By Elysa Chen

FROM her sexy white number with its plunging neckline, you can tell that MTV VJ Denise Keller is not setting out to be your run-of-the-mill angel.

She is heading the Singapore team of Diageo's Guardian Angels, who are out to spread the 'Don't Drink and Drive' message, but her angelic smile will vanish if she catches anyone trying to drive after having a drink.

She made this mock threat: 'I will grab their keys and swallow them, or throw them down the drain.'

The Diageo Guardian Angels Responsible Drinking Campaign is in its second year now.

MTV Asia is partnering drinks company Diageo in the campaign, which is also being launched in India and the Philippines.

Said Mr Lin Menuhin, Diageo's alcohol and responsibility director, who brought the campaign idea here: 'Our success in Singapore last year has not only given us the momentum to spread the campaign through the region, but also to take it to the next level.

'This year, we are encouraging consumers to become guardian angels and to take responsibility for themselves and their friends every time they go out.'

Drink driving is a serious offence with severe penalties. First-time offenders face a maximum fine of $5,000 or a maximum six-month jail term.

Those convicted will be disqualified from driving for at least one year, even if they have not caused any accident.

Diageo is so serious about responsible drinking, said Mr Menuhin, that they spend $58 million to $70 million a year on corporate social responsibility projects.

Denise, who often 'nags' her friends not to drink and drive, gets her passion for this cause from her older sister, 'the guardian angel of (her) family'.

Describing how her sister would not drink so that she could drive everyone home after a party, Denise said: 'She gets so angry when she hears of accidents in which drink drivers were involved.'

Denise has also seen some friends get into accidents because of drink driving, 'and it is not pretty'.

One friend was in a near-fatal accident.

That is why, till 19 Dec, Denise and the angels will be ambushing patrons at clubs and passing them T-shirts, baseball caps and leaflets with tips and numbers of taxi companies to remind them not to drink and drive.

Besides using this arsenal of freebies, student Patience Seow, 21, hopes to win people over with her patience.

She said: 'We have to be patient and explain the message, as some clubbers may tease us.'

Fellow angel Gary Teh, 26, added: 'We will win them over with our personality, charm and sincerity.'

Mr Teh, a computer programmer, believes so much in the cause that he does not mind running into friends in clubs who might make fun of him.

He said: 'I feel it is more important for my friends to get home in one piece.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Nov 8, 2008.