THIS year’s Miss World title has gone to Miss Gibraltar Kaiane Aldorino – a first for the country.
Mexico’s Perla Beltran came second, and Miss South Africa Tatum Keshwar was third.
Miss Pilar Arlando, who represented Singapore at the pageant after the initial winner Ris Low gave up her crown, did not make it to the final 10.
But much of the spotlight fell on Miss Indonesia World Kerenina Sunny Halim, 23 – for the wrong reasons, reported AFP.
Miss Halim, who did not make it to the top 10, found herself embroiled in a controversy when South African weekly The Mail and Guardian reported on her public comments about her ties to an American religious cult.
According to a report by the weekly, Miss Halim, who has an Indonesian father and American mother, belongs to The Family International (TFI), which is directly linked to an American religious cult with a litany of child and sexual abuse scandals clouding its past.
Underground
The Mail and Guardian reported that she told the Jakarta Globe she is a member of TFI, for which she did humanitarian work after the Asian tsunami in 2004.
TFI is the modern day spawn of The Children of God (COG)– and admits as much on its website. The COG was a cult started in 1968 in Huntington Beach, California.
Its founder and leader, Mr David Berg, who called himself “Moses David”, communicated with his followers via letters on many spiritual and practical subjects until his death in late 1994.
In 1974, COG began a method of evangelism called Flirty Fishing, using sex to show God’s love and win converts. Flirty fishing was also a means of raising money, as many of the women worked as prostitutes. The practice was discontinued in 1987.
After Mr Berg’s death, his widow, Ms Karen Zerby, became the leader of the cult.
The group’s liberal sexuality and its publication and distribution of writings, photographs and videos advocating and documenting adult-child sexual contact led to numerous reports of child sexual abuse.
Due to the negative publicity which arose from all these aspects, the cult changed its name to TFI in the 1980s after negative publicity forced it “underground”, reported The Mail and Guardian.
Miss Halim, who has three siblings, said her family had worked for non-governmental organisations.
One of her brothers, who recently converted to Islam, is a popular actor in Indonesia.
Miss Halim said: “Our family travelled extensively during my childhood as part of my parents’ work for The Family International. When we, the children, finished high school, we were free to choose whether we still wanted to be in that social group or not.”
Miss World Limited, the organisers of the pageant, tried to stop the story from being published but the High Court in Johannesburg threw out their case early Saturday.
This is not the first time Miss Halim has been the subject of controversy.
When she was crowned Miss Indonesia World on 5Jun, many newspapers in Indonesia criticised her for her American accent and alleged inability to speak fluent Bahasa Indonesia.
Miss Halim, who said she and her siblings were home-schooled from kindergarten through high school, was reported as needing a translator to answer judges’ questions during the pageant.
She was also criticised on blogs as being unfit to represent the country because of her lack of fluency in Bahasa Indonesia, reported the Jakarta Globe.
But during an interview shortly after she won the Miss Indonesia World crown, Miss Halim started talking in English but later switched to Bahasa Indonesia, which she spoke fluently.
She blamed fatigue and nerves on the night of the pageant for her language difficulties.
Miss Halim said: “I haven’t actually read (the criticism) in the media, I just heard from friends. I love Indonesia and I am very proud of being an Indonesian, and that is more important. Language is easy. If you use it often, then you will be more fluent.”
Inner beauty
Before leaving for South Africa last month, Miss Halim said she was aware that some Indonesians might disapprove of her wearing bikinis during the pre-pageant shows.
She told the Jakarta Globe: “Walking around wearing bathing suits is not a choice, we only follow the rules. It would be better if they can support us rather than criticise us.
“I think they should focus more on the good we do than on the things we wear... Pageants are not judged solely on physical beauty, inner beauty is more important.
“People have every right to their own opinion, but whatever they think about me, one way to know is to talk to me in person to get to know me better. Then you can say, ‘Oh, so this is Kerenina?’”
This year’s Miss World was viewed by nearly a billion viewers worldwide, including Singapore.
During this year’s pageant, Miss India World Pooja Chopra was a hot favourite with the international crowd.
She appeared on stage with her leg in a brace, which she had to wear after she twisted her ankle while running down some stairs in heels on Wednesday.
But after winning the “beauty with a purpose” title for her charity work, she was eliminated in the top 16.
She resigns 18 hours after win
THIS year’s Miss World pageant, as in previous years, was not immune from controversy. Below are some previous Miss World contestants hit with controversy :
2007: Racy photos
Ms Valérie Bègue, 22, a business student from the French island of La Réunion, was banned from competing in Miss World in 2007 after racy photographs – including one of her posing on a crucifix – were published by a magazine.
She was allowed to keep her Miss France 2007 title after the French public came to her defence.
1980: Shortest reign
Ms Gabriela Brum, the then Miss Germany, had the shortest reign in Miss World history, resigning her title just 18 hours after being crowned in 1980.
She claimed that her boyfriend disapproved of the contest, but it later emerged that she had posed for nude photographs. She moved to the US and modelled nude for Playboy.
1973: Miss Sleep With The Whole World
Ms Marjorie Wallace was the first US citizen to win Miss World in 1973.
But she later infuriated the organisers by dating a string of celebrities including Tom Jones. She claimed that “as Miss World I can get laid with any man I pick”.
Three months after winning the crown, Ms Wallace was stripped of her title because she had “failed to fulfil the basic requirements of the job”. She later became a successful TV presenter.
1965: Nude Photos
Ms Lesley Langley won the Miss World title in 1965, but the British public was furious after tabloids found nude photographs of her.
She was only allowed to keep her crown because the pictures were taken before she entered the pageant.
Ms Langley now works as a receptionist in a dental surgery back in her hometown of Weymouth.
1961: Depressed, died of drug overdose
Ms Rosemarie Frankland was the first Miss UK to win the Miss World title in 1961. But she later became disillusioned with the beauty pageant industry and moved to the US.
She told a newspaper: “Beauty queens are dressed up and paraded down the catwalk just so some fellow can get a quick thrill. They should shove it in the archives and forget about it.”
Ms Frankland suffered depression throughout her life, and died of a drug overdose in 2000.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
