(above) Katharina Weischede (centre) Ms Asia-Pacific International New Zealand. Photo credit: Lynette Matencio
OPINION
By Noel Bautista
AUCKLAND – At their very heart, beauty pageants are nothing more than barangay popularity contests. (barangay is our term for small-town neighborhood pueblo) Take any pretty face (and there are many back home), get the most generous sponsors, get the best dressmakers and enlist the support of the most rabid stage moms and dads and you have your beauty queen / Reyna Elena of the Santacruzan, the all-purpose utility beauty celebrity of the town plaza. Everybody happy, pics and vids for Tiktok and IG, budol fight for the winners and runners-up, and everyone goes home tired and happy.
But our modern Filipino obsession uses a model that has transcended the traditional Pinoy archetype. Sophisticated fashion orgies closer to America’s Next Top Model than Binibining Pinas, aggressive social media campaigns and contestants becoming instant influencers and endorsers are all SOP (standard operating procedure) back home. Getting lost in all the flurry of activity is: what are we all here for anyway?
It’s easy to get cynical about beauty contests. But for one brief shining moment that I was lucky enough to attend, a beauty candidate combined smarts, confidence, a total belief in herself and yes, beauty, to all but impress, overwhelm and win over the crowd, admirers and judges of the pageant finals night for the 2024 Ms Asia-Pacific International New Zealand on July 28th, 2024.
It has been a grueling, exhausting and challenging last few months for Ina, as she is called. But she managed to make the best use of her gifts, combine it all in a complete package greater than the sum of its parts, and do everything possible to outdo herself and the rest of the competition, in the process representing New Zealand in the prestigious Ms Asia Pacific International this year.
From start to finish, she competed and participated in the process with 100% put in physical effort and creative input with flourish and did everything (plus more) that was asked of her.
She inspires each of us to realize and know that if we put in the work, stretch every bit of our skills talent to best use and have the support of a team behind us, we can conquer the world. As Ina is fully capable of doing.
That she is part Pinay and Filipina only enhances our experience and awareness, because she has made her journey all the more personal. Of course she has Eurasian features, but she makes me personally feel that brown or fair, tall or short, using whatever gifts we have, there is no world we cannot conquer.
Ina has done this with her triumph, and for that alone we should fully support her continuing journey.
I fully believe our NZ kabayan can be the next Ms Asia-Pacific International.
Mabuhay ka Ina!
(first appeared in: www.ylbnoel.wordpress.com)
