
The number 19 was constantly whispered at the Miss Singapore Beauty Pageant 2012 on Saturday night.
And it was fitting that a wedding dinner- style event at the InterContinental Hotel ballroom was won by a wedding planner.
Ms Florence Lim, 23, who wore the No. 19 tag, was a favourite from the start with many of the male guests rooting for her.
Some were even overheard placing bets that she would walk away with the crown.
They were right on the money.
But what they didn't know was that Ms Lim hadn't considered herself a shoo-in for the title.
Having been in two previous pageants and not finishing among the top three, she fretted that this time would also end in "failure".
She told The New Paper: "The hardest thing in life is to overcome (the fear) of failure at something that you have failed at before.
"I took part in Miss Singapore World 2011 and Miss International 2012 and didn't win.
"Well, I didn't do anything different here, but I was certainly more calm this time.
"I told myself to enjoy the experience and I won!"
The pageant does not pick runners- up for the main title.
Ms Lim's megawatt smile and confident gait endeared her to the audience as the 20 finalists were introduced.
And if there were any butterflies, they obviously had been set free before she even set foot on stage.
She said her father always had high expectations of her and had decreed that his middle child graduate from university.
Ms Lim, who has two brothers, said she had expected such academic "responsibilities" to fall on their shoulders.
"When you hear of parents having expectations of their kids, it's always that they want the first-born to get into university and do the family proud.
"My brother is more interested in music and he's a piano teacher so in that sense he's been let off the hook.
"When the weight of expectation fell on me, there was a lot of pressure but I did it, becoming the first person in the family to earn a bachelor's degree (in business management from the Singapore Institute Of Management)."
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