By Tan Kee Yun

EVERY year, animal rights organisation Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) names its Sexiest Celebrity Vegetarians, giving recognition to the hottest stars who eat their greens with pride.

The list of winners this year include Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu and Bollywood heart-throb Shahid Kapoor, who represent the Asian region.

Those in the West include cutie-pie country singer Kellie Pickler and brooding star of hit television series Heroes, Milo Ventimiglia.

If Singapore has its own list of sexy vegetarians, we dare say Nadya Hutagalung will top it.

The 34-year-old former model and iconic face of MTV looked radiant and breathtakingly gorgeous as always when The New Paper met her at MTV Asia's office recently.

She was back at the music network that first shot her to stardom more than 10 years ago, for a three-week guest VJ stint till 15 Jul.

Her aim during the stint?

To provide tips to young people on how they can contribute to saving the environment.

Ethical

These days, Nadya - who is married to ex-national swimmer Desmond Koh - is a staunch, active champion of the green cause and being a vegetarian is very much in line with her heightened awareness of Mother Nature.

'For me, there are both ethical, as well as environmental reasons for going vegetarian,' said the youthful-looking mother of three.

'I started to take into consideration the lives of the animals and the poor conditions in which they spend their short lives before they are slaughtered inhumanely for consumption.'

A carnivorous diet is also 'far more taxing on the environment' than a vegetarian diet, stressed Nadya.

'Pesticides are sprayed in large amounts on the grain fields that those waiting-to-be-killed cattle and chickens are made to feed on.'

She made the decision to go vegetarian about 21/2 years ago, but she prefers to call herself a 'flexi-veggo'.

'I was actually on a full vegetarian diet for an entire year, but then I got pregnant (with her youngest kid) and my food preferences changed. Like, sudden weird cravings for Peking duck would emerge,' she said with a laugh.

'Plus I'm wheat and dairy intolerant which adds to my health constraints, so I do eat meat sometimes.

'I can safely say I'm 95 to 99 per cent vegetarian now though!'

The benefits of a vegetarian diet are aplenty, added Nadya.

'You have better health, better skin and hair. Ultimately I feel happier as my body feels lighter.'

No doubt, there are slight inconveniences when she's 'out for meals with carnivore and omnivore friends', but 'all it takes is just a little extra planning'.

It's a lifestyle she hopes her children Tyrone, 15, Fynn, 7, and 15-month-old Nyla will gradually adapt to.

Tyrone and Fynn are her sons from two previous relationships and Nyla, born March last year, is her first bundle of joy with Desmond.

'I make it a point not to buy or cook meat at home, but of course, when the kids go out, I don't stop them from eating what they want,' she said.

There is no point deliberately forcing the message down their throats, she explained, simply because at some point, the rebellious streak in them will surface.

'What I can do is try to get them to slowly understand the realities behind their food.'

Proud

Nadya told us, her eyes gleaming with the joy of a proud mother, how Fynn made her day when he saw a bowl of tuna salad and remarked instantly: 'Mummy, I can't eat this, it's tuna.'

She said with a grin: 'It shows that he knows tuna is on its way towards extinction and we should try to save the species if we can.'

In 2006, Nadya - last seen in a supporting role in the local film The Leap Years - started her own eco-friendly designer jewellery line OSEL.

It uses only recycled gold and diamonds.

She launched an eco-resource website - greenkampong.com - earlier this year, with an affiliated group on Facebook 'to reach out to the younger generation'.

A few weeks ago, she announced she is building a new eco-house in Singapore.

It will feature planet-friendly features such as a solar thermal roof and recycled window panes.

And she is all for Peta's enthusiastic involvement of celebrities to get people to go vegetarian.

'Coming up with a sexy vegetarians list each year - I think it'll definitely get the public interested in learning more about vegetarianism,' said Nadya, who was the celebrity ambassador of this year's WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Earth Hour.

'It's an unfortunate reality that people would much prefer to look at a celebrity than say, a scientist.

'But if it works, why not?'

Read also: For the love of greens

This article was first published in The New Paper.