'Not so pretty but...'
Some did catch pageant director Errol Pang's eyes with fresh face
apeal
MISS SINGAPORE UNIVERSE 2004 SEMI-FINALS
By Jeanmarie Tan
IT'S supposed to be a beauty pageant. But at the Miss Singapore
Universe 2004 semi-finals on Thursday, we were left wondering:
Where is the beauty?
Even Mr Errol Pang, managing director of pageant organiser Derrol
Stepenny Promotions and one of the judges, reluctantly
agreed.
After admitting that they lowered the height requirement to 1.6m
this year, he said frankly: 'Last year, we had taller girls who
were striking and who stood out. This batch isn't as pretty.'
But he was quick to add that they have 'a lot of fresh-face
appeal'.
'One or two have captured my eye,' he smiled.
That's one or two - out of 28 beauty queen wannabes, mind
you.
Could one of them be 25-year-old Marilyn Tan?
Sources say that the 1.73m-tall Hanis Hussey look-alike has a shot
at becoming the next Bernice Wong - that is, if she stops being a
klutz.
HUGE COLLISION
She apparently caused a 'huge collision' during one of the
rehearsals while she was 'crossing paths' with another
contestant.
Marilyn, who is currently helping out with her father's chemicals
business, confessed laughingly: 'I used to be the girl who couldn't
walk like a girl.
'Everybody said I walked like a guy, because I couldn't do the
catwalk properly. It's been a big challenge, but I've mastered it.
Now, they say I walk like I'm going to the beach!'
Marilyn also left an impression because of her deep tan - she goes
wakeboarding three times a week - and toned body.
Under the cruel white light at Indochine at Wisma Atria and beneath
the show-all string bikinis, the majority of girls appeared so
bottom-heavy, you'd think J.Lo was back in vogue.
Amid the meat market, there were slabs of orange-peel thighs,
unsightly love handles and over-oiled legs.
One of the girls even had a flesh-coloured plaster slapped over her
left butt cheek.
It didn't help that the air-conditioning was on at full blast,
leaving some of them rather goose-pimply.
And what's a Miss Singapore Universe without its corny crowning
moments?
What the semi-finalists lacked in beauty, they made up for in bad
prose, when each had to introduce herself using one of four key
words: Beauty, friendship, success and family.
We rolled our eyes at a rhyming couplet: 'As long as you're
comfortable in your own skin, your natural elegance will shine from
within'.
We groaned at the cliches: 'Friends are like stars - you don't
always see them, but you know they're always there'.
We marvelled at the number of doggy-eared self-help books this
person must have gone through to dig up this 'gem': 'Success is
about building a foundation with the bricks people throw at
you'.
Yet, as the evening went on, we were pleasantly surprised by the
personalities - not prettiness - of others.
Even though Cara Chew's family is in Beijing where her father is
posted, the 19-year-old NUS undergraduate takes comfort that their
'spirit' is with her.
She had spent her teenage years - aged 11 to 18 - studying at an
international school in Beijing.
She now stays alone at her varsity hall.
'I interacted with two different cultures - the expats and the
locals,' she said with an American accent.
Although Cara misses her family and friends over there, she didn't
seem too heartbroken to leave China.
She frowned: 'There weren't many shopping outlets and there were no
beaches.'
However, one thing Cara did miss was its four seasons.
ECZEMA BREAKOUT
That's because she's been getting periodic eczema breakouts on her
face due to Singapore's humid weather.
Meanwhile, nothing seems to faze blithe spirit Jeyawati Ibrahim,
23.
For seven months, she worked as a motivational coach at a private
centre.
She organised camps for children aged 6 to 16 who 'weren't doing
well in school', and taught them how to 'believe in themselves' by
sharing life stories and through sports like cheerleading.
Obviously, Jeyawati - who also did volunteer work for Action For
Aids in 2001 - is a pro at motivating herself.
The cheerful half-Malay, half-Indian babe said in her best Anthony
Robbins guru voice: 'It's best to accept mistakes, because the more
regrets you have, the more they won't go away. Get rid of all the
negative thoughts in your head. Step over all the obstacles and
start anew.'
Jeyawati has since quit her job.
She and her best friend are setting up an online store selling
affordable bikinis they designed using beadwork and
embroidery.
And in what may be a first, there's one contestant who actually
joined Miss Singapore Universe not to win a title or build
self-confidence, but to meet more female friends.
Lively NUS engineering undergrad Sandy Chua, 19, explained that
it's because she spends most of her time in a male-dominated
environment.
She said: 'In my faculty, it's mostly guys. The girls there don't
share the same interests. Their priority is studies.
'But I think there's more to life than that.'
Funnily enough, Sandy plans to join the police force in future
because she 'wants to do something for society' and it's where her
'interest lies'.
And even though she claims she's not a tomboy, her interests also
lie in ballistics.
She was in her junior college's air rifle club, and won the
national championship twice in a row.
She said: 'It takes discipline. It's a mental game - staying calm
is most important.
'I feel a sense of achievement when I wind back the target chart
and I hit a bullseye. I like to be precise and accurate.'
Suppose gunning for the tiara more or less involves the same
thing.
So take aim and fire away, girls!
