Miss 'U' Vietnam thanks Pinoy coaches, donates prize money

Miss Universe Vietnam H'Hen Nie thanked her Filipino pageant coaches after she made it to the Top 5 of the 2018 Miss Universe beauty pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand Monday.

"From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much, My Teacher Anjo Santos," says Nie on Instagram. Aside from Santos, her other pageant coaches were Gerard Ruivivar and Kim Rocafor.

Santos, who was born and raised in Bicol, trained Nie in pasarela and make-up. He said the national director of Miss Universe Vietnam asked him to train Nie. He and Rocafor trained Nie for the question-and-answer portion.

"Miss Vietnam is so determined na kahit hand movements lang, nakukuha niya ang instructions," says Santos, an independent pageant coach during an interview on "GMA News To Go" program recently.

Santos also trained Ma. Venus Raj, another Bicolana, who was 4th runnerup in the 2010 Miss Universe contest in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has a grooming and modeling program called "Modelo Bikolano."

Nie, who is now back in Vietnam announced that she is donating all her 1 billion VND (US$43,000) prize money to social causes and her managing firm.

Nie said she wants to fulfill her promise to her village to help provide scholarships for poor students and complete her project "Room to Read" which aims to build more libraries in rural areas and support schoolgirls around the world.

"Thank you for welcoming me back home. I didn't feel tired, I didn't cry. But I did cry because of your warm welcoming when I was back to Vietnam, those were tears of happiness," said Nie on Instagram.

Nie said she would never forget her stint in the 2018 Miss Universe pageant where her country made it to the Top 20 after 10 years.