When it comes to beauty with brains, newly-crowned Miss Universe Singapore 2013 Shi Lim has got it covered.
The 24-year-old business executive at an investment company is probably the winner with the most impressive academic credentials since lawyer Nuraliza Osman from the 2002 competition.
She was also the tallest contestant - at 1.76m - and a clear front runner at the finals held at Shangri-La Hotel last Saturday night, when she beat 15 others to the title.
Miss Lim left Singapore in 2005 after her O levels - for which she said she scored "less than 20 points" - at CHIJ St. Teresa's Convent School and spent the next eight years in North America.
She studied at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada for two years before transferring to the renowned New York University (NYU) in 2010 because she preferred the vibrant city life of the latter to the rural environment of the former.
And it was there that she transformed from average secondary school student into a top graduate who made the Dean's List three out of four semesters.
Miss Lim returned to Singapore in January this year with a Bachelor of Arts in Individualized Study, specialising in cognitive science.
She scored a 4.0 grade point average (GPA) for her final year and a 3.75 accumulative GPA overall.
This means she was an overall A-student who ranked in the 80th percentile of her cohort.
She told The New Paper over the phone yesterday: "My accumulative GPA was affected when I dropped off the Dean's List in my second semester at NYU because I was juggling an internship and didn't put in enough time for my studies."
Even the way she handles harsh online criticism about her physical flaws is classy.
Of her large ears, a netizen posted: "Her ears could be useful; if she ever took up sailing." Miss Lim said: "I wasn't really offended by the comments that were posted online. In fact, I found some of them really funny and I was laughing so much."
Read the full story here.
This is called "NEWS" ... media have to always find something new to say ... unless she's the one with the plastic surgery?
http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=62902
But that one is Miss World, this one is Miss Universe. So no link.
But article shouldn't brag so much details of her academics. They just so-so - nothing spectacular.
Kontikki: the keyword lies in "most impressive academic credentials since XXX" ... that means in the recent years, those with good results DO NOT join Miss Universe Singapore.
Also if I understand correctly, the ones with real good results will study in local Uni, but those who cannot make it will go overseas, unless that has changed.
Really ? My bro and sis still living USA/CA last 30 yrs. They no speak with angmo accent.:cool:
O me god - scoring less than 20 points O Level good ? Then I genius ! :D
Mikeyyyy.... her accent is not fake, she has spent 7 years abroad and picked it up on the way from the people she was with. You would be suprised how many locals have accents from the US.