An unofficial photo of the Miss Singapore finalists has brought out the ugly side of some people in the online community. Comments about the 19 finalists for the local beauty pageant ranged from their looks being "not pretty enough", "ugly" and questions if they even look "Singaporean."
ERM Singapore Marketing, organizer of the said pageant, confirmed that six of the contestants are permanent residents, three originating from Malaysia and three from China. A spokesperson added that the local pageant is open to both Singaporeans and Singaporean permanent residents from 17 years old.
The spokesperson added that one of the Singaporeans is born in Myanmar and another two were from China.
"As long as they are Singaporeans or residents, they are allowed to join the competition. So I don't see why they can't represent Singapore," finalist Nur Amelina, said adding that she can't understand why their countries of birth are of issue.
The local pageant will yield four winners who will go on to represent the country internationally under titled: Miss Singapore Tourism Queen, Miss Singapore Chinatown, Miss Singapore Global Beauty Queen and Miss Grand Singapore.
Miss Singapore Global Beauty Queen 2016 winner Priscilla Martin said that she cannot recall PRs taking part during the last pageant and she added saying Singaporeans should be open-minded.
"Singapore is so diverse, and Singaporeans need to be more understanding of that," Martin said.
Aside from those PRs comments, many netizens questioned the legitimacy of the pageant, in which the organizers claimed it has been 29 years since they handle the event.
"Honestly, it was very upsetting, especially for all of the girls," the spokesman said. "But at the end of the day, we can't stop people from saying or posting certain things."
The Miss Singapore Beauty Pageant had about 60 applicants and the finalists were chosen by a board of former pageant winners.
