I'm very privileged to be one of the few to be invited to grace the press conference of Mrs Singapore 2015.
I didn't know what to expect, apart from all the school's pageant, I've never attended one outside of school and this time with a different theme altogether.
HBI's office
The finalists are pitted against each other for the winning title, 'Mrs Singapore 2015/16 which is proudly sponsored by HBI International Group.
HBI, which also stands for Health, Beauty and Idea, sells skincare products such as For/get and body shaping wear, Ikewenna, to give women a more tight, defined body to boost their confidence, especially wearing skin tight clothing.
I'm really amazed by this concept, because I didn't even know such pageants existed. This competition is opened to any woman who is married aged between 25-49 years old.
We were being seated and the conference started shortly after.
The conference kick started with an opening speech by the past winner of Mrs Singapore World 2014/15.
'Beauty doesn't just come from the appearance, but it also comes within you. '
I couldn't agree with her more, what's a beauty without a heart and an ugly personality?
In line with the motto of Mrs Singapore 'beauty with a heart' , all finalists would be involved in charity events and community services.
They had just finished their community day serving at Dignity Kitchen, you can look it up here to check out their behind the scenes back in the kitchen and how well it went!
The main sponsor, HBI International gave a speech about their products as well by Miss April Wong
Miss April Wong giving her speech
The finalists are being introduced to us and they were given a short speech about themselves and explaining their purpose of being in this competition.
After introducing themselves, we were invited to have high tea with them to mingle around with the contestants and get to know them better.
Egg Croissant
The only person I talk to within that age group would be my mum, so it's quite intimidating because I didn't know what to say or how to start a conversation with them.
Luckily, we were approached by this friendly lady to break the ice with Rachel & I. She made me felt at ease, like I was talking to my own mother. We talked about anything and everything under the weather, like how old her children were and why did she join this competition. Despite the age gap I really felt that there are certain similarity between us. Both of us likes to do something that challenges us; and for her it's joining this competition even though it's out of her comfort zone and I really applaud her for taking the step and joining this competition.
Someone who stood out to me was Jolin, who gave a speech about women having the need to feel confident about themselves no matter what age they are. It's a matter of self respect and having dignity as a woman to keep up with her own maintenance and image.
She mentioned something somewhere along the line whereby she felt disrespected just because she comes from China. There were many instances that she would be insulted and talked behind by Singaporeans and worse, being shunned.
It is happening in Singapore and it is the harsh reality.
From a Singaporean point of view, I would definitely not talk to them not because I look down on them, but I feel like there's nothing much we could interact about.
However, she gave me a changed impression. She was just like any one of us, just that she converses her thoughts in chinese.
I love how she has a strong woman pride in her, telling me that she refused to marry her husband before she gets her Permanent Resident citizenship here in Singapore. She wanted to prove to him that she didn't marry him just for the sake of having a ticket into the country.
It is a very respectable thing for her to do and for that I find that she stands out from the others. Her beauty doesn't only come from the outside, but also from within. Her strong-willed, determined mindset made her shine among the rest.
This press conference was indeed an eye-opener for me. I didn't expect myself to be able to gain so much insights from their lives but also changed opinions about the definition of beauty.
It's really commendable of how each and everyone of them came fourth and run for this competition, especially at that kind of age whereby you are most likely to settle down and just stop trying to improve yourself because you are comfortable with your life.
I really love how most, if not all of the finalists take this competition as a learning opportunity to discover themselves and gain experience they never had. I would probably be slogging at work if not lazing around during my off days if I'm at their age right now instead of making so much effort in improving themselves.
No matter what the outcome of this competition, I feel that each and everyone of the finalists is already a beauty. Having to juggle being a mum, being an adult at work as well as being in this pageant sure isn't an easy feat. They are all beautiful because they never stopped believing that no matter the age, women are entitled to feel beautiful, and thats why they are running for this pageant.
With Rachel & Shayne!
With that, I would like to thank ERM for this golden opportunity for me to have such precious takeaways and I can't wait for the finals at Resort World Sentosa in December.
