The gift in 1965 from her sisters Rachel and Bertil so mesmerised her that she longed for more — and got them.
As it turned out, she never outgrew her childhood love for dolls, which eventually made her the ‘Barbie queen of Malaysia’.
Fifty years later, ‘Fergie’ — the doll that won her heart — takes pride of place in the 1,000 strong collection of various makes on display at her condominium unit in Petaling Jaya for a select audience of relatives and friends.
The child in a glass box shares space with a mindboggling array of women of various sizes from around the world that form a United Nations of sorts in specially made cabinets in her cosy home.
I entered her home recently for this interview and was immediately transported to a fairyland where Barbies rule.
Elizabeth took me on a guided tour of her doll kingdom telling me some of their names, genesis and cost.
Her memory is amazing considering that some of the dolls are almost as old as her.
There were dolls in every nook and cranny with all available space devoted to her prized possessions.
Elizabeth, who also goes by Eliza, has spent a fortune over the years buying dolls, mostly Barbie, as soon as they came off the production line.
“I guess I will only stop collecting dolls when I die,” says the youngest of six sisters who put her heart and soul into collecting dolls for a little joy in a life that has seen more health problems than most.
Her other sisters — Judy, Audrey and Patricia — have been her lifelong ‘fan club’ although they don’t share her depth of passion.
Diagnosed with nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys) at birth, the former advertising department employee with a major newspaper also has chronic asthma, deep vein thrombosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Doctors have tried over the years to convince her to dispose her dolls on suspicion that something in them may be compounding her health problems.
“But I refused. They are my life. Anyway, I am still around aren’t I,” says Eliza with an infectious grin that belies the innate gumption at her core.
Most of her dolls wear smiles like their queen who is seldom without one.
The member of the Doll Club of Perth occasionally buys and sells dolls through her extensive network of contacts around the world.
The dolls have been lifesavers at times, bringing in much-needed funds for medical treatment.
“In 2004, I sold six of them to take six months off work to rest and recuperate after a particularly trying time with my health, “ says the fervent Roman Catholic who attributes her miraculous survival to god.
I ask her which is her favourite doll?
“How can a mother choose among her children?,” she replies like a typical mother asked to choose her favourite child.
Toy company Mattel, which sells Barbie dolls recently contacted her to borrow some from her collection, for an exhibition at Sunway Pyramid from June 6 to 12.
They selected 89 dolls that they felt best represented the company’s international flavour.
She will be an honoured guest at the function — after all, she is in the Malaysian Book of Records as having the largest collection of Barbie dolls in the country.
The organisers have insured the selected items for the exhibition just like Elizabeth who has insured all her dolls.
She has installed a smoke alarm system in her apartment along with having a fire extinguisher in the event of a fire.
Her other dolls besides Barbie deserve a mention like those from the Annette Himstedt collection, Gotz and the Racoon Company.
Her dolls are by no means cheap with a recent import from Korea costing US$600 (RM2,400).
“It was held up in Customs here as they wanted me to pay an import tax of 20 per cent of the cost price and six per cent GST. I pleaded with them that it was for my personal collection and they finally waived it,” she says.
Elizabeth feels doll collecting is a dying hobby among Malaysians as children and adults get more attached to the Internet and its virtual attractions.
She will be off to Perth soon to visit relatives and friends and one can be assured she will return with Aussie additions to her collection.
One thing is sure : The reigning head of Barbie royalty in Malaysia will not be stepping down for a long time to come.
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