia’s first K-pop idol is fluent in 4 different languages

Alicia Wong Lingling, or simply Lingling, 19, is set to make history as Malaysia’s first K-pop idol, debuting with entertainment label Leanbranding’s first global girl group in late May.

How she did it: The Klang, Selangor native first joined as a contestant on Mnet’s audition program “I-LAND2: N/a” last year, where she placed second in the preliminary voting rounds. Her multilingual abilities — being fluent in Chinese, English and Korean aside from Malay — earned her fan nicknames like “#PolyglotGenius” and “#WakeOneInterpreter” during the show. Prior to her breakthrough, Lingling trained at YG Entertainment, home of the returning Blackpink. On Friday, Leanbranding shared new profile images of Lingling on her newly launched Instagram account, where she wrote, “The stage I’ve longed for. Now, I begin again.”

What fans are saying: Fans have enthusiastically welcomed Lingling’s upcoming debut, with comments on her Instagram including: “Finally, you are back! Looking forward to your debut” and “I’ll never let her group flop, congrats Lingling and welcome back.” Leanbranding has confirmed that she will become the first Malaysian member of a K-pop girl group upon debut.

The exact date of the group’s debut remains unknown and will be revealed through Leanbranding’s social media channels in the coming weeks.