Tuesday October 6, 2009
Perseverance pays off for law student
By CHOONG MEK ZHIN
BELIEVING that she had not given her best at last year’s pageant brought Thanuja Ananthan back for a second round this year where she ultimately impressed the judges enough to win the Miss World Malaysia (MWM) 2009 crown.
“It still has not sunk in and all I feel now is humbled and proud. I thought that my response during the question and answer session had cost me the crown because I felt that I did not give it my best shot,” Thanuja said in an interview right after the pageant.
She will be off to London in November where she will remain for a month for various Miss World activities alongside the other contestants representing other countries.
Newly-crowned: Thanuja with Chua (right) and Yeoh. “I will definitely do my best at the pageant and make my country proud,” the 23-year-old law student said.
She is also very confident that there will never be any scandal about her that will emerge in the future.
“There never was and never will be any scandal involving me because I do not compromise about something I strongly believe in and I stick to my principles,” Thanuja said.
Stefanie Chua, 21, who will soon be studying for a business degree, was the first runner-up followed by Christy Yeoh, 23, a public relations executive.
Gonzalez: She was one of the judges at the Miss World Malaysia 2009 pageant This year is a first for many things including the launch of a more interactive and comprehensive local pageant website as well as the pageant’s finale being held in a shopping mall at Sunway Pyramid.
“We wanted the public to feel closer to the girls. We thought it would be great to let everyone come and cheer the girls on personally and to see them perform during the actual pageant,” pageant organiser DDBPR managing director Chong Wei-Hsiang said.
Chong also said controversies existed in every beauty pageant and he hoped the winner of the crown this year would use her new-found position responsibly.
The theme of this year’s pageant “Beauty is Power” was inspired by the likes of Cleopatra and Nefertiti, queens who had brought empires to their knees and proved that a beautiful woman is a powerful woman.
America’s Next Top Model cycle 8 winner and guest judge Jaslene Gonzalez said being on the other side of the table enabled her to see how hard judging actually was.
“My advice to the girls is to try their best and if they do so, they’ll all walk away feeling like a winner with or without the crown,” Gonzalez said when interviewed by emcee Asha Gill and Josiah Mizukami.
The contestants had paraded swimwear and sportswear by Schwrzenbach as well as kebaya and evening wear by Nazleen Noor, much to the crowd’s appreciation, some of whom carried banners and signs to show their open support for their favourite finalists.
Among the performances that night were two trilingual songs from Miss World Malaysia 2008 Soo Wincci, singer and pianist Yew Han as well as from the StART Society Children Choir.
The proceeds from this year’s pageant will go to the society that provides underprivileged children with the opportunity to develop their potential in arts.
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