PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Friends of Regina Soosalu have set up a Facebook page in memory of the Estonian model, who died under mysterious circumstances on Pulau Rawa island.
The page, which was created on Wednesday, is entitled "In Loving Memory of Regina Soosalu 7/Dec/1984-1/Jul/2014".
"This page is fully contributed to the remembrance of Regina Soosalu, on how she lived as a loving, caring, fun and beautiful person that we all loved," wrote the administrator.
A video consisting still photos of the 29-year-old model, created by her friend known only as Jeremy Z, is also found on the Facebook page.
The YouTube video, which is accompanied by the song "Gone Too Soon" by Simple Plan, is accompanied by the caption: "A short video I created for all of us to remember her by."
A friend said both Soosalu and her boyfriend, Tengku Alang Reza Ibrahim, 28, were well known among the club scene in Kuala Lumpur and described them as "party animals".
Apart from being an ardent surfer who enjoys water sports, Tengku Alang Reza was very passionate about the island, said the friend.
"He even has Pulau Rawa as his address on his identity card and jokingly told girls he was wooing that they could be the Queen of Rawa," he added.
He said he was also under the impression that the entire island had belonged to Tengku Alang Reza and his family.
The family actually leases the land where the two resorts are located.
The friend said he remembered Tengku Alang Reza as being very quiet and reserved when he was much younger.
"He's very protective of the people he cared about," he said.
However, he said he was not surprised to hear about Soosalu's death, attributing this to the risky lifestyle choices made by many models.
The manager of a modelling agency said many Estonian girls entered Malaysia on a social pass to work as models, adding that they had to work illegally.
"They can't get work permits as freelance models," he said, adding that he remembered Soosalu was hired to attend various F1 parties last year.
News of Soosalu's murder was picked up by the online news portal of the Estonian Public Broadcasting, which quoted a report from The Star.
The brief news article was followed by a two-paragraph description of the case.
The Estonian Foreign Ministry in Beijing confirmed that it had been informed about the incident.
"We have been in contact with the family of the deceased and we are advising them on the necessary arrangements," said Mariann Sudakov, who is from the ministry's press department.
The Malaysian authorities, Sudakov stressed, were leading the investigations.
