Pageant winner in school bullying controversy: Should she be allowed to keep her crown?

Pageant winner in school bullying controversy: Should she be allowed to keep her crown?

AS the saying goes, ‘beauty is only skin deep’, and even beauty pageants designed to highlight contestants’ physical attributes go to great lengths to showcase their personalities.

After all, winners of these contests often become ambassadors or spokespersons for certain industries or causes (not to mention the all-important sponsors), where their personalities portrayed must give off the right vibes to create positive PR. Otherwise it wold be self-defeating.

The question arises, then, that if a beauty queen has a dubious past or been accused of previous wrong doings, should she still be allowed to keep her title?

This is evidently the issue surrounding newly-crowned ATV Miss Asia Pageant Malaysia 2023 Luwe Xin Hui, who recently beat 14 other contestants to the title.

Following her success, a number of netizens, claiming to be her ex-schoolmates, had alleged to being victims of her bullying. Social media accounts belonging to the beauty pageant and Luwe have been inundated with some pretty horrific tales by her alleged victims.

Instagram user @ong_a99 claimed she was one of Luwe’s victims.

“I am one of the victims bullied by you. Why aren’t you coming out to apologise?” she questioned.

User @lilyyan_22 alleged that she witnessed one of her friends getting bullied by Luwe but at that time she just stood by and did not defend her friend.

“Now looking back I feel ashamed of my actions and I apologised to my friend,” she said.

Looking at the comments on Luwe’s Instagram, @lilyyan_22 said she (Luwe) deserved it.

“Please remember the time you bullied others and how they felt then,” she said, hoping that Luwe had turned over a new leaf.

Instagram user @since1927_ claimed her niece was also one of Luwe’s victims, alleging that Luwe and her friends had slapped her during their secondary school days.

Another user with the handle @staw.no alleged that some of Luwe’s victims suffered from depression after they were bullied by her.

Given that beauty pageant winners are supposed to exude positive energy and portray the right attitudes, it does look like Luwe’s grip on her crown is slipping.

Sponsors and organisers don’t just want a pretty face but an individual whose character reflects the right values. It is doubtful that bullying is among those values.

If these allegations prove to be true, Luwe will probably have to relinquish her crown, which her victims will feel is her deserved karma for being such a terror in school.

Social media has been used and abused in all sorts of manners, from spreading malicious rumours to the rise of ‘cancel culture’.

But letting skeletons out of the closet is surely one of its most useful applications. If the allegations are true, Luwe’s comeuppance will be warranted as such reprehensible behaviour should not be rewarded nor tolerated, no matter that the misdemeanours were from a distant past. – Sept 28, 2023