Alexander Yee (left) with his wife (back second left), the contestants and their parents.
THEY show the right moves, the enigmatic smiles and the flirtatious eyes. In fact they are as good as any beauty contestants one can ever possibly meet; it’s almost unbelievable that they are below 12 years old if not for their size.
More than 20 of these young ladies contested for the Miss Upside Down House Little Miss Unduk Ngadau during the weekend, where they sashayed to the music and smiled at the audience.
After the third round, only seven contestants were left and they stood on the stage looking as pretty as possible, just watching the judges in anticipation.
Drum rolled and Nersha Chang of Sepanggar won the crown with cash, trophy and sash, while the first runner-up was Althea Tan and the second runner-up was Rania Dhiya. Rene Charlotte was fourth and the fifth slot went to Natasha Hariadny.
Nersha Chang, 12, of Sepanggar is no novice to children beauty contests and has participated in many of such events.
She is no longer shy of the stage and has learned to smile fixedly at the audience and especially at the judges.
In her utmost confidence, she replied to a question that winning seemed to be almost normal and she expects to win all the time, and if she doesn’t, she does not seem to be really fazed. This is what her mother Noramah Dianin, 39, wants her to be; assertive and confident, and so far she has pointed her daughter to this direction.
On the traditional Lotud costume that her daughter wore, Noramah says she likes the costume because it stands out unlike the Penampang costume her daughter wore last year.
This will be Nersha’s last beauty pageant tryout this year as she will be 13 next year, and then she can be groomed to take part in the adult Unduk Ngadau pageant, where contestants must be at least 18 years old to participate.
She will also be seriously studying for her future where she hopes to be a teacher.
The first runner-up for the contest is eight-year-old Althea Tan from Kota Marudu. This girl who has beautiful eyes wore a Dusun Tindal costume, a tribute to her father Tan Eng Fatt who is from Kota Belud.
This demure girl says she likes to sing and be happy at home. She loves showing off on stage and has competed in many village-level beauty contests for children. Sometimes she wins and at time she does not, but she doesn’t mind. She just loves dressing up, and if it pleases her parents, she is happy.
Her mother Junainah Kori, a clerk at SK Lampada, says she encourages her child, the second girl in the family, to take part in the contests to boost her self-confidence.
“I want her to be brave with better communication skills in the future,” she shares. Her child won cash and a trophy.
The girl who got third place was Rania Dhiya, eight, of Kampung Telibong Tamparuli, who wore a typical Lotud costume. She looked authentically Lotud.
This girl says she loves the fun when competing in the beauty pageant as she likes the attention and has competed at the district-level competition in Tamparuli.
Her mother Laura Iniraity, 38, says her daughter is now quite confident and unfazed when meeting strangers so the competition has done her good.
“I also wish to instil on her our Lotud costume and custom so that it will not fade with time. It is our identity as a people and as such it should be shown to our younger generation. The beauty of the Lotud costume has been enhanced and I hope it will not become too evolved that it no longer depicts the original style.”
“As a young girl, being exposed to the costume and our custom will enable my daughter to appreciate her origin and maybe never forget where we originated from,” she says, adding that it will also evoke interest on the young ones about the meaning of the Harvest Festival celebrations.
Laura who wishes to be a teacher, brought home cash and trophy for her stint.
Meanwhile, host for the event, Alexander Yee, says the event went well as a first try and he will be looking into holding another similar event in future.
“I am amazed at the turnout and enthusiasm, especially the parents,” he stresses.
According to him, the event is in conjunction with the state-level Harvest Festival celebrations and believes that it is a contribution to the perpetuation of culture and traditions among the people.
The event was held at the Upside Down House in Tamparuli, which is a focus of attention due to its uniqueness in this part of the world. Meticulously built, it attracts attention as it lies on its roof along the road towards Ranau, and beyond.