Miss Singapore Universe a materialistic Barbie doll

Posted on September 17, 2012 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Miss Singapore Universe denies getting boob job’, 16 Sept 2012, article by Charlene Chua, TNP

…The netizens have been working overtime. Some took pictures off her (Lynn Tan’s) Facebook account and posted it elsewhere online. A picture of Miss Tan in her new car – a gift from her British boyfriend – was re-posted on online forums after her win, with netizens calling her “materialistic”. On the HardwareZone forum alone, Miss Tan has also been accused of having had a “boob job”, a nose job and even being a former man.

…On ‘being materialistic’ (after posting a picture of herself in her Nissan GT-R) “I was thrilled as anybody would be to be given the opportunity to drive a nice, fast car (a gift from my boyfriend).”

On ‘looking like a Barbie doll‘: “That’s actually a compliment. I was lucky, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

…On being called ‘a Sarong Party Girl (SPG) for having a Caucasian boyfriend’: “You can’t choose who you want to fall in love with or when or how. Love just happens.”

The MSU national costume is the traditional whipping boy for critics, but so are recycled insults about our Ms Universe looking too masculine or being an SPG. In addition, we have forum trolls ranting about her being a gold-digger and looking plastic fantastic like a Barbie Doll. In 2009, former MSU Rachel Kum ‘came clean’ about having breast enhancements, and such little surgical makeovers in the age of Botox and Lasik are so commonplace that it’s no big deal anymore. You don’t even need to be a natural-born ‘woman’ to participate in MSU in time to come. Lynn Tan can be a computer generated anime chick for all I care, and maybe in a couple of decades, once we get tired of pageants and the transgenders have squeezed out all the competition, the geek fandom’s dream of a ‘virtual’ beauty queen may well be a reality that’s not that cracked up to be anymore.

On Lynn’s ‘materialism’, my guess is as good as anyone’s. What’s certain, though, is that she loves flaunting her boyfriend’s expensive gifts on Facebook, with a photo album consisting of nothing except shoes, pendants and a Dior bag. What’s missing is the $300,000 black Nissan GTR. Well the guy can pamper her however he wishes if he thinks she’s worth it, though if one can get a woman a sportscar as a random present, the only thing that comes to mind for a wedding proposal is a 1 Carat diamond (at least) and a seaside Villa. Maybe a Hello Kitty helicopter too, so that she can fly over a lava-spurting volcano once again in it.

Some girls (and guys) have all the luck, and she does admit a preference for men with burning ambition in them (among other characteristics that you WON’T find in Singaporean men) and resemble ‘James Bond’. You can draw your own conclusions about her choice of mates, but she’s probably not old enough to see all the James Bond films where the charismatic spy acts like a total misogynist womaniser. If detractors continue to diss her for being fake and shallow, well, she can jolly well give them the Goldfinger. She’s Miss UNIVERSE, not Mother Theresa (though the latter was quoted in Lynn’s QnA). Little girls don’t look up to Ms Universes as role models anymore. They adore female vampires, archers, Pussy Riot and that submissive lust-stricken protagonist of Fifty Shades of Grey. Having an angmor boyfriend is nothing, though some ex-Ms Universes do tend to think the world of them.

I think Lynn stands a decent chance at the Grand Finals, though she’d have to do more than spout cliches from religious figures to win the hearts of judges. Swooning over a generous millionaire boyfriend is a strict no-no because judges tend to favour ‘strong, independent’ women, and so are cheesy jokes like what 2011′s contestant Valerie spewed for the whole world to see. And PRAY hard that the national costume doesn’t turn out a sick joke; a polymer gown with prints of SG 100-dollar notes and the face of Yusof Ishak all over it.

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Filed under: 2012, Beauty pageants, Money, Ms Singapore Universe, Transsexuals | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Transsexuals in Miss Universe Singapore

Posted on April 28, 2012 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Beauty contests’, 28 April 2012, ST Forum

(MR ACE KINDRED CHEONG): ‘Transgender participants should not be allowed to participate in beauty pageants meant for women (‘Miss Universe Singapore: Could the next one be originally male?’; Wednesday). They will have an advantage over biological women as some, if not all, will have undergone cosmetic surgery. Instead, why not have beauty pageants meant solely for transgender participants?

Transsexualism has been discussed rather openly in Singapore since the early 80′s, where attempts have been made to distinguish the terms ‘transvestite’ from ‘transsexual’, as well as define the colloquial ‘ah kuas’, the latter often used interchangeably between a transsexual, an ‘effeminate’ man or  ‘sissy’ or a ‘male prostitute’, yet SBC deemed it ‘appropriate‘ for use in drama serials.’Transgender’ was coined as recently as the 1990′s, as in LGBT, a term that may be preferred when addressing the community as a whole as it seems to take the ‘surgical knife’ undertones off ‘transsexual’, though both are still commonly used in the media today. ‘Ladyboy’ and ‘bapok’, however, have become derogatory, though ‘bapok’ in Malay literally means ‘effeminate’ (like the equally offensive catch-all that is ‘ah kua’), while ‘Tranny’ and ‘shemale’ are reserved for porn genres. When it comes to transsexualism, even quotation marks can be highly offensive, as in ‘woman’, ‘sister’ or ‘queen’ to describe transwomen (men who became women).  The Malaysian press has even hidden the full word behind an acronym, TS.

Even the same act of ‘going under the knife’ has been euphemised over the years. Today it’s called SRS or ‘sex reassignment surgery ‘, when we used to call it a ‘sex change operation’. The Miss Canada Universe who started it all, Jenna Talackova, herself underwent ‘GENDER reassignment surgery’, the term ‘assignment’ making the procedure as innocuous as amending one’s birth certificate. Like most behavioral deviations, transsexualism has also become medicalised;  if you’re born a man and feel like a woman you have a ‘gender identity disorder (GID)’, which implies that ‘feeling like a woman’ when you’re a man is a form of ‘sickness’. The term ‘intersex’ has been proposed as the ‘third gender’ for official purposes, though being ‘intersexed’ could also refer to a sex development disorder in which one was born with ‘ambiguous’ genitalia i.e hermaphrodites, a term used to describe flowers and worms other than human beings.  Hermaphrodites, other than getting embroiled in sporting arena controversies, also have their own problems dealing with transsexual beauty contestants who were born 100% male.

Allowing transsexuals in pageants puts judges in a spot, even if it may well boost up ratings. You don’t want to appear to cast a sympathy vote nor do you want the LGBT community to complain about discrimination if their representative fails to even make the top 15. Cosmetic surgery also may not give that desired edge over female participants (unless the writer was thinking of shocking beauties like Thailand’s Nong Poy below). But perhaps this is more a victory for ‘medical science’ than anything else. Or rather medical science AND make-up. But wait a minute, since when was Miss Universe JUST about LOOKS (or femininity for that matter) anyway? Didn’t ‘masculine’ Tania Lim take the crown in 2010?

For every Nong Poy...

...There's this.

There are already transgender Miss Universe-ish pageants as we speak, such as the Miss International Queen pageant (which allows transvestites as well), not to be confused with Miss Tourism Queen, Miss Global Beauty Queen and Miss QUEEN OF THE WORLD. Still, this is a vast improvement from our stigmatisation of transsexuals in the 80′s, when they were barred from such contests because it was seen as an ‘embarrassment’ and  a ‘big joke to organisers’. It would be a while before we see transsexuals or transvestites in high-flying positions such as doctors, lawyers or politicians (though some may be closest cross-dressers…there’s a difference!), but pitting them in competition against natural-born females could be symbolic of this social ‘inclusiveness’ that the PAP has been bragging about, even if the platform is as superficial as a beauty contest, or in the promotion of ‘cabaret’ shows (Does that mean our pageants need to be R18 as well?)

Audiences are suckers for underdogs, and since the Miss Universe franchise here needs saving, a transgender Miss Universe Singapore hopeful could very well be a Beautiful Boxer in the making. But first, we’ll have to lift the bar on transsexuals into certain clubs, and that includes Ladies’ Night, to show that we really mean it. Still, it’s hard not to be hypocritical when advocating equality for transsexuals as a heterosexual man. Some would rather be seen in public with an openly gay man than a transsexual, and I for one have reservations about getting a hot oil massage from either.

Filed under: 1980s, 2012, Beauty pageants, Cross dressing, Ms Singapore Universe, Names, Sex, Transsexuals | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

15 year old Elite model in a skimpy bikini

Posted on November 13, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Early exposure’, 13 Nov 2011, article by Natasha Ann Zachariah, Sunday Times

At just 15, student Fiona Fussi has caused quite a stir. Last week, she set tongues wagging when she was photographed in a bikini as she strutted her stuff for the Elite Model Look 2011 competition here in front of an audience of 300. The leggy, 1.76m-tall beauty is quite a bombshell, but Fussi’s win raises questions about whether teenagers should be photographed or doing runways shows in skimpy outfits at their tender age.

…The combination of flesh-baring and young age might be too much to stomach for some parents, such as Ms Christina Ong. The 41-year-old housewife, who has two daughters aged 16 and 14, says of Fussi’s photo: ‘If adults want to model in a bikini, that is their prerogative. But kids in bikinis, where do they go from there? Being in the media limelight, what if they can’t handle the pressure or get forced into doing things they don’t want?’

Another parent of a 13-year-old daughter, Mrs Josephine P. who is in her 30s, says that Fussi may be too young to handle the attention…. ”I wouldn’t favour a 15-year-old girl taking the pressure of such a huge crowd because she’s too young to weigh the consequences of exposing herself. At that tender age, she may not be mature enough to know the value of and protect the integrity of her womanhood.’

Fussing over Fussi

Putting 15 year olds through modelling or any form of talent contest as a means of parents living vicariously through their sexy teenage children is fine, as long as all parties involved are agreeable and accept the reality of leery-eyed men thrice Fiona’s age, paedophiles included, saving her pictures into their computers. The fact is Fiona would get the same attention if she were a national swimmer or diver instead of an Elite model, and some would argue both activities require a skill set and discipline that takes months to hone. Flesh-parading oneself in front of an audience may even be seen by some parents as a confidence-building exercise, and even if it didn’t involve skimpy swimwear, we still subject much younger kids to fairy-tale beauty contests which serve no purpose other than feeding narcissistic traits, teaching kids how to strut barely after they’ve learnt how to walk, or how to pout barely after they’ve stopped suckling.

I was amused to find the following events in existence:

  • The King and Queen of the Universe pageant: In 2003, our very own Renfred Ng, 12, won ‘Junior King’. Not a title to be scoffed at, obviously. James Cameron’s ‘I am the King of the World’ proclamation after winning an Oscar for Titanic pales in comparison to what these tiny tots are fighting for.
  • The Little Miss Universe Singapore and Little Manhunt 2011: You have the chance of becoming a ‘little Manhunt’ winner from 4 years of age, and all you need to qualify is to be a male and of ‘good moral character’. At 4 years old. Technically it should be named ‘Boyhunt’, but that would sound like the title of a gay porno video.

Turning your kids into sex objects  is one thing, but inflating their egos by rewarding them for being the most awesome boy or girl in the universe is equally damaging. Telling your future employer that you’ve once modelled for Elite is a plus point anywhere you go, but being an ex King or Queen of the Universe is something only your mummy will be proud of, and a past glory you should never ever bring up at an interview, unless of course, your boss was secretly a King of the Universe himself once and has his sash framed in a hidden corner of his office. Or if  he’s Benedict Goh.

The image of Fiona above, a ‘not even barely legal’ teen with a woman’s body, creates a dilemma in the typical male ogler, who isn’t accustomed to budding adolescence packaged in a sexually-charged female figure, toggling between ‘hot babe’ to ‘someone’s little girl’, a cycle of physical infatuation and guilt. Which is what makes Fiona so interesting. A case of ‘growing up too soon’ perhaps, but I’m sure parents would rather their kids get gawked at and earn prize money while at it, perhaps even capture the attention of media moguls and a shot at celebrity,  instead of them having random sex with other schoolkids out of boredom and peer pressure. Being a famous model has conferred a stamp of ‘exclusivity’ on Fiona, which means she won’t hook up easily with any run-of-the-mill boy looking for a quickie, and time will tell if she develops the maturity to deal with all this attention while juggling with school.

Parents who are concerned of Fiona’s daring catwalk being an abandonment of ‘integrity of her womanhood’ , making it sound as if cat-walking in a bikini is as bad as prostituting yourself in a Lolita outfit, have obviously never seen what repressed teenagers are posting on Facebook or sexting other boys with these days. Truth is, you don’t even need to own a bikini to have your ‘integrity’ ravaged. Sexualisation is inevitable, and if parents can’t fight it, the likes of the Fussis have figured out how to embrace it tastefully, and lucratively. At least modelling is an actual job; unlike parents fostering a sense of delusional royalty by dressing their girls as Cinderellas or convincing boys that they’re He-Man.

Filed under: 2000s, 2011, Beauty pageants, Dress sense, Kids, Nudity, Parenting, Sex | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Ms Singapore Universe: Mice live on moon cheese

Posted on September 10, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Cheeky or cheesy?’, 10 Sept 2011, article by Kwok Kar Peng in TNP and ‘Is this S’pore’s national costume or rojak’?, 10 Sept 2011, Stomp.

Miss Singapore Universe 2011 Valerie Lim has left netizens agog with her unusual replies to the three questions that were posed to all 89 contestants this year for the Miss Universe pageant’s official online Q&A video interview.

When asked if Lim believes in life on other planets, the 26-year-old said rather jokingly: “I know the moon is not a planet, but I think it’s made of cheese, and so mice live on cheese.” She paused momentarily before adding with a giggle: “The moon cheese!”

Miss Singapore Universe Valerie Lim wasn’t the only Asian contestant who gave quirky replies. Miss Thailand, for example, said the animal she would like to be is ‘plankton’.

Still, English is not the first language of these beauty queens, so something may have got lost in translation.

It’s a bewildering response upon first viewing, but compare Valerie Lim’s answer to the rest of the Miss Universe hopefuls and you’ll realise that this tongue-in-cheek faux pas is a deliberate and bold juxtaposition of an endearing pun and whimsical cliche, delivered with unusually cool confidence and self-effacing child-like humour. Though naysayers would slam this as bimbo playacting and astronomy fans would beg to differ on the actual composition of our satellite, Valerie’s playful answer, if taken the right way by the pageant judges, clearly distinguishes her from the other finalists, who were taking the obvious, but dull, scientific approach and speculating on the probability of aliens using whatever rudimentary knowledge they have about astrobiology and alien invasion movies. Some, like Miss Great Britain, grossly and disappointingly underestimated the expanse of space by using the baseline of  ‘solar system’ instead of the more likely ‘galaxy’ or ‘universe’ when explaining the probability of extraterrestrial life (By the way, she also would like to be a caterpillar. Eew). To be exact, the actual lunar cliche specifies that the moon be made of GREEN cheese, and has been in use, astonishingly,  since the late 1800′s (Thoroughfares, Straits Times Overland Journal, 13 Dec 1879).

If Valerie doesn’t score points on accuracy, surely she deserves credit for saying something unexpected and choosing to steer away from blind speculation and countering one cliche with a cuter one. But maybe this question wasn’t really a test about how many times one has read Carl Sagan’s Cosmos or seen the movie ‘Contact’, but how stylishly one can pull off a somewhat existential poser without sounding like a wannabe astrophysicist. Other than the fact that Valerie could pass off as a nursery school teacher who could trick little kids into believing Jupiter is a really a giant orange, her diction is assuredly cosmopolitan and polished, with only the surprising Malaysian and Indonesian contestants to beat. Couple her unsettling spontaneity with a sense of parody with regard to perceptions of pageant sexualisation and it’s possible that we have a high-scoring MSU in the making.  It would be tragic, however, if she were let down by the perennial bugbear of all MSU contests to date: The national costume segment.

(On Miss Singapore Universe’s costume, Stomp): …”This outfit deliberately combines different styles into a mish-mash of styles and cultures, but I can’t help but feel that it’s all been forced together somehow. “The colours and styles all end up looking ‘rojak’ to me, like someone just tried his or her best to blend it all together.

“Some people have even said it looked like a carpet or curtain. Unfortunately, though I am behind Valerie a hundred percent, I have to agree.

Princess Jasmine wearing Aladdin's carpet

This has bits of Miss China, India and Saudi Arabia mixed in it, which was probably the intention of the designer to weave our multicultural heritage in one costume. Well, you’ve got to admit it’s at least better than our Merlion disaster and last year’s silver bore. Good luck, Valerie.

Postscript: Miss Angola won the title, while Miss Phillipines and Miss China were the two Asians making up the top 5. I guess hoping for a once in a blue MOON event (Miss Singapore in Top 10) is too much to ask for.

Filed under: 1800s, 2011, Beauty pageants, Dress sense, Ms Singapore Universe | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Kebaya for beauty pageants instead of swimsuits

Posted on August 6, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Beauty queens and too much skin’, 6 Aug 2011, Mailbag, Life!

(Musliha Ajmain Janssen):…I would not presume to know whose idea it was to include the swimsuit in the beauty pagents but from what I have learnt, it is more than just about showing off one’s best figure.

In Europe, particularly in Scandinavia and Northern Europe where the climate is usually cold, women do not get a lot of chances to wear a swimsuit. When the seasons change and they do get the chance, it is a very big deal, which is why they call it the ‘swimsuit season’. Furthermore, most of them do not have easy access to the beach.

Women there also vary in body shapes (Italian and Spanish women are known to be more curvaceous) which makes watching the competition a lot of more interesting compared to Singapore, where most of the contestants are naturally thin.

Singapore’s climate enables swimsuit wear at any time of the day…so I fail to understand the point of the swimsuit category other than to merely follow the beauty pageant formula…For example, a kebaya would be a good way for the contestants to show off their figures…A kebaya shows off as much, if not more, than a swimsuit does.

This fuss over swimsuits and sexism comes in the wake of organisers of Miss S’pore World 2011 proposing to remove this category altogether, which would surely spell the downfall of the beauty pageant as we know it. Nothing but words being minced around here, with the writer’s final argument being self-defeating because instead of focusing on talent and intelligence as would be the typical stance of feminist swimsuit naysayers, she recommends instead body hugging kebayas as an excuse to ‘show off as much, if not more’ than a normal swimsuit does, though I fail to see how this is possible unless you’re talking about transparent kebayas.

Well to each his own, and call it sexist if you will, but what all men want to see is a teasing flesh parade, not SIA stewardesses on a catwalk. Bikinis are simple and almost anyone with a stunning figure will look good in it, but choose the wrong kebaya and you risk looking like a Nyonya grandmother. What’s left unspoken here, and in fact everywhere else,  is that bikinis don’t just signal figure or complexion, it is also a dead giveaway of bust size, something that kebayas can easily  conceal, or enhance. And no one can deny the harsh fact that being well-endowed does help in the overall scoring for this segment, and hence overall chance of success.

It’s also baffling to say swimsuit contests are unnecessary because Singaporean women get to wear these at any time of the day, as if it were office attire. This is Singapore, Ms Janssen, not Club Med. A woman looking good in a bikini on a beach is as rare a find as one who dazzles in a kebaya on the streets. But the horrible truth is this, men don’t gawk at women in just bikinis anymore. With the internet and Photoshop, nothing is left to the male imagination. We’re not interested in women putting on a sexy show for the sake of it. We’re interested in the context in which their sexiness is presented. A paparazzi shot of an otherwise conservative actress in swimwear intrigues us, whether or not she has a good figure.  But line up smiling bikini-clad women in a contest and asking of a selection like wares at a slave market and you’ve lost our attention.

Although removing the swimsuit category, or anything hinting at nudity from beauty pageants, may encourage more smart, talented, even chubby women otherwise averse to exposing their bodies to sign up for Miss Universe and the like, what’s the point if no one’s interested?  From a purely commercial perspective then, swimsuit contests are a necessary evil, if only for the minority of men who haven’t yet discovered the internet or prefer to snap shots of Miss World in the flesh at shopping malls.

Swimsuit contests in 1954

1965

Still in one piece in 1988

2010

Filed under: 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 2010, 2011, Beauty pageants, Ms Singapore Universe, Nudity, Singaporean women | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

National flag more than a piece of cloth

Posted on August 6, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘A national flag is more than a piece of cloth’, 5 aug 2011, Voices, Today

(Sanjay Bhatia): I REFER to Mr Chan Hean Boon’s letter “Let’s fly the Singapore flag” (Aug 3). As a foreigner in this country, I am appalled that a Singaporean blatantly blames the influx of foreigners as a reason for the erosion of Singaporeans’ love for their country (“I believe the influx of foreigners over the past few years may have slowly eroded our affection for this country, and Singaporeans no longer have the passion to fly the flag”, 3 Aug, Voices, Today)

Hanging flags outside flats does not reflect a love for the country. A flag is more than just a piece of cloth, to be counted. It is to a nation what a name is to a man. I know of a lot of countries that even have rules on how to hoist the national flag and how to respect the flag. People fight and die for their national flags.

I would like to remind Mr Chan what the Singapore national flag represents: The Singapore National Flag consists of two equal horizontal sections, red above white. In the top left canton is a white crescent moon beside five white stars within a circle. Each feature has its own distinctive meaning and significance: Red symbolises universal brotherhood and equality of man; white signifies pervading and everlasting purity and virtue; the crescent moon represents a young nation on the ascendant; and the five stars stand for the nation’s ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality. Lastly, as a foreigner, I respect Singapore and applaud the Government for building such a great nation.

I have a number of Singaporean friends and colleagues and have never felt any hatred such as that shining through Mr Chan’s letter. It may do him good to take a step back and understand the meaning of the red colour in the flag that hangs outside his own home.

The state flag as we know it today is about 52 years young (Singapore chooses own flag and anthem, 9 Nov 1959, ST) and this foreigner is spot on with the symbolism, though most Singaporeans are unlikely to be able to rattle off what the five stars stand for.  I used to think these were taken off the Pledge (..to build a democratic society based on justice and equality…so as to achieve happiness, prosperity, and progress for the nation), which explains why so many others can’t recall the fifth star (peace), or mix this up with ‘prosperity‘. He left out the part on ‘red’ symbolising the blood of all men, that no nation was built without first sacrificing her sons and daughters in the process. Nothing special about red really, most nations have it splayed all over their flags, and probably for the same violent reason. (On a side note, Bhutan has my vote for the coolest state flag ever)

This rather arrogant response is revenge against being accused of diluting the patriotism in this country, and no Singaporean would relish the thought of being educated on the meaning of the flag’s colours by a foreigner (more so if we don’t know the answer ourselves), though the complainant’s lecture on flag symbolism sounds like a 10 year series entrance exam model answer to qualify for citizenship. But is it really the foreigners’ fault? Were we more patriotic before the immigration influx or did we simply grow tired of the same shebang year in year out? Are our immigrants just a convenient scapegoat masking a more deep-seated apathy towards nationbuilding and what it represents?A poll conducted in 1989 revealed that Singaporeans are a hapless lot when it comes to state flag trivia, with some giving pathetic guesses like ‘five races: Chinese, Indian, Malay, Europeans and Caucasians’ to explain why there are 5 stars (Many do not know flag’s significance, 29 July 1989, ST). Back in 1972, state flags were already treated worse than kitchen floor rags (Surely a symbol of loyalty should be something like this? 19 May 1972, ST). So it’s not just about foreigners,  and Chan Hean Boon’s veiled jingoism is perhaps an excuse for the fact that we just don’t care anymore.

Incidentally, having a flag outside your home doesn’t necessarily mean you adore the country. The one flying outside my corridor was set up mysteriously overnight, along with rest of the floors, neatly arranged in a straight line on the block. I figure it’s the complacency of having the government create this festive illusion for us instead of people  getting together, making the effort to tie flags to poles, erecting and saluting them that is the cause of our woeful attitude. We, the citizens of Singapore, are more likely to have Halloween parties than National Day Parade theme parties, simply because Halloween is more fun.

Another reason could be the display of the flag being governed by rather antediluvian state laws which makes it rather tedious for anyone who wants to express their pride for the country in a creative way without running afoul of Paragraph 6 of the ‘National State Arms and Flag and National Anthem rules’, first drafted in 1960 in which it forbade the use of the state flag as a ‘print pattern or for other commercial purpose”. Which means you can’t wear a T shirt with the Singapore flag on it then (maybe you still can’t). 1969 Miss Tourism Rosalind Ong contravened the law by sporting the national flag design, and the restriction was exercised again as recently as 1986, almost landing Miss Singapore Universe  in trouble too (See pic/link below, Not the way to keep flag flying, 5 June 1986, ST).

Pageants aside, any artist wanting to use the state flag as an inspiration and motif would also get his work banned outright, being in flagrant violation of the State Flag laws (Govt’s red flag up over art, 25 Jan 2003, Today). Just last year, another artpiece was slammed for showing utter disrespect to the source of its inspiration during the ‘Paint the Town Red and White‘ exhibition. And who could forget the image of our waterpolo boys in full on skimpy NDP mode burned in our retinas.

No wearing of Singapore flag on the head

In 2007, the regulations were updated to read as follows:

Use of Flag

…9.—(1) No person shall use or apply the Flag or any image thereof —

(a) for any commercial purpose; (b) as a means, or for the purpose, of any advertisement; or (c) as or as part of any furnishing, decoration, covering or receptacle, except in such circumstances as may be approved by the Minister, being circumstances wherein there is no disrespect for the Flag.

…(4) Subject to paragraph (5), no person shall use or apply the Flag or any image thereof as or as part of any costume or attire except in such circumstances as may be approved by the Minister, being circumstances wherein there is no disrespect for the Flag.

…(6) Subject to paragraph (7), no person shall produce or display any flag which bears any graphics or word superimposed on the design of the Flag.

(7) Paragraph (6) shall not apply to the production by or on behalf of, or the display by, any Government department of its flag.

(8) In this rule, ‘‘receptacle’’ includes a paper, plastic and refuse bag.

Meaning, if you don’t want to be $1o00 poorer, it’s better to play it safe and not display it at all, or hire someone to stand guard 24 hours a day by your flag just to make sure it doesn’t get flipped over or have any birdshit on it. You also can’t throw away a crumpled dirty flag into a ‘receptable’ even if it reeks worse than a soiled diaper without asking the Minister for permission. It’s also strange how locals get slammed for being creative, but nothing is done to apprehend Malaysian football fans  for defacing it in what’s obviously in contravention of (6) above, unless of course, the law doesn’t apply to foreigners.

Bad spelling is a greater crime

The word ‘disrespect’ is also ambiguous; burning or using it wipe your buttocks after a dump is a clear fine straightaway, but what’s more dodgy are scenarios like wrapping a newborn infant in it, using it as a blanket or posting the flag on your blog with the words ‘I LOVE SINGAPORE’ photoshopped over it. With so many restrictions, it’s really not surprising that our willingness to express our national pride is..(get ready for it)..flagging.

Happy National Day, Singapore.

Filed under: 1950s, 1970s, 1980s, 2000s, 2010, 2011, Art, Beauty pageants, Festivals, Foreign workers, Justice system/Lawsuits, Ms Singapore Universe, Public holidays | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Miss World ogled by dirty old men

Posted on February 6, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘前世姐投诉：邻里商场走猫步　阿伯看得色眯眯’, 5 Feb 2011, article in omg.sg (Sin Ming) and ‘It’s a National Joke’, 5 Feb 2011, Electric New Paper

2006年世姐爆出，她写信向英国的世姐主办单位投诉，新加坡世界小姐选美赛，让选美佳丽在邻里商场穿泳装走猫步，被色伯眼吃冰淇淋，简直是一大笑柄

…她指出，新加坡世姐选美赛在新加坡沦为笑柄，ERM (World Marketing) 经常安排佳丽们出席的促销活动，害她们很丢脸。

例如：她被令穿着比基尼在“东福坊”购物中心走猫步，被那些老男人眼睛吃冰淇淋，以及用手机拍照。

科琳承认，参加选美赛就得在公众面前走秀，但她说，她只是要求得到一点尊敬，比如：促销活动可以在酒店宴会厅或比较庄重的地方举行

Translation: Former Miss World 2006  Colleen Francisca has complained to the Miss World CEO that contestants have been forced by local organisers to catwalk and parade in bikinis in neighbourhood shopping malls to the gratification of dirty old men, some even using handphones to record their humiliation. She feels that public appearances should be held in hotels or in more formal settings.

This reveal after Miss World CEO slammed the pageant organisers for treating contestants as sex objects comes as no surprise, but what’s interesting about Colleen’s lament is that it smacks of delicious irony. Firstly, she won the Best in Swimwear award for Miss Model of the World 2003, according to this website. More importantly, she once flashed in bikini for a Raffles Place office crowd as part of a ‘living in a glass house for 7 days” stunt in 2007 (Colleen exposed!), like an exhibitionist, sexy female version of David Blaine.

In case you’re still not detecting some double standards about this whole affair, that this woman is clearly not ashamed of her figure and wearing nothing but a bikini in public (as long as they’re no scabby perverts around), it’s worth noting that dirty old men do venture beyond shabby heartland malls once in a while, even finding themselves in Raffles Place to catch the occasional publicity sleaze,  Magiclean models in skin tight costumes for instance. So, it’s strange that Ms Francisca has not complained about baring her award-winning body to working professionals in the heart of town, but gets traumatised doing it in malls.  Men, whether they’re smartly dressed or in shabby uncle wear, ogle and mentally undress women all the time. In fact, the moment your bikini pic was uploaded onto the internet, it has been a free for all eye candy feast anyway, not just to net savvy uncles but horny teens as well, so it doesn’t really matter if you’re showboating in an exclusive Tatler cruise party or People’s Park Complex when your image is already being eyeballed from head to toe, downloaded into screensavers or personnel folders, or used without permission in fake nudity Photoshop experiments, by men the world over.

Such questionable calls for respect and dignity look more like an ex beauty queen piggybacking on her CEO’s anti-bikini stance (nevermind that she won bikini awards herself, or that the prize money from such events is used to kickstart an independent career path) and accusing organisers of pimp-like behaviour, behind their backs mind you, just to get into the news. Like how a nude model would accuse her artist of selling her portraits to Playboy magazine (same image, different audience). If Colleen really feels so strongly about the joke that is the Miss World contest, she should just renounce the title, return the sash, tiara, prize money and terminate sponsor contracts instead of biting the hand while it’s still feeding her.

 

Central Bikini District

 

 

Filed under: 2011, Beauty pageants, Dress sense, Nudity, Shopping malls | Tagged: , , , , , | 10 Comments »

Miss World must hold a microphone properly

Posted on January 30, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Miss World CEO slams S’pore pageant standards’, 28 Jan 2011, article by Angela Lim in Fit to Post, Yahoo News

…(Ms Julia Morley, British chairperson and CEO of Miss World Limited): “I was shocked to hear that the representation of the Miss World brand has been diluted to such a degree here that I don’t recognise it anymore…The girls are being paraded in bikinis and the show has become more for a showgirl club type image. The show’s judging panel must think of who will make a good ambassador for Singapore, not who has the biggest… you know.”

Ms Morley, who has owned the Miss World brand for the last 40 years, also claims people have e-mailed to inform her that Singapore’s pageant winners have not been active in charity work, amongst other complaints.

…(Tracy Lee, events consultant): “This is a beauty contest where the girls must have a good figure and complexion, so if they do not parade in swimwear, what do they wear?”

…So what qualities should the ideal Miss World Singapore possess?

According to Ms Morley, she must first be someone who likes and understands Singapore and has the confidence to promote charity work and her home country overseas. In addition, she must be intelligent and have a good heart.

“If she hasn’t got money, that’s not her fault, so we are here to help her and groom her. She must learn how to dress, walk, speak well and even do things like holding a microphone properly,” she said.

Firstly, Miss Morley, CEO, we men don’t watch Miss World pageants for who has the biggest…you know. There’s something called the internet for the biggest anything, maybe you’ve heard of it. If the real intention of the Miss World contest is to nurture a philanthropist, why bother with the glamour, make-up, poise and pageantry at all?  Generous women with a ‘good heart’ do not need to be eloquent or maintain composure before bright lights and 10 year series questions like ‘What would you do with the prize money if you won (Definitely not spending on myself!)”?. Why, in fact, do you need a certain personality or specific training, like ‘how to hold a microphone’, to pursue a passion for charity at all? I mean, how would the skill of emceeing or knowing how to identify a salad fork apply in a shanty village of poor orphans where the residents care more about food, cash or even electricity than your pronunciation and graceful sauntering?

In an age of social media and reality TV, a Miss World pageant without the slightest whiff of sex appeal will join the ranks of tourist board promotional ads,  things that Singaporeans wouldn’t care about and prick their ears only when they hear these specific words in the news: Miss World. Sex tape/pic. Leaked. Some people,  on the other hand, instead of running the more likely Google search ‘Miss World scandal’,  check whether our beauty queens were actually present at tsunami aftermath sites pushing decaying bodies on a trolley and not merely blowing kisses at unamused children.  After which they complain to the Miss World CEO that her Miss World underlings are not doing their job, whilst they sit on their butts and only contribute to the needy with the touch of a few buttons when a celebrity charity show is on television. A bikini-less contest would be a cliched footnote, where the only memorable features of it would be a weary perpetuation of sexism or a history of producing pesky celebrity in the likes of Ris Low who, like a fly trapped in a airplane toilet, just refuses to go away. More importantly, it would mislead people into thinking that all our beauty contestants look like aunties. In fact, nothing dispels Miss World’s superficial facade like the audacity of fat women posing nude for charity.  Proof that, hey, you don’t need to be svelte, pretty or be a scholar in world peace to do something worthwhile. Or perhaps, as seen in this letter (Girls keener on glitter than having hearts of gold, 21 May 1978, ST), our beauty queens just don’t have the biggest…you know, Heart for this kind of thing anymore.

Filed under: 1970s, 2011, Beauty pageants, Fund-raising, Singaporean women | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Every gown has a silver whining

Posted on August 14, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From various letters in ‘Gown a let-down’, 14 Aug 2010, Life! mailbag

(Simon Chua): …It (Miss Singapore Universe Tania Chua’s gown) is plain, dull and looks like it can be bought at any bridal or evening gown boutique…If this is a competition to produce something that represents Singapore, shouldn’t the whole country be involved?

(Cheyenne Chang):…Why is a student designing the national costume? We have a few internationally acclaimed fashion designers in Singapore who can do a better job.

Not very Prom-ising

I thought Tania would be let off this time round with this underwhelming silver piece, what with people calling her too dark for a beauty queen and all. But the real tragedy here is how our Miss Universe hopefuls never once have a say in what they’ll be bringing to the world stage, instead leaving it to the artistic naivete of student designers, who can’t be blamed for living in an uninspiring time of cultural identity erosion.  As for Singapore designers, Cheyenne, the key phrase here is ‘internationally acclaimed’, and in view of how nobody in this country can agree upon a national dress, or have the slightest clue of what it should be,  whether it’s silver, shiny red, or plastered with scallop shells, any professional  attempting to doll up our representatives is flirting with international career death. Local arts scene wise, we seem to have a low tolerance for young artistic talent, as UOB Painting of the Year winner Bai Tian Yuan would tell you.

Filed under: 2010, Art, Beauty pageants, Ms Singapore Universe | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Dark matter in her Universe

Posted on August 7, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From ‘新加坡环球小姐　被批皮肤黑样子像男人’ 7 Aug 2010, article in omy.sg (Sin Ming Daily)

新加坡环球小姐林金钻，被批样子像男人，皮肤“黑鲁鲁”，质疑她如何代表新加坡。

22岁的客户执行员林金钻自摘冠以来，频频遭到人身攻击。有人猛批她样子像男人，看起来像“阿官”，又说她皮肤太黑。

…但她说：“国际选美赛中那些菲律宾、泰国或甚至是美国的佳丽，不也是皮肤黑黑的吗，她们在比赛中的表现却都很好。”

Fear of a Black Pageant

Translation: Miss Singapore Universe Tania Lim, fresh from accusations of being an SPG, is again drawing racist flak that her skin is too dark, even though she’s Peranakan Chinese, and that she looks too masculine. She justifies her win by comparing herself with dark skinned winners of Thailand and the Philippines.

Well to each his own, but such commentary on dark complexion marring beauty would spark racial outrage if we’re not careful. Tania, understandably miffed by this whole SPG business, should have done her research before making the dark Thai/Filipina beauty queen remark instead of jumping on the defensive. As you can see from below, this year’s Miss Thailand (gender verified) isn’t dark-skinned at all, and to be honest, more stunning than any of our 2010 finalists. SK-II, makers of whitening serums, are in the boardroom sketching out their next marketing blitz as we speak, you know, just in case Tania needs some quick cash on the side. If it’s any consolation, Tania should look up to the likes of African-Chinese model Lou Jing for inspiration, who with sheer gall, had to face the discriminatory wrath of at least half a billion, porcelain-white-skin-loving Chinamen.


Miss Thailand Universe 2010 Fonthip Watcharatrakul

Lou Jing: China Black

Filed under: 2010, Beauty pageants, Ms Singapore Universe, Racism, Singaporean women | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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