Chilean beauty queen eyes law practice
KUALA LUMPUR: Seated with my back to the entrance, I couldn’t see her but instinctively knew the moment Sofia del Rocio Saavedra Valderama entered because conversations suddenly became muted and heads turned.
I stood up and on turning, felt my breath taken away. Talk about a timeless beauty!
All eyes were on Sofia ... a stunner as I had expected. She is the reigning Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International 2016.
Sofia looked a picture of perfection in a long flowing red satin gown and high heels as she gracefully moved toward our table and sat right next to me.
“I am so sorry I look this way, but I am jet-lagged after travelling almost 40 hours from Chile to get to Kuala Lumpur. There are bags under my eyes and I look tired,” she said in a thick Spanish accent.
She didn’t look that way of course. Her hazel brown eyes were full of life, her smile was radiant and there were no bags below her eyes.
Sofia made me feel comfortable right away, getting the conversation going by telling me her full name, which sounded so melodic.
Sofia, who hails from Chile, eased me into the conversation by telling me about her journey as a beauty queen.
“It is a very competitive landscape in my country, everyone is fighting for a spot.
“I was glad that someone had faith in me and chose me to join the Miss Tourism International pageant,” she said.
At the age of 25, it seemed to me that this might have been her first pageant but as she revealed, she was a seasoned contestant.
“I was second runner-up in Chile’s Miss World pageant, I was also a contestant in Miss Universe Chile while modelling around the world,” she said.
When it was time to order lunch (we had chosen a Japanese place because she loves Japanese food), she ordered a salad of greens with smoked salmon, sushi and a glass of apple juice with no sugar.
Sofia confided that she was on a diet to keep in shape, though she did not look like she needed to be on any diet.
By then we were hitting it off really well and she was answering questions with aplomb.
Sofia revealed that with her win in the Miss Tourism International pageant last December, she was only the third pageant queen in her country’s history to do so.
“It was all a blur to me when my name was called as the winner.
“Realistically, my target was to just finish in the top five of the competition,” she said.
Not only blessed with beauty, Sofia has the brains too as she has a law degree from the Universidad de Valparaiso in Chile.
Her passion for law is balanced with her love for modelling, and she looks forward to practising law when she hangs up her crown.
“I love justice and to be fair, being a lawyer is my way of doing something good for the people, a way to give back.”
Asked which she preferred, Sofia said she liked to do both.
“I want to do modelling but once it is time to settle down and start a family, I will concentrate on law,” she said.
Sofia, whose hobbies include swimming and travelling, also hopes to become a television personality one day.
“I love Malaysia and its hot weather.” Sofia is in Malaysia as a guest of the Miss Chinese World pageant which takes place tomorrow at One World Hotel.