On May the 1st, I was invited to
be one of the Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan (UNK) Beauty Pageant judges. This was in conjunction
with the launching of the month-long statewide Harvest Festival celebrations
celebrated annually in Sabah. Launched by the Chief Minister, Kota Belud district
was chosen to be the host for this year's celebration. The winner of the UNK here will represent the district in the State Level competition held on 31st May 2013 at the Hongkod Koisaan KDCA, Penampang.
It is always a
challenge to choose a winner as some of the girls are really beautiful with
sparkling smiles, looking resplendent in their traditional costumes and
deserving to win too. As there can only be one winner, others would
of course be disappointed. I do receive the odd request for so and so to
win. Well, too bad, they ask the wrong person. A contestant may be my best friend's daughter but if I feel she doesn't
deserve to win, then she doesn't. The end-results of course must be a consensus by the panel of judges (usually 5) and audited by an independent person.
lovely smiles from the top 3. Imelda, 18 years of age (centre),
will represent the Kota Belud district..
I feel that it is an honour to be
invited as a judge for any event. That shows people actually acknowledge your opinion. My experiences as a beauty pageants' judge, be it
for just a small fashion show, or pageants held by higher institutions of learning as in colleges or universities or Unduk Ngadau competition at district level, never fail to diminish my fascination for
girls who vie for these beauty titles. Some girls jump from district to another
district, from one pageant to another to compete. Or perhaps they are attracted by the prizes? But I do admire their courage for without them, then there would not be any competition.
The prizes can be quite lucrative and cash prizes can run up to the thousands of ringgits, normally offered by generous corporate sponsors. For last year's state level winner, the total amount prizes was valued at almost RM70,000.00! This included cash prizes, scholarship to do a Diploma Course, trips overseas, jewelry, smart phones with free reloads for a year, trophy, tiara and lots more!
The prizes can be quite lucrative and cash prizes can run up to the thousands of ringgits, normally offered by generous corporate sponsors. For last year's state level winner, the total amount prizes was valued at almost RM70,000.00! This included cash prizes, scholarship to do a Diploma Course, trips overseas, jewelry, smart phones with free reloads for a year, trophy, tiara and lots more!
an image of the tiara that the UNK 2013 winner expect to receive,
sponsored by Diamoney Jewellery.
I
Beautiful smiles from these stunning ladies..
UNK judges hard at work :)
We, as the State Level UNK organiser, of course try our best to look for credible judges. The
appointment of judges for State Level UNK competition is usually given a lot of thought. He or she should be someone known to
have integrity, have some social standing in society or someone knowledgeable,
experienced or involved in aesthetics beauty. And if it involves traditional
costumes, then at least one judge should be knowledgeable on the traditional
costumes. We also try to ensure that the judges do not have any
personal ties with the contestants. The line-up should be from diverse background,
geographically distributed and have different professions and that they should
have some experience in appraising the ideals of the pageant. This
would eliminate if not all some degree of biases.
To the UNK 2013 participants, good luck to all of you. May the winner be the best girl that can truly symbolize the virtuous Huminodun and worthy of the title "Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan"!
Cheers!!
