Like mother, like daughter

Speaking of beauty queen families, how could we not revisit the famous Fonseka mother-daughter duo?

Who would have thought that 34 years after Datin Josephine Fonseka was crowned Miss Malaysia Universe, her daughter Andrea Fonseka would not only win the 2004 title, but also go on to become national director for the pageant, helping to groom future beauty queens of international stature?

Josephine, 59, remembers it was her brothers who encouraged her to take part while Andrea, the youngest of four girls, had always wanted to be Miss Malaysia.

The impact the pageants have had on the family has been great. First of all, the lucky bystanders.

“Dad likes bragging that he’s the luckiest man in Malaysia by marrying a beauty queen and producing one as well. He calls himself Mr Malaysia when no one’s looking,” says the 27-year-old Andrea cheekily in a recent e-mail interview from Brisbane, Australia, where she was on vacation.

And, of course, the perks too. On the phone in Kuala Lumpur Josephine tells me it’s only natural that being a beauty queen helps to open doors.

“But it all depends on whether one wants to walk in or not,” says Josephine, a semifinalist in the Miss Universe 1970 pageant held in the United States.

She remembers a door she didn’t walk in. It was just after the Miss Universe event when she went to Japan for the Queen of Expo competition, and she was invited to return and model for a famous fashion magazine long term.

“I was a little homesick then and didn’t think I would enjoy it. And I never wondered much about what could have been behind that door!”

Her daughter agrees that her own triumph has opened doors for her.

Now an actress/presenter/model/businesswoman, Andrea, a National University of Singapore law graduate, says: “I would describe it as a step towards the entertainment industry; it was not an escalator to the top like it is for the Miss Universe Malaysia winners now.”

Josephine adds that not all doors opened were good. For example, when she went down to Kuala Lumpur to do hosting or modelling, she would often get invited to stay back and party in the capital. The daughter of conservative parents would, however, always opt to return to Ipoh to “safeguard” her reputation, something of utmost importance in those days.

“In my time, being known as a beauty queen and featured in magazines and such, if one was to be seen walking in and out of hotels too much you might be perceived to be doing something wrong. That was 40 years ago,” she explains.

“In a way, the impact of Andrea being a beauty queen has brought increased concern about how she lives her life, and there’s pressure on her to be seen to be doing the right thing.”

Andrea, who married Australian lawyer Paul Alexander Dewar in July last year, says the fact that both she and her mother are pageant winners has never really been a factor in their relationship.

Also, whatever things they had in common were just natural.

“We have more in common than we realise, we almost sound alike now!”

On the evolving world of pageants, Andrea says too many Miss Malaysia dilute the brand.

“This causes people to get confused, and it’s sad for the ‘real’ Miss Malaysia who truly works to be a part of something legitimate and worthwhile.

“However, with the revival of the ‘big two’ pageants in Malaysia, people are slowly being able to tell the difference again – especially with Miss Universe Malaysia’s new hip, urban and relevant TV format launched this year.”

As for critics, they have always been there.

“In those days we had protesters who said all sorts of silly things in front of the venues,” recalls Josephine. “I had nothing to say to them as they were entitled to their own opinions. To each his own.”

Andrea, who has herself been criticised for being comparatively heftier than past winners at the time of her crowning, takes a similar view.

“One should not throw stones at a target whose shoes you’ve never walked in before. I found my experience to be enriching, and it has helped me learn about the world and myself. So these feminists have to be a little wrong, don’t they?” she says philosophically.

When asked if winning is an important element in any pageant, Josephine reminds us that there can only ever be one winner – something to think about regarding how much one takes the competition to heart.

“Pageant-goers must accept that the chances to win are not in her favour because of many others who are as beautiful or as good.

“When I was there (Miss Malaysia Universe, as it was known then; now it’s Miss Universe Malaysia), my sister, Miss Pahang, was one of the contestants alongside me (I was Miss Perak). She was placed second runner-up.

“We always said we didn’t care who won as long as one of us did. Winning wasn’t all that mattered. So it’s great to win, but not winning is not the end of the world."

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