S’PORE CONTESTANTS ’DEMORALISED’
Criticised picture not by official photographer, says organiser
THE company behind the Miss Singapore Beauty Pageant 2017 said some of the contestants were demoralised by the widely-criticised bikini photo saga.
In telling their side of the story to Singapore media, Exclusive Resources Marketing (ERM), the event organiser, said the girls were not ready for such public attention.
In defending the contestants after Netizens picked on them over their looks, ERM said one of them was wearing glasses because she was suffering from sore eyes.
Netizens had complained why she was on stage wearing glasses.
On the quality of the photos, the company said the pictures were not taken by the official photographer.
ERM added that not all the contestants were in the picture as some had to go back to school.
Netizens have voiced their support for Miss Singapore Beauty Pageant 2017 finalists amid nasty comments.
The contestants were dubbed “not pretty enough” and “ugly” for a beauty pageant by Netizens after an unofficial photo of them was released on the Internet.
Facebook user Nadiyah Purin commented that the contestants might not be professional models, but they had confidence.
“You don’t have to think they’re pretty, but you also don’t have to degrade their looks with the meanest comments.
“Plus, because beauty is a matter of personal preference, we don’t really have a say on who ‘deserves to be there’ and who doesn’t.
“They can all try and be treated equally. Bottom line is, just because there are a few you wouldn’t pick as the winner, insulting them is just taking things too far,” he said.
Another user Syahirah Nadirah questioned the need to criticise how others look.
“Why must you ‘offer a piece of criticism’ to someone about their looks? They were born like this. It’s not like they can help it or work on it. I wouldn’t want someone to zoom in on my face and hurl insults about the way I look.
“Maybe it’s humorous to you since it’s not happening to you, but it sure isn’t funny for them.”
Facebook user Abby Lai Ka Hei commented that the contestants were pretty.
“I think they are very pretty! With nice, slim figures. I don’t know why people like to bash pageant contestants.
“Does it make you feel better about yourself ?” she wrote.
ERM Singapore Marketing clarified yesterday that the much-circulated photo shared by a Facebook user, Joseph Juban, was not authorised by them.
It was reported that Juban was not an official photographer hired by the organiser and the organiser had no idea who he was.