Letter from a Reader: Questions Raised on the recent Mr. and Miss Chinatown Philippines 2014

Image courtesy of Instagram

Hi Fashion Pulis! Like most Filipino-Chinese living in the Philippines, it gives me great joy that there’s a pageant like Mr. and Miss Chinatown Philippines that aims to enrich and promote friendship between Filipino- Chinese communities.

In one of the websites I read, it said: “ The pageant aims to serve as a unifying event for Filipino-Chinese communities that will open doorways to working together towards better business, cultural & artistic goals and to celebrate and show the diversity of beauty in the Filipino-Chinese culture. “

However, I believe that the organizers failed to achieve the pageant’s purpose as a ”unifying” event. Let me share with you and your readers a few observations about the recently-concluded pageant.

I share the sentiments of most of the viewers who believe that there was unfair judgment both in the male and female contestants. There were just so many questions that needed answers. What went wrong?

First, from among the top 5 chosen female candidates: Tola Orendain, Chelsea Robato
Christine Grace Co, Felina Lim and Nicole Cordoves.

How could they have overlooked the attributes of more deserving candidates over the proclaimed winners? To be honest, the special awards won by some candidates raised some eyebrows, and we can’t blame them.

Images courtesy of Instagram

Candidate Chelsea Robato was one of the crowd favorites, who apart from being really pretty, carried her beautiful gown very well and was well-applauded during the swimsuit competition, but these were largely ignored. She did not win any place, not even a single special award.

Compare that with one who did less and failed miserably in the Q&A, yet brought home a major title.

When the hosts finally announced the winners, you could hear the collective sighs from the crowd, wondering out loud what happened.

Of the male candidates, what was the justification for a candidate who went very shallow in the Q&A , citing Justin Bieber as his idol (that really baffled people in the audience), then went home with the title! Seriously?

Images courtesy of Instagram

Most of the viewers and those in the audience believed that the title should have gone instead to the dashing David Licauco. He was Best in Formal Wear, Best in Active Wear and he gave the most sensible answer in the Q&A about bringing together the Filipino and Chinese communities. But what did he get? A 1st runner-up position!

I can go on and on, but the gist of this letter lies in the credibility of the selection process. It is the responsibility of the pageant organizers to see to it that the both the contenders, as well as the viewing public are not shortchanged.

This pageant is just starting to gain esteem because of its principle and objective as a whole, but it is sad that its credibility be marred by questionable decisions like this. I am sure that the organizers already know how the people feel about the whole thing.

We hope that next year will be a different one altogether, because if not, then Mr. and Miss Chinatown defeats the purpose of its being.

Thank you, Fashion Pulis for giving me a space to your well-read blog. God bless us!

Sincerely,
Elsa

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