From the moment she greeted the crowd in English, Tamil and the Portuguese dialect, Cristang, Fiona Zuzartee had charmed the crowd as well as the judges at the finals of the ninth Miss MalaysiaIndian Global. The diminutive darling, who stands at 5’ 2", was crowned Miss MalaysiaIndian Global 2008 event at the Plenary Hall at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre last Saturday.
The eloquent Zuzartee, who is of Indian and Portuguese parentage, clinched the crown during the question and answer session for the top five finalists. Asked whether English should continue as a medium of instruction in schools, Zuzartee gave an affirmative answer, before going on to elaborate and punctuate her stand with the argument that English was the language of the world.
In comparison, other contestants, who received different questions, seemed only to provide the most basic of answers without elaborating their stand.
The evening began with a dance performance by the 16 finalists, and included two rounds of judging, before the five finalists were chosen. The judging was done by a panel of eight, including comedian/actor Harith Iskandar and Miss Malaysia 2007 Deborah Priya Henry. Two earlier rounds, Fitness and Environment, were pre-judged.
The Heritage round featured the women in sarees by Tara’z Boutique, while in the Elegance round, finalists modelled eveningwear by Malaysian designers like Jonathan Cheng, Dominique Chan of Pret A Porter, Bill Keith, Aaron George and Raymond Jolly of Von Jolly and Datin Noor Fatimah Ishak of Deanoor.
The pageant, said founder Pushparani Thilaganathan was more than just about beauty.
"It’s about having conversations with young people. We’ve gone all over Malaysia, from Perlis to Sabah, meeting new girls, and they were all excited about what we’re doing," she said, adding that this year’s pageant drew 137 entries from women who have at least one parent of Indian descent.
Entertainment for the evening included performances by guitarist Martin Zamigano, who won this year’s Anugerah Industri Muzik award for Best Tamil Album, rapper Sasi The Don, as well as a dance performance by Revathi Tamilselvam, a protege of bharatanatyam master Ramli Ibrahim.
Zuzartee, who won RM5,000 worth of jewellery and RM5,000 worth of Persian carpets also bagged a subsidiary title as Miss Fitness. Sowmya Krishnan, 20, was first runner-up, winning RM3,000 worth of jewellery, while R. Gayathiri, 20, was the second runner-up, winning RM2,000 in jewellery. Others who made the top five list included Woon Geok Cheen, 26, a chemical engineer and Seenu Meera Jeevanba, a finance student.
Conceived in 2000, the Miss MalaysiaIndian Global pageant is an initiative by the Miss MalaysiaIndia Care Association, a non-profit organisation set up to empower women and children as well as to raise the profile of Indian women through community and commercial projects. Funds raised from the pageant will be channelled to the Gift Her With Life Fund, a grassroot community care programme.
*Written By Sujartha K. | Published on 2008-10-06 17:45:00 for Malay Mail Newspaper.
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