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‘We’re actually wholesome people’

3 of the 20 finalists of MSW 2011 share with Yahoo! Singapore their thoughts on joining the beauty pageant. (Yahoo! photo)
3 of the 20 finalists of MSW 2011 share with Yahoo! Singapore their thoughts on joining the beauty pageant. (Yahoo! photo)

Doubts have often been raised over the quality of local contestants participating in beauty pageants.

Just earlier this year, Miss World CEO Julia Morley slammed the local pageant as "having a showgirl club image" after the saga involving dethroned beauty queen Ris Low.

Low, 26, made headlines two years ago when she stepped down as Miss Singapore World 2009 after a previous credit fraud conviction was exposed.

This year's beauty queen hopefuls too came under fire after it was reported that many gave outlandish answers when quizzed by panelists at the pageant's first audition round held last month. Among them, one failed to name even a single impoverished country she had said she would like to help.

The contestant apparently made things worse by attempting to prompt the judges: "You know? The one with the black people?" When asked if she meant Africa, she nodded blankly.

But before the critics begin pointing fingers at the shortlisted finalists of this year's Miss Singapore World (MSW), perhaps we could hear them out first.

Yahoo! Singapore spoke to Selynna Norhisham, 18 and youngest in the contest; Paix Wang, 19; and Cherie Lee, 25 at the press conference held at Sentosa's Wave House last Saturday. Read on to find out.

Critics have called our local pageant scene a "showgirls' club", how have you tried defending yourself?

Selynna Norhisham (S): People may say things but when they actually take part in these kinda pageants, it's really very wholesome, I believe. We take part in charities and we actually give back to the community so what can we say to the critics? We can't say much, but we hope that this pageant will open up their eyes, that we're actually wholesome people as well.

Paix Wang (P): We can't tell people what to say and what not to say because it's subjective. But what we can do is we can try to prove them wrong with our actions, and show them that this is not just any beauty pageant. Because our whole theme is 'Beauty with a Purpose'— it's not just about face, we try to help out and stuff like that.

What have you been involved in before joining the pageant then?

Cherie Lee (C): I'm a counselor so I do a lot of counseling with youths, especially those delinquents and those youths-at-risk… because I find that they're the people who are the leaders of tomorrow. So I think that nurturing them from young is very important.

Cherie Lee, a counselor and lifestyle blogger, hopes to start her own movement to help youths. (Yahoo! photo)
Cherie Lee, a counselor and lifestyle blogger, hopes to start her own movement to help youths. (Yahoo! photo)

If you could advocate one thing, what would it be?

C: I hope to start my own movement — Youths Today, Leaders Tomorrow. It's actually something where I want to help the youths, because I believe that each and every one of the youths today, they have something special in them... I find that they are the ones that are actually lacking a lot of attention in schools, maybe in ITE. So I hope to let other people know that this group of people exists, and they can actually do something for the society.

P: I will actually want to help youths that come from broken families, because I feel that me, as myself growing up, everything that adults, people tell me really leaves something in my mind and their actions and everything. So I feel that for a child coming from a broken family. It somehow affects them—the way they grow up, the way they behave, they react, and I feel that more and more people are getting divorced. We can't say we want to salvage their relationship, their marriage, but what I hope to do is help the youths open up their minds and (let them know) that this is not everything — you can still love your family even if you're not staying together.

S: Honestly, I would look into the waiting time for organ donation. Because I did a really in-depth research about this. An average of about 15-18 Singaporeans actually die in a year waiting for kidney transplant, and three die a year waiting for heart transplant... Because humans, it's like an oxymoron — we want to be helped but we do not wanna help. So we should look into persuading people to let their organs be donated after they pass away, their family members to donate the organs of their deceased, because we really need to shorten the waiting time. And often, people above 60 years old, they do not make it in that 3-5 years of waiting time. If we can shorten it, why don't we?

What would you most like people to remember you for?

C: Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses so I think that what I want people to see is myself, I want people to remember me for being me. And I make sure that people will actually get to know my name because I'm very active in the social media side... I'm like my own brand, so I just want people to know who am I and how I help other people.

P: I feel that the public should not view beauty pageants with a negative point of view, and maybe just see what we can offer them with this new year, and see what we can give to them before making any judgement. So I hope they can be accepting of the new us.

Paix Wang, a student at Singapore Polytechnic (SP), hopes the public can get to know the finalists better before passing any judgement. (Yahoo! photo)
Paix Wang, a student at Singapore Polytechnic (SP), hopes the public can get to know the finalists better before passing any judgement. (Yahoo! photo)

What are your thoughts on the Ris Low saga back in 2009?

P: I feel that everyone, at a point in their lives, they will actually make mistakes. So as long as you know what you've done wrong and you change, I think that is okay.

Did the past negative publicity received bother you?

P: Now, as I'm entering this competition as a new contestant, I just put everything that happened in the past aside. I mean, it doesn't really matter anymore because we're all moving on right now.

Why do you think you were quizzed in bikinis at the pageant's first audition round?

S: I believe they asked us these kinda questions because they wanna test our wit and our ability to answer questions. And often times when we're nervous, we get caught off-guard you see, so we tend to give slightly more ridiculous answers than we should. But it's at the spur of the moment, you say something wrong and it gets blown out of proportion. I mean it's normal, everybody grows up and moves on. People will leave comments about you but if you're a strong person, you get over it.

P: I think… they just wanna test our current affairs and our confidence levels, that's why we're wearing bikinis and answering questions. But some people, yes they get scared, butterflies in their tummies and y'know, sometimes they can't answer the right answers. But I think nobody's perfect, so as long as you learn, you grow, you don't make the same mistakes, then I think that is okay.

C: For me, I think that let's say if they ask you these kinda questions when you're dressed like that, it's something like when you bear your most inner self to other people, because you're only dressed in bikini… So I think they want to know what are your true feelings.

What do you think is the winning factor in this pageant?

S: You just have to have a golden heart. We're all pretty and beautiful on the outside but it's what's on the inside that matters the most.

Selynna Norhisham, also a student at SP, feels that having a golden heart is key to winning this beauty pageant. (Yahoo! photo)
Selynna Norhisham, also a student at SP, feels that having a golden heart is key to winning this beauty pageant. (Yahoo! photo)

P: I think another one of the factors is actually confidence. Because, you might have a beautiful face but if you don't show your confidence, I think it really shows a lot. A confident woman is a very beautiful woman.

C: For me, it's kindness and compassion. Because kindness is something that will show through and people can feel it. So the pageant's actually 'Beauty with a Purpose' so everything that you do, it has to come from your heart and you have to show kindness to everyone.

Do you think you have got what it takes to win then?

C: For me, I think that everyone has a good chance because I believe that all the girls here, they come with the purpose of 'Beauty with a Purpose'. So everyone already has the heart to help people. So we're going to all the charities, we're helping the children… so I think that everyone stands a very good chance.

If you were to name one strongest competitor…

S: I believe my strongest competitor is actually myself, because I'm the only person who can bring myself down. So if I don't focus, I don't pay attention to this competition, I'm my biggest threat. Because, everybody here's beautiful and we've reached so far, and if I don't overcome my fears and insecurities, I'm gonna lose. So honestly, it's myself.