Miss Singapore World Ris Low guilty of credit card fraud

[metalslug]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_434252.html?vgnmr=1

Netizens slam Ris Low
By Felicia Wong

Netizens derided Ms Low, not only for her poor command of English, but over revelations that she was convicted of credit card fraud. -- PHOTO: ZAOBAO

NETIZENS had a field day heaping criticisms on newly-crowned Miss Singapore World, Ris Low.

Having already been panned in the press and by the public for her poor command of English, the 19-year-old student made headlines again - for the wrong reason - when mypaper, an SPH free newspaper, on Friday reported on its front page that she was found guilty of credit card fraud in May.

The beauty queen was convicted of five charges of misappropriation, cheating using illegally obtained credit cards, and impersonating their users' identifies, and sentenced to 24 months of supervised probation.

It is unclear if Ms Low, crowned Miss Singapore World on July 31, will be able to leave Singapore to take part in the Miss World pageant to be held in Johannesburg in December, for which she will need court permission.

When contacted, a staff member of ERM World, the organiser of the pageant, exclaimed 'We don't know anything!' and hastily slammed down the phone.

The latest revelation has stirred a wave of criticism against her from netizens.

'She is lucky that she did not have to wear 'zipbra preens' for a few months behind bars,' said Straitstimes.com reader Misnomer, taking a dig at Ms Low's remarks on safari-inspired fashion in her much-derided interview with RazorTV that first sparked the uproar over having her represent Singapore at the international Miss World contest.

In response to the news report that Ms Low had used stolen credit cards to purchase gold anklets, among other items, a netizen suggested wryly that she should have used the credit cards to pay for English classes instead.

Netizens in the blogosphere were equally merciless in poking fun at the 1.7m-tall beauty queen. One commenter said her chances 'had literally gone 'boomz'', making reference to Ms Low's bizarre description of her sense of style.

Another commenter took it further and punned on Ms Low's name, saying that she was not 'Low Ris' but 'every bit high risk' for fraud.

Straitstimes.com reader jason_akk pointed out that Ms Low's fall from grace was not the first incident of beauty queens gone bad as Miss Singapore Universe Rachel Kum also attracted much controversy after racy photos of her with phallic paraphernalia and an inflated sex doll made its rounds on the internet.

However, despite the brouhaha over Ms Low, some netizens expressed sympathy for her. One commenter said, while Ms Low is 'not that smart, she's probably not a nasty person'.

Another sympathetic reader, posting under the username perry0164, felt the beauty queen needs counselling help 'before further damage' is done to her.

She is scheduled to represent Singapore at the international Miss World pageant in South Africa in December. In light of current developments, it remains unclear whether she will be allowed to leave Singapore to participate.

Read also:
Ris guilty of credit fraud
'I will not give up crown'

 

[scroobal]

You must be deaf - he does not even speak local english let alone Queens English. If he had substance, it would have been obvious. You really need to understand what people are commenting about.

Just because he doesn't speak Queen's English does not lower the value of his speech

 

[nextinfidel]

from asiaone.

check out all the parts in red.

18 year old - jewellery, handphones, posh lunches. the materialistic mentality of typical SG pussies these days.
spend money number one.
ERM marketing - saying singaporeans didn't pay for her. but the address ends up in HDB flat in TP.
i'd say a cheena beng company crowning a materialistic cheena-gerk ah lian the title of Miss World SGP.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Convicted of credit card fraud, Ms.S'pore is serving probation- By Ms.Carolyn Quek and Lim Wei Chean.

'I AM KEEPING CROWN' -PRIME NEWS A3

Miss Singapore world Ris Low Yi Min has made the news for the wrong reasons, again. Already lambasted for her poor English and diction, it has not come to light that she was convicted of credit card fraud.

But Low, who confirmed the conviction first reported in my Paper, SPHs' free newspaper said she will not give up crown.

Contacted by the St.times last night, she said: I would like to hold onto the title, definitely, because I have come some so far in my dream and I don't wish to, because of a past mistake, give up some thing that is so meaningful to me."

She said representing S'pore in the pageant,"Would give me a second chance to move ahead with life".

Low said she is not proud of what she did, and added that her crimes were committed in a "a moment of folly". I don't know why I did it, it was not like I needed the money;.

However , the answer to the question of whether she will keep her title will not be an answered anytime soon.

The orgainser of the peagent, ERM world marketing, has declined comment on the issue.

When told over the phone that many people wer asking if low would be stripped of her crown, an ERM employee replied :"S'poreans did not pay for her."
A vist to one of the company's listed offices yielded nothing either:The address give was that of an HDB flat in Toa Payoh East, and no one was home.

When contacted yesterday, the 1st runner up in the pageant, Miss Claire Lee 23, said : Whatever it i is, if she is going to continue I will be happy for her, but if I have to represent S'pore, I will be put in my best and I will put in Ris' share of effort as welll.."

The furore erputed after news broke yesterday that Low had, over 2 months last year, spent almost $8000 on items like gold anklets, cellphones, lingerie and meals in luxury restaurants using 7 credit cards that were not her own.

The biggest ticket items were gold bracelets worth $980 and 2 cellphones cost more than $600 each.

The offences were committed when she was 18 and working as a clinic assistant. She stole cards belonging to patients that had been left on the counter,before going on the spending spree.

The law caught up with her when one of the victims went to the police over $2800 in unauthorised transactions on her card.

On May 5, 2 months before she won the pageant, she pleaded guilty to five cheating and criminal misappropriation charges:60 other charges were considered.

She is now serving a 24 month period of supervised probation.

A medical report from Alexandra Hospital had been tendered as part of her mitigaiton plea.

Ask about this last night, Low said she was suffering from bipolar disorder, and was being treated for it.

She also has not been contact by the organisers.

The Miss World Franchise has previously disqualified contestant for various reasons, ranging from being a single parent other having posed nude.

The terms of probation may also make it difficult for low to keep her crown.The pageant will be held overseas, and in order to travel, she will need the permission of the courts.

Meanwhile,the organisers silence has angered at least one pageant sponsor. Mr Kelvin Koh, the founder and chief executive of Young and Healthy health supppliment, who was supposed to have had access to low, as an ambassador for his range of products, said : I am not happy. I have put in
the money but didn't get the mileage."

But now he is uncertain that he wants someone who has been embroiled in
one scandal after another to be the public face for his health supplements.

He said since the bad press started about her bad English, the organisers have been silent. They cannot keep running away, they have the a responsibilty to speak up since this is a national pageant."



.

 

[johnny333]

A vist to one of the company's listed offices yielded nothing either:The address give was that of an HDB flat in Toa Payoh East, and no one was home.

.

Hmm, looks like this ERM is a professionally run company

 

[nextinfidel]

I would say the title for her is gone.

someone or something from somewhere is going up to her quietly and asking her to "step down".

few days from now, you'll probably see her giving some reason or outside commitment that she is unable to participate further in the contest and has withdrawn. but the reason for the withdrawal is definitely NOT related to the credit card thing.

its HIT THE BOOKS and BACK TO SCHOOL, my dear girl.

 

[nextinfidel]

Hmm, looks like this ERM is a professionally run company

http://www.ermworld.org/

ERM World Marketing Pte Ltd
Block 23, Toa Payoh East , #08 - 227,
Singapore 310023
Tel : (65) 6733 7747
Email : [email protected]
: [email protected]

 

[metalslug]

http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,215061,00.html?

BEAUTY QUEEN ON CREDIT CARD FRAUD:
I WAS YOUNG, I DIDN'T THINK
But Miss World rules say contestants can't have criminal history
By Liew Hanqing

September 27, 2009

--PICTURE: LIANHE WANBAO

SHE knows she's one of the most unloved Singaporean beauty queens.

Especially now that her dirty little secret has tumbled out - the one she had hoped no one would learn about.

Miss Singapore World 2009 Ris Low Yi Min was sentenced in May to 24 months of supervised probation after being convicted of credit card fraud.

Sounding almost resigned, Ris said yesterday that she was waiting for the pageant organisers to inform her whether she will still be allowed to represent Singapore in the Miss World pageant in South Africa in December.

'I'm sad and disappointed,' she told The New Paper over the phone.

'I don't know who leaked this information about me. Now I may have to give up my dream (of participating in an international pageant).'

Lawyer Adrian Wee told The New Paper that it was up to Ris' probation officer to decide whether to allow her to travel to South Africa.

'Such decisions are usually determined on a case-by-case basis,' he said.

But even if Ris is allowed to leave Singapore, she may still be barred from taking part in the Miss World pageant.

The Miss World website states that pageant contestants must not have been charged or convicted in any court of law in any country.

Ris said she had used the credit cards fraudulently in 'a moment of folly'.

She said: 'When you are young and do something, you don't really think of the consequences.

'At the time, I didn't even think I would be joining a beauty pageant or that I would become a beauty queen.'

Ris said the pageant organisers were initially unaware of her offences.

'I told them about it only after I had won. I didn't know it was part of the contract,' she said.

She added that the organisers were 'shocked and angry' when they heard about it. The New Paper's repeated phone calls and e-mails to the pageant organisers, ERM World Marketing Pte Ltd, went unanswered yesterday.

Ris said: 'I regret what I did. I disappointed my parents, because I did it (credit card fraud) even though I wasn't in any need of money.'

At 19 and with a future still ahead of her, she is optimistic of putting this setback behind her.

'My friends have been very supportive through this period. I could really see their care and concern for me. My parents have also stood by me,' she said.

The first-time offender had faced five charges of misappropriation, cheating using illegally obtained credit cards and impersonating their users' identities.

Another 60 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

She had obtained the credit cards while she was working at a well-known medical group here.

According to court documents, Ris spent more than $2,400 on at least three credit cards on at least four separate occasions in April and May last year.

Among the items she bought were a $698 Samsung handphone and two gold anklets worth $980 in all.

She also visited Equinox, an upscale restaurant at Swissotel the Stamford, twice within the same week - spending almost $400 on food and drinks each time.

The New Paper understands that her former employer filed a police report in April last year after she was caught using credit cards belonging to patients who visited the clinic where she worked.

A spokesman for the medical group confirmed that she joined the group in December 2007 and left in May last year.

She also confirmed there was a civil case involving Ris, but declined to comment on it.

When The New Paper learnt of Ris' legal troubles about a month ago and confronted her, she denied it.

Then My Paper broke the story yesterday. Now, it looks like few are prepared to forgive and forget.

 

[metalslug]

http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,215059,00.html?

Ex-supervisor at clinic says of Ris:
We trusted her, gave her chances
By Liew Hanqing

September 27, 2009

--PICTURE: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

SHE got along fairly well with her former colleagues at a clinic and was generous with gifts.

There was only one snag.

Said beauty queen Ris Low's former supervisor: 'She used one of the credit cards (she obtained fraudulently) to buy me a birthday present.

'But the police ordered her to get it back, so she asked me to return the present to her.'

The ex-supervisor, a clinic coordinator who did not want to be named, declined to reveal details of the present.

'We never thought she would do something like that,' she said.

Discouraged

The ex-supervisor said she was disheartened by Ris' dishonesty.

'We all trusted her, and we tried to teach her so many things. We gave her so many chances.

'It was very disappointing - she could have done so much better,' said the 29-year-old woman.

At first, the ex-supervisor could not make the connection between her former colleague and the beauty queen from the photo on the front page of The New Paper on Sunday last month.

The face looked only vaguely familiar.

But the penny dropped after she watched a video of the recently-crowned Miss Singapore World 2009 being interviewed.

It was just over a year ago that Ris had been her subordinate.

Said the former supervisor: 'I didn't recognise her at first because she was wearing a lot of make-up - she never used to wear that much make-up, except fake lashes sometimes.'

She added, however, that she was not surprised Ris would participate in a beauty pageant because she 'loved the attention'.

'Whenever we were out together, she would get approached by talent scouts asking her to model,' she said.

At the time, Ris was working as a patient service assistant at a clinic belonging to a well-known medical group here.

She was convicted of five charges of cheating and misappropriation involving credit cards.

Another 60 charges were taken into consideration for purposes of sentencing, a Subordinate Courts' spokesman told The New Paper.

Said her former supervisor: 'I don't think somebody who did what she did should be allowed to represent Singapore in an international pageant.'

She said Ris' offences were brought to light after patients complained they never got their credit cards back after paying their medical bills.

'It turned out that she had been using the credit cards to buy things for herself.'

 

[metalslug]

http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,215060,00.html?

Netizens: Strip her of pageant crown
September 27, 2009




SHE has been vilified from the start.

From mispronouncing words during an online interview to conjuring up new ones, Ris Low has attracted a sizeable number of critics.

And then came the news of her crime.


Within hours of the news report of the conviction, the blogosphere was abuzz with calls for Ris to be stripped of her title.

Wrote one blogger: '(It's) bad enough that she pronounces zebra prints as 'zipbra preens'... now we find out she's been charged for credit card fraud.

'Someone disqualify her already! I don't care if the runner-up isn't pretty or is equally as poor at English, but at least she has a clean record.'

Another blogger added: 'I can't believe someone like her, who cannot articulate, cannot think and, worst of all, is a fraudster, can represent Singapore (in the pageant). She is giving us a bad name.'

But Ris does have her supporters.

Wrote one blogger: 'This fact (credit card fraud) should not be used to strip her from her title of Miss Singapore World 2009.

'She won it fair and square - her dark past should not have any influence on it.'

 

[numero uno]

spare the crap and bullsh!t. now she trying to shift the blame on some psychitric disorder like kleptomaniac. Is she saying the judge bungled in his judgement and she should not be convicted on grounds of mental instability or psychiatric condition. this is a serious statement and the AG chambers should look into it as she is implying there was a miscarriage of justice. she is also saying taht she is on probation it is not a crminal record???? Then why is she convicted , found guilty and put on probation. My God, all this is a slander on the courts integrity and reputation this lady looks like very scheming and only interested in her "face". For heaven sake, I don't understand why people are defending her. please be objective . To ALL her defenders, if she looks like a witch or any person on the street(which she is in my opinion) and is now not entering a beauty contest, would you all still be speaking up for her??? In the first place this has nothing to do with singlish. If you see her inetrview, her linguistic ability is that of a 5 year old kid. Her grammar, diction, etc are all wrong. BTW what is "boombz"????? It's not singlish as far as I can remember. It's not even vaguely familiar to any language in this world. It's a primitive gutteral expression of the lowest order because she just cannot find the word or adjective to describe her mood. If you switch off the video screen and just listen to the audio, she sounds like a primary school kid talking. Now with her lack of remorse and criminal conviction, and her subsequent inetrviews where she refused to resign, she struck me as arrogant , slimy, shameless and really !diotic. now she seems to try to exonerate her crime by saying she has a bipolar disorder???? please spare me the crap . My opinion of her is getting lower day by day and the more she opens her mouth. What a joke. sending a convicted credit card fraud to a world event!!!!! and truly crap people defending her just because she looks "pretty". speaks so much of the society we lived in. come on guys, WAKE UP.

 

[angie]

BEFORE......................................................AFTER




.
​

 

[po2wq]

before......................................................after




.
​

...
...

:d

 

[metalslug]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>The 2 sides of me




</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Miss Singapore World is girlish bubbly teen, but also composed and ramrod straight </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Tan Dawn Wei</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>

</TD><TD width=10>

</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>

Mood swings 'It's either I'm in a very high or a very low state...
My lows never last long - two to three days, then I start feeling the hyper-ness.'
Ms Ris Low, on her bipolar disorder -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN





</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>

View more photos




</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Miss Ris Low, the reigning Miss Singapore World, walked through a packed Raffles City Shopping Centre late yesterday morning and no one so much as batted an eyelid at her.

<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story -->What is bipolar disorder?
Miss Singapore World 2009 Ris Low admits to having bipolar disorder, which leaves her feeling both 'low' and 'high'.


Dr Ken Ung, a consultant psychiatrist at Adam Road Medical Centre, said: 'As the word suggests, bipolar disorder occurs when there are two poles, a mood that is too low and a mood that is too high.'

... more​

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Despite being one of the most talked-about - castigated, really - beauty queens Singapore has ever produced, she was a nobody in a sea of shoppers.

But that must surely come as a huge relief to the 19-year-old for since Friday, her phone had been ringing off the hook after news broke that she had recently been convicted of credit card fraud and could be stripped of her title.

An even more startling revelation appeared in yesterday's The Straits Times - that she has bipolar disorder, or manic depressive disorder.

All this on top of the barrage of stinging criticisms in recent weeks about her embarrassing English diction during an Internet TV interview, in which she pronounced bikini as 'bigini' and introduced the nonsensical word 'Boomz'.

If the teenager was feeling stressed, upset or nervous, she hid it very well. 'I had no idea who gave out the information because all this is private and confidential,' she claimed, shortly after sitting down at a cafe.

'I'm a bit disappointed in why they got such things and sad because I know it will ruin my chance in the final,' said the Management Development Institute of Singapore hospitality diploma student.

She has had a few days to steel herself for the fallout: around last Wednesday, the Miss Singapore World organiser had alerted her that the press had got wind of the credit card conviction and was planning a story.

'I was hoping that it wouldn't come out. Things were fine until now. It caught me off guard,' she readily admitted. 'I just know I have to accept it, even though I'm a bit worried about my future. But I thought, okay, brace myself and actually face up to it.'

Sitting at the edge of a cushy armchair with her back ramrod straight throughout the one-hour interview, she does not let her eyes wander for even a second, nor does she allow herself a sip of the iced mocha drink in front of her.

She oscillated between girlish and tenderfoot, and mature beyond her barely 20 years, but a sense of deliberate poise was always present. She had a ready smile and a girl-next-door charm.

Details of her offences aren't anything to be proud of: she had, while working as a clinic assistant in two medical outfits last year, swiped seven credit cards belonging to patients and chalked up nearly $8,000 worth of receipts.

These were for items like gold anklets, cellphones, lingerie and meals in luxury restaurants. She was caught after one victim made a police report about her stolen card.

In May this year, two months before she won the crown, she pleaded guilty to five cheating and criminal misappropriation charges while 60 other charges were considered.

She is now serving a 24-month period of supervised probation, although she could have faced up to five years in jail for the most serious charge.

Her outlawed expensive taste is a stark contrast to the Ris Low at this interview, who showed up in a $10 one-piece shorts outfit from Bugis Street, a well-worn pair of sandals and a bag bearing a shampoo's label.

Her nails were unvarnished and the wrists devoid of any accessories, even a watch.

'I would say it's a pretty serious crime and to be able to get probation is counted very good already,' said the bright-eyed beauty queen, who is taking dancing and catwalk lessons to prepare her for the final in South Africa in December.

She cannot imagine spending time behind bars. 'I don't think I can stand the loneliness inside. I think I'll go crazy within the four walls, because I'm very lively and bouncy. I can't sit still. I think I'll choose death over that.'

That thought may scare her now, but Miss Low claimed she did not feel she was doing anything wrong when she was ringing up those credit card bills during two months last year.

It was her illness at work, she claimed. As far as she can remember, she has had an urge to steal, she said.

 

[metalslug]

cont...



In Primary One, she stole Pokemon collectible cards that cost 20 cents each. 'The sense of achievement is there, that you've done something and you got away with it.'

When her mother saw her growing collection and quizzed her over it, she came clean. 'Whenever you feel like taking something, you just have to count to 10 and walk out of the shop,' she said about what her housewife-mother taught her to do.

But last year's deeds were committed 'in a moment of folly', she maintained. Still, if any good has come out of her brush with the law, it is that it has brought her closer to her family. 'They stood by me and said I'll forever be their daughter and whatever it is, they will support me.'

Relations with her father, who runs a glass manufacturing and installation business, were tumultuous before. He was a strict parent who imposed a 10pm curfew on his three daughters and forbade them to have boyfriends before the age of 21. Last year, after an argument, she moved out of the family home, a maisonette in Jurong East, and rented a room. But within a month, she was back.

She said her father has softened after her conviction, although they are now upset that it has been unearthed.

If she had not been caught, her bipolar disorder may have gone undiagnosed too. When she told her lawyer she had thieving tendencies, he suggested she get herself checked. A medical report was submitted along with her mitigation plea.

She is now taking medication which stabilises her mood, and sees a psychiatrist once every three weeks. It is a huge improvement from the mood swings she used to suffer from, beginning from her days in Jurong Secondary School.

On most days, she was so hyperactive she could go without sleep for days, she said. But there were the occasional blues where suicide would drift through her mind, usually after a fight with a family member or a friend.

Still, no one suspected anything: her parents attributed it to the usual teenage angst. When she was finally diagnosed, the news did not surprise her entirely. 'I just accepted it. I'm a person who is more about acceptance. Nothing would actually bother me that much.'

The self-confessed eternal optimist thanks her victim for making that police report. 'If things were to happen once, it will happen again unless something is done to break the cycle. I could have gone on to do something much worse.'

Which is why she is desperate to keep her crown because she feels she has a meaningful mission to fulfil. 'I want to make my words carry some weight. I want to show people that even with a criminal record, you can still achieve your dream if you work hard enough. Nothing is impossible in this world.'

A serial beauty pageant contestant who signed up for Miss Singapore Universe, Miss Earth Singapore and The New Paper New Face contests all this year, the 1.72m-tall, 52kg Singaporean said she did it because she was 'vain'.

Ironically, it was her words that propelled her to sniggering stardom even before she was named Miss Singapore World.

Ever since her interview with Web television portal, The Straits Times RazorTV, sparked off an online onslaught over her poor pronunciation, she has been minding her p's and q's. She was approached by the Speak Good English Movement secretariat and is now under the tutelage of Dr K.K. Seet of the theatre studies department at the National University of Singapore.

She has attended only one session, albeit a useful one. 'I've always been pronouncing 'themselves' as 'themself' and 'ourselves' as 'ourself'. Now I know how to say them correctly.'

When asked to rate her diction, she said: 'After looking at the RazorTV interview, I think I rate myself zero. At least I'm frank.'

She also claims to write better than she speaks and scored a respectable B3 for her O Level English; better than her B4 in Chinese, even though she speaks Mandarin at home.

She has also learnt - the hard way - that it is not 'bigini' but 'bikini', not 'preens' but 'prints', although she came to her own defence about one other notorious word she once mangled.

'Actually, 'rad' is just American slang, I think. It wasn't proven wrong. 'Red' is more British and Singaporean. Like cervical and colour. And bikini was just a very Singaporean way, lah. I was speaking Singlish when they were expecting me to speak Queen's English.'

To be sure, she is still quite far from speaking BBC English. Overheard at this interview: 'reeben' for ribbon, 'meedle' for middle, 'piss' for piece.
But that one most infamous word she created, which has since entered Singapore's lexicon, was a rather unexpected invention.

'Boomz', which she had used during the interview to describe a sartorial impact, means 'wow, something very special, bright, exotic', she said, laughing. 'If I cannot find the right word, I'll just go 'boom'! I have no idea where that comes from. It's like a comic book effect.'

She might have been largely composed at this interview, but it wasn't without some of her now signature candid, foot-in-mouth moments.

On asking Singaporeans to support the Yellow Ribbon Project, she said: 'These people are really very smart and they do deserve a second chance in life. I mean, they have to be smart in order to create some crimes right? Not saying I'm smart. If I'm smart, I wouldn't get caught.'

On her ambitions, she said she wants to be an air stewardess for two years - 'a high-class waitress', she added.

Perhaps, as she rightly put it, it is a matter of 'the mouth works too fast, the brain is not catching up'.

Contradiction seems to strike her occasionally too.

When asked if she read all the scathing online postings about her, she said: 'I didn't want to look at them because I think if I were to see them, it will actually demoralise me so what's the point? I'd rather live happily.'

Later on, she changed her tune when asked if she was hurt by being labelled a 'disgrace to Singapore', as some Netizens have cruelly called her.

'Internet bullies are always like that. If you were to confront them face to face, will they even have the courage to stand up for themselves and repeat what they have said in your face? It doesn't affect me, not at all.'

Still, for someone still considered a teenager, she sometimes displayed a flash of maturity and hint of decisiveness that seemed well beyond her years.

'Even the organisation is not for the idea of me meeting you, but I guess that some things need to be clarified and I'm doing this on my own,' she said at one point about the contest organiser.

'I think it's time I speak up for myself. It's not about running away, just like the Speak Good English thing. They kept saying I got no comments but I have so many things to say. I want to go on RazorTV again to show that actually my English is not that bad. I want to change their perception and make them see what I am.'

 

[sufferwell]

either they take away her title or change the rules altogether and allow those with criminal records to take part..

no two ways about it

 

[Ramseth]

Through this saga, one thing comes to my mind. Even before the revelations of her criminal past (may I add, which is very recent not like 5 or 10 years ago), the organisers admitted her and the judges awarded her. To me and I believe many others out there, her looks rank pleasant at best, her diction may be compromised by Singlish culture but her intellectual content of her answers to questions is like a vaccum, even if she managed Queen's English. That's what caused the public uproar, not her criminal past. The bigger question on the bigger picture is now not about her (she'd like to say "me"), but on the competence and credibility of the organisers and judges. But of course, the revelation of her criminal past adds on further damage.

 

[drifter]

that what my mother always said "don't do anything bad, karma! karma! karma!" you see what happen now, lose your trophy, lose your money and earned SHAME for you and your family.

"paper can never wrap fire " .... "always go up mountain one day sure run into tiger " i dont call it karma .

 

[BlueCat]

she should just keep quiet and let the matter cool down.
the more she trys to explain herself,the milky it will gets.

 

[kakowi]

Through this saga, one thing comes to my mind. Even before the revelations of her criminal past (may I add, which is very recent not like 5 or 10 years ago), the organisers admitted her and the judges awarded her. To me and I believe many others out there, her looks rank pleasant at best, her diction may be compromised by Singlish culture but her intellectual content of her answers to questions is like a vaccum, even if she managed Queen's English. That's what caused the public uproar, not her criminal past. The bigger question on the bigger picture is now not about her (she'd like to say "me"), but on the competence and credibility of the organisers and judges. But of course, the revelation of her criminal past adds on further damage.

Will the situation be different if she were standing for the Opposition ticket in the General Election?

Reason being that her past and her personal limitations should be overlooked in view of the higher objective in breaking the PAP stronghold.

Reason being the quality of candidates should not be the concern right now because the Opposition must move beyond a concept into a reality before more quality candidates can come in.



Yet the Miss World title carries no impact. Only lessons that perhaps can be transplanted to how we would like the electorate to behave.

And in sammyboy.com, there is no electorate that is more partisan towards the Opposition.


Let's look at counter-arguments.

She is a very attractive female so long as she can be coached on what to say. Her pronunciation is nothing that a good language coach from the British Council cannot undo.

She came in with a disadvantaged background - the inability to hide her intentions and the transparency of her motives. But she dared to stand for election. And she won.

That her organizers can see beyond that - to the higher objective, whatever that may be - is what we hope the electorate will do in the General Election.

She won fairly and squarely.

Against better candidates.

Surely that counts for something.



Now, her past in credit cards is something which the honest public judges as significant.

Yet her role in Miss World carries no fiduiary duties.

Unlike a Member of Parliament.

 

[Ramseth]

You lost me. What has Miss Singapore got to do with Member of Parliament? For that matter, what has beauty contest got to do with political election?