Grooming Miss Universe Singapore
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Miss Universe Singapore 2002 winner Nuraliza Osman, who is now national director of the event and will be organizing the annual event for the second time.
The New Paper
In 2002, lawyer Nuraliza Osman was crowned Miss Universe Singapore (MUS) and is an example of a beauty contest winner with brains.
Fourteen years on, while most past winners are leading their lives out of the public eye, the 39-year-old is still committed to keeping Singapore's most prestigious and high-profile pageant, which has been sending representatives to the international Miss Universe competition since 1966, alive.
Last year, Miss Nuraliza took over the MUS licence and franchise from Derrol Stepenny Promotions, which ran the event from 2000 to 2014.
As the national director of the Miss Universe Singapore Organisation (Muso), she leads the selection, training and mentorship of local hopefuls.
What used to be a national affair, with televised finals, media coverage and a swanky pageant, turned into a low-key, closed-door event with hardly any fuss.
Miss Lisa Marie White was eventually crowned MUS 2015 in private.
This year, the pageant is back in a big way, with new presenter Singapore Turf Club and new imaging partner Canon Singapore on board.
And for the first time, The New Paper will be MUS 2016's official media partner and co-organiser alongside Muso.
Miss Nuraliza, who has been based in Holland for the past three years as oil company Shell's in-house lawyer dealing with mergers and acquisitions, told TNP: "I've been through this experience and it would be an honour to help my country and the younger girls from the next generation to represent the country through Miss Universe. It's something I know and something I can contribute and help with.
"Aside from that, my goal is not to make money out of this whole thing. My goal is to raise the profile of MUS. We are in collaboration with (Singapore Press Holdings), which is the single biggest media provider in terms of print and periodicals in Singapore and of course in the Internet age, hopefully we can make it digital.
"My hope is just to restore the pageant and the name of MUS to what it used to be. If the girls who participate in MUS have a positive experience from it and if in some way the title helps them to achieve their dreams, whether it is to be more confident on stage or be a better public speaker or be exposed to different people, I'm happy."
Last year, Miss White, a 22-year-old freelance model of Malay-Kiwi descent, was picked from over 50 hopefuls by a judging panel led by Miss Nuraliza after a closed-door recruitment and selection.
The panel included MUS 2014 winner Rathi Menon, former Miss Universe Japan national director Ines Ligron, MUS 2005 winner Cheryl Tay, Mrs Singapore second runner-up Mona Gill and former models Wendy Jacobs and Hanis Hussey.
Miss Nuraliza, who is single, said: "I've always liked Lisa's bubbly personality, but I think instilling a competition mindset has been difficult because most people think a pageant is a really quick and easy way to get fame... you walk around in a swimsuit and if you look good enough you just win.
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