Three City Harvest members emerged big winners at the Mrs Singapore 2010 Grand Finals.
Beauty took on a distinguished meaning at the Mrs. Singapore and Classic Mrs Singapore 2010 pageants held on the evening of March 27 at the Orchid Country Club. Thirty-two married women, all accomplished in their respective professions, vied for titles and tiaras amid the raucous cheers and whistles from an enthusiastic audience.
The evening saw the crowning of volunteer charity worker Kenny Santika Lau as Mrs. Singapore World 2010. Lau will represent Singapore at the Mrs. World competition in Korea. Company director Goh Wenling walked away with the Mrs. Singapore Queen of Hope 2010/11 title (formerly known as Mrs. Worldwide). Medical doctor Tiffany Yang was named Mrs. Singapore Universal 2010/11 and secretary Angie Lim as Classic Mrs. Singapore World 2010. All four title holders will represent Singapore at the international rounds of the various pageants, held respectively in Korea, USA and Europe.
Drama producer and director Cassandra Zulkarnain was crowned Mrs. Singapore 2010 first runner-up, while Eva Amri, the wife of national footballer Khairul Amri, was second runner-up. Lau, Goh and Zulkarnain are from CHC.
The Mrs. Singapore category was open to contestants aged 22-44, while the Classic Mrs Singapore was for women 43 and above.
Having gone through a pre-judging round the week before, the 32 finalists dove right into a sassy dance number as the opening program for the night, shimmying in glittering black dresses to the K-pop hit single “Nobody” by the Wonder Girls. It was followed by brief introductions from each contestant. At every interval, there were cute performances from the children taking part in the Little Miss Cinderella and Little Manhunt contests.
The first high point of the evening was the always-popular evening gown round. Each beauty paraded the stage in outfits featuring elaborate trains and thousands of beads and sequins. This round proved that a nice figure is entirely attainable even after marriage and childbirth.
With charity being a key element of this event, the Mrs. Singapore Community Ambassador award was given to Angie Lim for her good works in society. Cynthia Ong won the Mrs Internet Popularity award.
It was also clear that the contestants did their share of homework. During the “platform round”, most were able to confidently rattle off strings of statistics and figures in support of the respective causes they championed such as cancer, Aids awareness, child and elderly welfare.
The highlight of the event, though, was undoubtedly the interview round where each contestant took centerstage with their husbands on their arms as they tackled questions from the judges. If there was a Mrs Eloquent award, it would have no doubt gone to Zulkarnain, whose articulate response to the question posed won her the loudest cheers from the floor. In answer to why a woman should consider herself a priority, Zulkarnain told the audience that if she took care of herself, she would be able to look after her family, do her work well, and serve her country.
“I’m very proud of all the women who took part today, and especially so for the CHC wives. It goes to show that even though you’re married, you can still pursue your dreams and serve God,” said a beaming Aries Zulkarnain.
Other sponsor-named awards presented included Mrs. Avita, Mrs. Zell-V Ambassador, Mrs. Goodwill and the Queen’s Pagentry Spirit Award alongside standard ones like Mrs. Congeniality and Mrs. Personality. There was even one for Most Supportive Family.
Winner of that award was Goh Wenling, whose face smiled from banners hanging from overhead balconies and whose tables of supporters created much of the hype throughout the evening. Crediting her success to the support of her pastor husband, Goh Yock Kiang, she says, “Throughout the whole week, while I’ve been attending grooming, dance and catwalk classes, he has been fetching the kids, waiting on me 24/7 to attend to my needs; he even stayed overnight with me at Orchid Country Club so that I could get some rest before the big day today. Seriously, taking part in a pageant is not easy at all!”
Another crowd favorite, Classic Mrs. Singapore World 2010 Angie Lim said, “What motivated me to take part was the vision of being the ambassador of the Hope Community Services. It also helped that my husband was very supportive of me, following me to all the rehearsals and encouraging me along the way.”
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| CN PHOTOS: Michael Chan and Poh Yang Zheng |
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Standing beside Kenny Santika Lau, who swept the most number of awards including Mrs. Congeniality, Mrs. Photogenic in addition to Mrs. Singapore World 2010 was her proud husband Kevin Lau. “I’m really elated, and I want to thank God for giving Kenny the grace and favor to win, as she can now use this title to champion the cause of underprivileged children to more individuals and corporate bodies.” As to why she had such an edge over the rest of the contestants, he humbly replied, “I think she exuded confidence and charm and carried herself well, but again, I feel it was really the Lord’s favor on her.”
While official figures have not been tallied, 20 per cent of the ticket sales will be going to the Hope Community Service Centre, which serves poor and needy elderly citizens.
Organizing chairperson and Mrs. Singapore World 2009, Grace Chew surmised the evening’s success: “The Mrs Singapore pageant is not widely known, so as a former Mrs. Singapore, my objective was to help bring more visibility to the event. Based on tonight, I think we’ve done pretty well—it was heartening to see all the women on stage tonight after having put in so much time and effort into the preparations over the past few days despite the multiple commitments they juggle. They are truly all winners, every single one of them.”
