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Well here’s my no-holds-barred opinion on the ‘Miss Singapore World/Ris Low/boomz’ saga.
When the video first came out – I got a look of it a few days before everyone else did – I must admit I forwarded it to friends, as it has been forwarded to me, because, as I had mistakenly or unmistakenly thought to myself that this Ms world speaks atrocious English. We joked about ‘leopard preens and zebraaa’, for quite some time, in fact.
As a woman, we have been bombarded with media messages telling us how to look, to think, and to behave. Many times I have felt low, feeling that my clothes aren’t pretty enough or my skill is not good in putting on makeup, or my hair cannot be compared to the glossy, cleavage-flaunting and always immaculately-clad women on the front pages of the magazine. Blame it on the age, perhaps I am in an age where I have more disposable income (Or think that I have) to spend on such frivolities. But yes, although they are merely ‘on the outside’, they make us feel good on the inside too, Don’t you feel good wearing comfortable lingerie, smelling good with a good perfume and having nice shoes, makeup that doesn’t crack, things that make you feel happy when you look at them? I sure do, and although my wardrobe has a collection of tee-shirts, I can’t help thinking I need another striped one for my collection, or I need one in yellow/orange/pink because these colors are lacking in my wardrobe. It’s easy for the media messages to infiltrate my mind, because I am bombarded with it everyday, and I don’t think deeply about my latest rave to buy the Chanel limited edition jade-green nail polish, where does this desire come from, and what does it say about me.
Good or bad, we all have expectations of beauty queens. Poised, elegant, definitely speaking well in our native language. Because to some, she is the only ‘singapore’ other people might know of. Meanwhile, the Miss Indonesia 2009 cannot speak Indonesian… and she is getting lambasted too. As outsiders and observers, we might think it’s not such a big deal but tell that to the majority of the Indonesian-speaking population, I’m sure they think in a different way.
Sure enough, this is just a beauty pageant, nothing to get excited about. For those who defend Ris Low’s Singlish (just the singlish and not the other scandalous issues), well, it is true most Singaporeans speak Singlish, or are not good in pronunciation for certain words. Definitely we do not expect our native teachers or man-on-the-street to have Queen’s English diction. But the same rules do not apply for lawyers, for instance, or professors, even doctors are required to have a more than substantial grasp of the language. Similarly for beauty queens, when it comes to national pride, we would rather have someone who speaks well, as speaking well reflects well on us, too. But when it comes to condemning her as ‘stupid’, I think that has gone too far. We do not know the pageant organizer’s motives for choosing her, and it has been said and done, so let it be. I think looking at many people’s comments; Singaporeans are quite willing to forgive her Singlish and bad pronunciation, and some even pity her being blasted in the media. If you have lived in different countries, the other countries’ newspapers would have a field day covering such individuals and digging up dirt on them, so I think our local media have already been very…safe, and kind to her in this aspect that they are only reporting some facts, for instance the sum she frauded has been said to be $8K instead of $2.5K as reported (Read it somewhere online.)
My opinion is that, the old adage ‘do not judge a book by its cover’ holds true. I could have been spared many emotional ups and downs had I been more careful in choosing to trust people with ‘si wun’ faces and gentle tones. Both in business and in personal life, I have wasted much time with the people who seem one way but are another. Maybe some have not encountered such characters who may lead to a personal financial loss, emotional or mental loss or much more, but there are many such people around, especially in the corporate world who think of nothing less than to profiteer from your unsuspecting kindness to them.
Maybe or maybe not, Ris Low has also been one of them. I do not think it is easy to fraud credit cards…or fraud anything… I don’t have the heart to make people suffer due to my selfish pleasure, or have the guts to do such a thing.
Yes, we all want to look presentable, pretty, even, but at what expense? One of my must-have magazines, ‘Mina’, tells me every month about the fabulous hairstyles I can create on my own. I have tried one or two, but I feel inadept at doing the whole range, maybe even disappointed I cannot achieve what seems to be so easy, step-by-step creations.
Maybe Ris Low is a victim of mass media messages, perhaps even more so as a public beauty figure.
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Miss Indonesia can’t speak Indonesian
http://indonesiafirst.com/2009/06/kerenina-needs-a-translator/
Ris Low photo labeled as ‘stupid’
http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/09/30/straits-times-named-ris-lows-photo-as-sg-stupid-jpg/
Claire Lee speaks up about back injury on her blog
http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/10/05/claire-lee-rebuts-ris-lows-allegations-on-her-blog/
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