By Shalina R.
Multi-racial and multi-religious beauties for Sabah Kebaya contest
KOTA KINABALU: A bevy of multi-racial and multi-religious beauties will vie for the state’s first Miss and Mrs Sabah Kebaya 2016 crowns on April 23 at the Peregrine Grand Ballroom in Likas Square Apartment Hotel.
It would not be far-fetched to think whether such a pageant would be able to attract such categories of beauties on stage, as contrary to expectations, the competition had been able to attract some 20 finalists for the Miss Category and 17 finalists for Mrs Category from Sabah and Labuan.
The youngest contestant for the Miss Category is aged 18, and a stark contrast in ages came in the Mrs Category finalists, where the youngest is aged 18 and the eldest at age 44.
With the difference in ages and religious, racial background, it would be safe to presume that the yet-to-be-announced judges may find it difficult to choose the three national-level finalists from each of the two categories.
“We have opened our doors to all for this pageant because we want to promote the kebaya lifestyle among women here in Sabah,” said Miss Malaysia Kebaya Sabah state director, Faizul Mohd Noh.
“Sabah already has an array of very unique traditional costumes, so we want to promote the kebaya attire here. That is why I choose to do this event here in Sabah.
“To be frank, kebaya is not as popular here as in West Malaysia, so that’s why our national director advised me to do this event in Sabah just to promote the kebaya attire,” added Faizul, who is better known as Fareast Noah.
He said the kebaya will not only be in the spotlight on stage at the state level final, but the kebaya themed night will also see the traditional costume being adorned by guests attending the event.
The Miss and Mrs Sabah Kebaya 2016 pageant revolves around a traditional concept pageant that promotes education, cultural based beauty pageants as well as culture and tourism in Malaysia.
According to Fareast, the pageant is adopted from the Miss Malaysia Kebaya, a fully supported and endorsed pageant by the federal Tourism and Culture minister.
He elaborated that the organizers will collaborate with KASIH SABAH (Sabah AIDS Support and Services Association) to raise money for its HIV and AIDS child’s education fund.
The pageant also hopes to raise funds for establishment of the KASIH Shelter Home mini library with reading materials, bookshelves and a personal computer set.
The organizers hope that the set up and funds will provide a conducive learning environment for the children to at least complete their basic education besides raising awareness on HIV and its impact on children.
The Miss and Mrs Sabah Kebaya 2016 edition is organized by JL Properties & Co and Miss Malaysia Kebaya, and Likas Square Apartment Hotel is the official venue sponsor.
All six winners of the Miss and Mrs Sabah Kebaya 2016 will proceed to the national level pageant around September this year, where they will compete for the Miss Malaysia Kebaya title with some 40 other finalists from other states in the country.