Selangor, 23 September – When posed the question: “What is Malaysia’s best asset and why?” Rebecca Kavitha Segran, top five finalist of the Miss MalaysiaIndian Global 2017 (MMIGLOBAL) impressed the judges with a succinct yet eloquent response as follows: “I think our best asset as Malaysians is how we’re able to live in harmony despite being in a multiracial country.”
Strengthening her statement even further, she says, “We see in Yemen and Syria civil wars and in Burma, the ethnic cleansing; and we see the strife that is proliferating our generation right now with North Korea failing to denuclearize. Therefore I think our epitome and emblem and embodiment is our unity. Being in a multiracial country, we represent tolerance.”
Her impactful answer at the finalist round of Q&A left a lasting impression, which led her to being crowned the 2017 winner of MMIGLOBAL which took place at Hilton, Petaling Jaya. Judges included two-time Olympian, M. Kumaresan and Era FM radio host, Dina.
Miss MalaysiaIndian Global first took place in the year 2000. It was developed as a personal empowerment programme aimed at peering a community-level change and acceptance of the modern Indian woman in relation to her heritage.
The pageant targets women between the ages 19 to 28 and empowers them at various levels within personal and professional trainings. The winners are contracted to developing community projects for a period of one year as part of its community give back element.
The organisers, Miss MalaysiaIndia Care (MMICare) Association, is a volunteer women NGO established in June 2002 and founded by Ms. Mohanaapriya Sina Raja.
The Association focuses on the personal empowerment of women in areas of reproductive health, self esteem, and personal and professional development. Since its establishment, the Association has addressed girls between the ages of 13 to 28 in schools, colleges, universities and private collaborations.
MMICare had also recently awarded 8 deserving young women a ‘no-obligations’ education grant of RM 2,000 to RM 2,500, under the Gift Her With Life Fund. The annual grants were made possible by funds raised by the reigning winners of the Miss MalaysiaIndian Global, current finalists of the 18th Annual Miss MalaysiaIndian Global 2017 and individual donors.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” From all of us here at Newstream Asia, we wish the winners of this year’s pageant great success and our heartfelt congratulations.
