Her criminal record is much more serious than her inability to speak proper English. There is no way I can see any good in this instance, as compared to the latter case. I have naught to defend her with. She did wrong, period.
She had hoped that her secret would never be revealed, so was it not better to have avoided doing the misdeed altogether? The light will reveal what the darkness tries to hide. This is how the world evolves into. What is there to feel "sad or disappointed" about? The person who reported her secret to the media did the right thing. It is not a matter of "dig(ging) up" a hidden secret, especially when it involves our country's reputation. She has ultimately disgraced herself by committing the crime. The disappointment should rightly be felt by her former employer, and not by her.
I would not want such a person to represent Singapore. It is not a matter of withdrawing my support for our local representative, but it shows how immature she was not to have considered the dire consequences of her actions. 17 years of age is not actually a young age. She was not 7 years old when she did that. She may have had other redeeming qualities that allowed her to win the pageant, according to another pageant winner, but this is a criminal conviction. What other redeeming qualities can remove this permanent blemish on her life and name? This is a betrayal of the morals and values society attempts to teach its youths. What a role model she is for them. As a working employee, she should have had the sense to know that she was doing something terribly wrong with the credit cards she used for her spending sprees. Where was her conscience then? Her age does not excuse her misdeed.
Her parents play a significant part in this affair as well. They failed to bring her up in the full knowledge of what is right and wrong. This is the result of their failure. Perhaps this is a hard lesson they must learn, notwithstanding her need to learn one too. I am glad to know that they do not condone her recent behaviour, as is reported in the current issue of 8 Days. They make her out to be a stubborn child who does not listen to their advice and abuses their trust in her. Yes, she has expressed regret for her misdeed but it may have come too late, now that she has been placed in the spotlight. The irony is that she loves to gain attention from others and hence she joined the competition. Well, now she has gained it but for more than the wrong reasons.
A reader felt that this secret should not affect her role as our local representative in the competition. Is that not rather naive? It is a necessity for the local representative to have no criminal record. She HAS to be removed from her position and allow the first runner-up to replace her. Even though this is a beauty contest, beauty also includes purity of character. She is probably "our best hope" only in terms of external appearance, I feel.
Again responding to Yeoh Wee Teck's commentary on this issue, I can testify that I was squeaky clean at 17 years old. My only flaws were not studying hard enough, and disrespecting and disobeying my parents. Perhaps this does make me justified enough to criticise Ms Singapore World? Haha.
"Our Singapore representatives need not be squeaky clean"?? As a reporter, it is rather impertinent to say that. He is one of the voices of the media, a medium that is a major source of influence on our youths. What underlying message is he giving them? Hardcore criminals can represent the country? She may not be a hardcore criminal who committed violent acts on others, but she still committed a crime. As the secretary-general of her school remarked, the Yellow Ribbon Project is catered towards second chances in the career industry. Her role as a local representative defies that. I completely agree with the secretary-general. The reporter is also ironical in mocking her for her bad verbal skills rather than her criminal misdeed.
A second newspaper article mentioned that good character is part of the criteria for beauty pageant contestants. I'm heartened to note that there are fellow supporters towards my stand. They include former local beauty queens. Indeed, it was not appropriate of her to inform the panel only after her win. It does not matter that she had not expected to win. Her mere participation in the pageant already required her to do so. Now, it seems that she has not told them about this revelation, because the staff of the organization are unaware of her conviction. Is there anything else she is misleading us in?
She opened up in a third article about this incident. Her thoughts have somehow incited a crack in my harsh assessment of her. She actually shows gratitude to the victim who reported her to the police, and has an unwavering faith in hard work and perseverance, that these qualities will bring about the achievement of dreams. I guess she is someone after my own heart, in this aspect.
Now, it seems that she had been playing with the public. She claimed to have informed the organizers of the pageant on different occasions, but it turns out that she had not. Her lies have escalated from a hidden criminal conviction to an attempt in obtaining support from the public by falsely claiming she had admitted it to the organizers. It is no wonder that she did not dare to pick up calls from the media about this false misleading. I am so glad she has agreed to give her crown back.
During the selection process for a new local representative, the second runner-up who was to eventually represent our country, did not pick up her phone when she was called. She may have been busy then but if it was a deliberate attempt to ignore the media, then I must say that she was smart enough to do so.
According to Ris Low, she is not interested in Claire Lee's decision to withdraw from the representation process. However, what she said after that pipes my interest in a negative way. She hopes for us to forget her fiasco after 2 years as she enjoys life. Firstly, even if 2 years have passed, seeing her will provoke ugly feelings within us. What she did is no small matter. Secondly, how can she even think of enjoying life with such a betrayal of conscience that she has done? Also, she still has the cheek to want to compete in local competitions? She will find it difficult to attain that desire. Since she so wants to be the centre of attraction, doesn't she realise she already is, in the way she is handling this whole issue? Apparently, this desire is so strong that she has done so many negative things to get to that. She does not bother about the nature of being in the limelight, but just that she is basking in it.
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