ORGANISERS of Saturday night’s semi-finals of the Miss Asia pageant in Hong Kong probably haven’t heard of the saying “the whole is more than the sum of its parts”.

During the contest, several participants were singled out to have body parts, such as their breasts, scrutinised in minute detail.

But while the contestants gamely went along with the poking and the prodding, television viewers weren’t as forgiving.

Now, the contest, which was aired during prime time, has drawn flak from viewers for its “lewd” and “crass” content.

Some accused the pageant organisers of demeaning and insulting women to boost ratings.

The segment which drew the most fire was the so-called “breast screen test”.

Three of the most well-endowed contestants, Miss Mo Xiao Fei, Miss Wang Xi Yao and Miss Lin Zhi Jun, were asked to stand behind a board which was cut to show only the girls’ chests.

With just their bosoms on display, the contestants were critiqued by one of the judges, Miss Chen Fei Jia, a model.

After visually examining the breasts of all three contestants, Miss Chen found Miss Lin, whose vital statistics were 351/2 by 26 by 361/2, to have the most appealing figure.

But Miss Chen added that based on appearances alone, Miss Wang’s breasts deserved praise for “increasing her heart rate”.

The judge then commented that she would most want Miss Lin’s 35 1/2-inch bustline.

Some of the contestants appeared to be just as eager to show off their physical attributes.

During the close-up on her chest, Miss Wang allegedly attempted to outshine the other two contestants by thrusting her bust at the TV camera.

The contestants were also asked to share the secret to having ample bosoms.

Miss Wang said she did chest-strengthening exercises every day. Describing her ideal breasts, she said they “must be of a certain roundness, fairness and bounce”.

Not to be outdone, Miss Lin said she not only plays basketball to enhance her breasts, she also wears sport bras.

Miss Mo, who has a 32-inch bustline, said she does not mind being stared at by men.

She said candidly: “If I encounter perverted men, I’ll zip my top up.”

Twisted

In another segment, another three contestants were asked to “twist and turn” to show off their waists.

However, the TV cameras zoomed in only on the contestants’ lower body rather than focusing on their waists.

In another bizrre segment, three contestants were asked to battle it out in a scalp test. They had their scalps magnified up to 200 times under a microscope and a trichologist was then asked to analyse their hair quality.

Contestant Wang Zhi Fei was embarrassed to hear she has the worst hair quality with “lots of dandruff and an oily scalp”.

Another contestant, Miss Wang Chen, found out on national TV that she was showing “signs of hair loss”.

This article was first published in The New Paper.