Miss Malaysia Kebaya pageant aims at franchising

Over 100 people attended the official launch of Miss Malaysia Kebaya 2012 pageant and grand opening of the new office of Smart Network Marketing; the franchise holder of Miss Malaysia Kebaya pageant at Sunway Mentari, Petaling recently.

During the launch, the winners of Miss Sabah Kebaya 2011 Jennifer Ann Mohaya, 18, a make-up artist and part-time model and Miss Sarawak Kebaya 2011 Livonia Ricky, 20, a free-lance actress were officially announced and crowned in a simple ceremony attended by Miss Selangor Kebaya 2011 Sabrina Beneett, contest finalists, friends, family members, sponsors, partners, bloggers and members of the media.

“The Miss Malaysia Kebaya pageant is a new beauty pageant. It is the first in Malaysia where you really see multi-racial participants. This is the only pageant in Malaysia where Muslims can participate by following the rules and regulations of the local authority,” said Jason Hee, the pageant’s franchise holder and president.

”Response has been very good from the three states that had selected their candidates and I am surprised we have many Muslim participants in the competition.

“We started in September last year and we are now going on a nationwide search for the perfect Miss Malaysia Kebaya 2012 candidate where the eventual winner will be selected at the national finals to be held in June this year.

Jason said that there will be two categories, the Miss Malaysia Kebaya crown title is for all the single ladies aged between 17 – 25 and another caters for women aged 25 – 40.

The title crown has yet to be finalised but it may be called Malaysia Lady Kebaya 2012 or something to that effect.

“The objective of the Miss Malaysia Kebaya pageant is to promote cultural diversity, tourism and the common heritage of our country. It gives the girls the opportunity to gain confidence and to learn new things.

As it is now, the kebaya uniform is worn by female cabin crew at Singapore Airlines, Garuda Indonesia and Malaysia Airlines.

“This office is only a few days old. It is our training room. First, they will come here for audition, then we groom them on confidence level, catwalk training, posing and other areas pertaining to personal development.

“Our girls are mostly graduates. We have dentists, lawyers and even doctors participating in the pageant. They have a chance to learn indulge in an array of interest alongside the opportunity earn extra income because it is also a platform for sponsors to select the Kebaya girls as ambassadors to advertise their products and services.

Having selected the winners from three states, the organizer will move on to Penang from next month onward followed by a search in Wilayah Persekutuan and Johor.

Jason said he has big plans to franchise the pageant and bring in regional countries.

“We had visited Jakarta recently and they had accepted our idea. They want to see our execution of the program first. Basically we are selling the franchise to them. Singapore has also agreed so once these two countries are in, after that, we will then expand to Thailand, Philippines and Brunei.

Guests were served buffet dinner and after the presentation of awards and prizes to the two winners from Sabah and Sarawak, it was followed by a photo session where everyone took the opportunity to take photos with the Kebaya girls.

Both the winners for Miss Sabah Kebaya 2011 and Miss Sarawak Kebaya 2011 were selected on total aggregate scored based on 30% Facebook voting, 30% on Q & A and 40% on beauty and grooming.

Among the sponsors for Miss Malaysia Kebaya 2011/2012 are Shairose, Maxx Rewards and Isabelle Man.