Malaysia is all set to pick its beautiful petite queen. For the Miss Malaysia Petite Universal 2016, 20 finalists have been chosen out of 138 aspirants. The participants who registered for the pageant were selected after a round of interviews on March 31.
The contestants are now preparing for the Q&A round, catwalk and dressing-up sessions where they will be portrayed in couture dress, casual wear and evening gowns.
Organizer Irene Tan pointed out that shortlisting the contestants was tough, as the competition was fierce and each contestant was beautiful in her own special way.
Unlike the Western standard of beauty which prefers its women to be tall and slim, the contestants shortlisted for Malaysia’s beauty pageant were small built.
“The lanky six-footer contestant is essentially a Western perception of beauty, but Asian measurements show a preference for smaller-built women,” she told The Star.
Among the finalists are students Kavitha Navdarajan, 21, Bhagyasri Vellayutham, 19, and a 27-year-old bank executive, Serena Yong.
Tan said Miss Petite will focus on intelligence, education and personality, and there won’t be any bikinis.
“Contestants will be judged not only on external beauty, but also on their inner beauty,” she added.