MISS Ris Low has given up the Miss Singapore World title, days after her credit-card fraud was exposed last week by my paper.

In a statement yesterday, organiser ERM World Marketing said that it had no way of checking if contestants had criminal records. It added that the 19- year-old will no longer compete at the international pageant in South Africa in December.

“As a teenage offender, we feel sorry for her circumstances but we cannot compromise our contest rules, regulations and the image of the Miss  Singapore World pageant,” it said, adding that it will announce a replacement shortly.

ERM said that she “excelled” in the two-month competition and was “determined, well-behaved and performed well”, winning eight special awards.

It met Miss Low’s parents, who agreed to allow their daughter to give up the crown as it felt it was in the best interests of the Miss Singapore World pageant and Singapore.

Miss Low told 938Live yesterday that she had thought of quitting for some time. She said: “I feel that it would be better for everyone, including  Singaporeans who are not very supportive of me going to this pageant... So yes, I have given it up because I think it’s the best choice now.”

Yesterday, The Straits Times reported that the organiser said it had no knowledge of her conviction for credit-card fraud when she was crowned on July  31. The New Paper reported that the firm said it did not know about the fraud until the media broke the news.

However, my paper had contacted ERM by phone and e-mail earlier this month to verify the allegation.

On its silence, ERM said it was “taken aback by this incident and we did not have any documentary evidence to justify the allegations and could be  faced with legal implications later”.

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