While the 61st Miss Universe was crowned last month, the Singapore franchise marks its 60th anniversary this year.
Most home-grown beauty queens eventually venture into fields where good looks are a prerequisite, such as acting and modelling, but several have carved out careers in professional fields.
Dr Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, 37, who was dubbed "the beauty with brains" by the press because she was pursuing two master's degrees when she won the title in 1999, is now a professor of linguistics at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
Ms Nuraliza Osman, 36, who was crowned Miss Universe Singapore 2002, is a legal counsel at Shell Eastern Petroleum.
Ms Marion Nicole Teo, 45, who was Miss Universe Singapore 1987, is a senior image consultant at image consultancy, EQ Asia.
Home-grown fashion designer Hayden Ng says: "The title of Miss Universe Singapore is what you make of it. Many of the winners have done remarkably well in various fields."
Mr Ng, 46, has worked as a stylist for the pageant since 1986 and designed Ms Teo's costume for the international segment in 1987.
That was the first and only year the Miss Universe pageant was staged in Singapore and Ms Teo came in ninth. She remains one of only two Singapore representatives to have made it to the top 10 to date. Ms Kathie Lee Lee Beng was placed eighth when the pageant was held in St Louis in the American state of Missouri in 1983.
Mr Ng took on the role of fashion director of Miss Universe Singapore 2011 and now serves as a mentor to the contestants.
Some beauty queens have never left the public eye, having chosen to develop careers in the entertainment industry.
These include Ms Jessica Tan (Miss Universe Singapore 2007), 29, a model with Hong Kong agency Starz People; Ms Jaime Teo (Miss Universe Singapore 2001), 36, who is currently an artiste with Fly Entertainment; and Ms Eunice Olsen (Miss Universe Singapore 2000), who served as a Nominated Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2009.
The 35-year-old is now the director of House Of Ou, a movie production company she set up last year.
Read the full story here.
Click on the thumbnails for S'pore's beauty queens then and now.
(Photos: TNP, ST, BH, Miss Universe Singapore, Wanbao, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Eunice Olsen, Jessica Tan, Rachel Kum, Valerie Lim)
