Spirit of girl power crushed by judge and jury

I WAS shocked and disappointed at seeing a jury member and a judge verbally abusing one of the contestants in the final of the Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant (MACIP2018) on stage last Sunday.

The answer given by the contestant wasn’t off the mark, yet she was ridiculed and treated disrespectfully by them with vulgar comments. Even if her answer wasn’t to their liking or up to their expectation, it was despicable and disgusting of them to crush an ambitious young woman who had been working earnestly towards her goal. It absolutely went against the core values of the pageant as well.

The irony is the slogan for this year’s contest was “girl power”, a phrase that encourages and celebrates women’s empowerment, independence, and confidence.

I would like to tell women who are being bullied that they are not alone. It is a problem that affects society at all levels, and it’s a national and multi-generational issue. In my opinion, the best way to stop the bullies’ attacks is to seek help. Your loved ones would want to be there for you at times like this, and all you have to do is tell them. Keeping quiet and doing nothing about bullying is akin to supporting it.

For the contestant and all her supporters like me, the damage has been done. Moving forward, I hope that no other women will suffer the same fate.

As for girl power, even though the organiser of MACIP2018 failed to hold true to the value miserably, it doesn’t mean that you should too. #StopBullies #GirlPower REALTHOMAS Johor Baru