KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian women have praised Carey Ng and her victory on Monday in the Miss Universe Malaysia pageant. Nora Luan, 23, a university student in Penang, told Bikyamasr.com that “this shows that no longer do you have to be a dumb blonde as they say to win a beauty contest.” She added that “because of her education and background, we should support these types of women in our society, because they are both beautiful and smart.” Already, local media have been referring to the 23-year-old from Kuala Lumpur as the “nerdy” champion. Part of that is due to her describing herself as “a nerd” in recent interviews. “It's something I never thought would happen to me. This pageant has been some sort of a benchmark for me because I wanted to prove to myself that I can be confident," she said after being crowned the winner during the finals held at Setia City Convention Center on Monday night. Ng underwent months of training, including a gruelling five-week long beauty camp in a reality TV series with 15 other contestants before she succeeded in entering the finals, she said. As the winner, she will receive a RM500,000 pearl tiara as Miss Universe Malaysia, but she also received a full scholarship to Limkokwing University and RM48,000 cash. On her duties as newly-crowned queen, Ng wants to work closely with NGO Architecture for Humanity to provide the poor with basic housing. Like her predecessor Kimberley Leggett, who is in the United States for the Miss Universe pageant, Ng will represent Malaysia in next year's event. For women it is a small sign that society could be changing its attitudes towards women. “We have long battled against poor media coverage of women's issues and the negatives might be outweighed with this win for someone who is smart and is not all about her body,” added Luan.
