Cr Chieng (third from left) with Miss Ukraine, Miss Russia and Miss Azerbaijian at the entrance of Kingwood Hotel.
By Andy Chua
SIBU: A world top ten model is among the 34 aspiring contestants who will vie for the Miss Tourism Pageant 2007 title during the Grand Finale at RH Hotel here on Dec 7.
The model, Olga Spirina from Azerbajian was among the three ‘early birds’ who arrived here yesterday.
The others were Valerie Tartsewa from Ukraine and Alsu Khamidullova from Russia. They were warmly received by Alaric Soh of Alaric’s Productions Company, the franchise founder, owner and organiser of the event and co-organising chairman councillor Chieng Boon Tuong.
In a brief interview at Kingwood Hotel here yesterday, Olga, an oil engineer by profession said meeting new friends from all over the world was her top priority in taking part in the pageant contest.
“I am here not to win but to make new friends from the other countries. This is a good opportunity for me to know the other contestants and also the local people and their culture,” she said.
Olga, 25, who had to travel for about 12 hours to get to this town is currently among the top 10 models in the world and it was due to her high profile that she was chosen to represent her province in Russia.
Despite long hours travelling, she appeared cheerful and did not experience any jetlag.
Contesting in the pageant event for the first time, Olga was very much impressed with the warmth and hospitality of the people of this town.
“I am also very impressed with the surrounding of the town as it is still covered with trees. The people here are gracious and friendly as they welcome us with grace at the airport,” she added.
Meanwhile, the other contestants would be arriving here soon. By Saturday they are all expected to be in this town for the grand event.
The other contestants are Xi Ni (Mongolia), Umotong Ofonime Edet (Nigeria), Tsering Chungtak (Tibet), Priyangka Shah (India), Mphoentle Euinice Motsumi (Botswana), Hennetta Karoly Falvi (Hungary), Renala Rusai (Serbijen), Lin Jialu (China), Lauryn Maree Eagle (Australia), Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong (Vietnam), Lim Kim Suan (Singapore), Zhao Xiao Ying (Macau), Kelly Dawson (England), Dilyana Krasimirowa Popova (Bulgaria), Liy Yi Yi (HongKong), Bushra Jamit (Pakistan), Eniko Rozsa (Austria), Tiffany Marie Yanke (America), Claudia Milena Torres (Colombia), Larisse Nahari Isaguirre Diaz (Mexico), Lee Mi (Taiwan), Devinca Ana Sanya (Indonesia), Andrea Vidal (Venezuela), Aline Ahmar (Lebanon), Maissa Mrassi (Tunisia), Czarina Mae Justo (Philippines), Yea Bin Jeong (South Korea), and Penelope Ling Kieng Wee (Malaysia)
Alaric when interviewed said the run-up to the event had been well organised by the relevant committees except with the usual teething problem of flight connectivity.
“With the school holidays on, we are facing great problems in getting all the girls here. Flights are fully booked. The last thing that we are hoping now is for all the contestants to arrive here without much difficulty,” he added.
He said that the expensive air fares were also a major headache for them whereby in some sectors the fares have been increased by up to 100 per cent as compared to that two years’ ago when the contest was held in Miri.
On an average, the hike in the airfares was between 60 and 80 per cent.
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