COSMETIC surgery on her nose and eyes may have boosted her confidence, but it could not stop Ms Cheryl Ng from being floored by the "dirtiness" of the Miss International Queen competition.

Ms Ng, better known as Cheryl Isabella to her local fans, was chosen among 1,000 international hopefuls for the transgender beauty pageant in Thailand two weeks ago.

She was the only Singaporean among 23 contestants in the pageant.

Said Ms Ng, who is in her early 20s: "Some of the other girls - I will not name the countries they're from - were mean to me. There was a lot of bitching behind everyone's back.

"I didn't know of their intentions until I told my manager what happened and she told me that these girls were trying to sabotage me."

Ms Ng had travelled to Thailand with only her manager, Ms Vivien Goh, 33, and her fitness instructor, Mr Caster Beh.

As Ms Ng didn't have a make-up artist - Ms Goh said she had presumed make-up artists would be provided at the pageant - some contestants offered to do her make-up for her.

But they did normal make-up instead of stage make-up for Ms Ng, said Ms Goh.

So when Ms Ng went on stage to perform a magic trick for the talent segment, she looked washed out, claimed Ms Goh.

"I believe that this may have caused Cheryl to lose some points in that segment.

"Cheryl is a very innocent person and she always thinks that when someone offers to help, they have good intentions in mind."

Said Ms Ng: "I thought they were trying to help me. I feel that I trust people too easily. I will be smarter next time."

In another instance, her rivals pressured her to eat more.

Ms Ng, who weighs 55kg and stands at 1.66m, was put on a strict low-carb diet by her fitness trainer two weeks before the competition.

The goal was to have her more toned by the time she took to the stage.

So while she tried to keep to just having yogurt and vegetables, she bowed to peer pressure and ate meals that included rice, bee hoon, seafood and meat.

Puke after they eat

Ms Goh said: "Do you know why those girls can eat and still stay slim? They puke out their food after they eat.

"I understand a bit of Thai so I heard the minders discussing the best way to vomit after eating. They also made fun of Cheryl, saying 'How come Miss Singapore doesn't know how to puke?'"

Ms Ng also claimed that one contestant took her mobile phone out of her bag when she went to the toilet and used it to make an overseas call home.

When she returned to the table, Ms Ng was miffed and scolded the girl.

At the pageant, Miss Korea took home the winner's crown while Miss Japan and Miss USA came in first and second runners-up respectively.

Ms Ng said there were seven contestants who were especially nasty.

Five of the girls were from Asia and the rest from Europe.

Ms Goh surmised that the behind-the-scenes backstabbing and sabotaging could be why Ms Ng was unplaced in the pageant.

But not all the girls were mean, Ms Ng conceded.

Miss Thailand, who was Ms Ng's roommate, would take her coat and slippers to her when she wanted to go out, and even make her bed.

A model and illusionist, Ms Ng said that she was born a hermaphrodite (a person born with both male and female sex organs) and, although she was classified as male at birth, she looks every bit like a woman.

Ms Ng completed her sex-change surgery in April. She said she had saved for that operation since she was 15.

The operation, which included breast implants, was done in Thailand and cost "around $30,000", she said.

Her parents helped to cover part of the cost. And all is not lost for Ms Ng, who is currently unattached.

She has been invited back to compete next year by the pageant organisers.

Ms Goh said they thought that Ms Ng had a lot of potential and was "very pretty" without make-up.

So Ms Ng, who took only two weeks to prepare for this year's pageant, will have one year to prepare for her next one.

"I intend to go for surgery next year so that I can achieve a more chiselled jaw.

"Also, I want to lose more weight and get a more sexy figure. I will work on my walk and question-answering skills as well."

Ms Ng, who paid US$1,200 (S$1,560) for her nose and double eye-lid surgery, said she may have an advantage because of her feminine profile and features, even pre-op.

"Miss Korea thought I was born a woman. She told me that she was jealous of my 'woman-like' (1.66m) height as she's 1.8m.

"I hope that, like her, I will win next year as I will be so much more experienced then. I definitely wouldn't stoop to those underhanded tactics like those girls in this year's pageant."

This article was first published in The New Paper.