At 1.49m tall, Ms Celine Chan is 16cm shorter than the minimum required height for most beauty pageant contestants.

But the 32-year-old finally has a real shot at the crown, at a special pageant for petite women. Only those 1.64m or shorter can compete for the title, and she is the shortest to enter.

Ms Chan, the owner of boutique spa My Cozy Room, often gets mistaken for an undergraduate in her early 20s.

"Unlike weight, height is something that cannot be altered when you're an adult," she said. "I used to get mocked a lot as a kid and I suffered from low self-esteem."

Joining this pageant now is a chance for her to smash negative stereotypes about height and show that "big things come in small packages".

She was also an outstanding goalie on her netball team in secondary school, a position usually reserved for tall girls.

The winner of Miss Dreamgirl SG 2012 will compete in the international finals of Miss Petite World next year, to be held in a country yet to be disclosed.

Last year, it was held in the US and the only Southeast Asian contestant, Miss Malaysia Irene Tan, took home the crown.

The pageant is being held in Singapore for the first time this year.

Among the contestants is Ms Deborah Wong, a 25-year-old doctor who is 1.53m tall.

Although she suffers from scoliosis, which results in back pain, she has been doing pilates for the past three years and is to take her ballet examination at an advanced level next year.

Said Ms Wong: "I don't believe in giving people pain killers, that's why I just took up a pilates instructor course to provide natural pain relief for people with back pain.

"I also volunteer to do public health screening for low-income families in my free time."

There are perks to being petite.

Not only do these women get mistaken for being much younger, they also get moved to the front at free-standing concerts.

Added Republic Polytechnic student Germaine Ong, 20, who is 1.58m tall: "Being petite and slim means that I can buy children's clothing which is much cheaper than the adult range but just as nice, at places like Zara."

"I also find it funny when the traffic police stop me because they think I'm an underage driver."

More than 50 applicants

The pageant saw more than 50 applicants when the call for auditions went out a few months ago. Only 22 were chosen as semi-finalists.

Among them are also a paralegal and a supply chain management executive.

The girls met the media for the first time on Saturday at The Blarney restaurant, at The Sail @ Marina Bay.

The pageant is jointly organised by two companies, Xclent and TKS and Sons.

A pageant spokesman said the local competition was named Dreamgirl - omitting the word "petite" - to encourage more women to sign up.

The local finals will be held on Dec 15.

Said the spokesman: "This pageant was also inspired by the judges at the recent Miss Singapore World contest, who chose the shortest contestant (Karisa Sukamto), who is 1.6m tall, as the winner.

"Karisa went on to do very well at the international finals although she had to compete with many of the much taller contestants.

"Times are changing (for petite women)."

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