‘It hasn’t sunk in yet’

One week after she beat 126 other aspirants for the 2013 Miss World title, Megan Young admitted to Lucy Hockings, host of the Impact segment of BBC News last Saturday that her win hasn’t sunk in yet.

Hockings mentioned that before they went on air, she and Megan watched a rerun of the “moment of truth” in the Miss World grand finals last Sept. 28 in Bali, Indonesia, in which Megan was announced the winner, bagging for the Philippines its first Miss World crown after 63 years, making the country the champion of international contests having won in all the major ones — two Misses Universe (Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Margie Moran in 1973), four Misses International (Gemma Cruz in 1964, Aurora Pijuan in 1970, Melanie Marquez in 1979 and Precious Lara Quigaman in 2005), one Miss Earth (Karla Henry in 2008) and one Miss Supranational (Mutya Johanna Datul this year).

“Actually,” said Megan, “it was only my second time to watch that video.”

But for sure, the whole thing will finally “sink in” when Megan comes home to a warm welcome from her proud kababayan on Thursday, Oct. 10, for a six-day homecoming which is packed full with activities, according to Cory Quirino, franchise-holder of Miss World Philippines.

The same afternoon of her arrival from London which will be her home during her one-year reign, Megan will attend a press conference at Solaire Resort & Casino which will host a victory dinner for her immediately after. On Friday, Oct. 11, she will grace a motorcade that will kick off at Ayala Avenue in Makati, proceed to EDSA and end at the Mall Of Asia (MOA) for a meet-and-greet. On Saturday, Oct. 12, she will take a trip to Olongapo, her home province, where a rousing welcome awaits her. On Sunday, Oct. 13, she will visit the more than 900 kids at the Tuloy Foundation center in Alabang. On Monday, Oct. 14, she will pay a courtesy call on Congress, where she is expected to cheer up the members embroiled in the Pork Barrel mess.

“On Tuesday,” said Cory, “Megan will spend time with her family. And then on Wednesday, Oct. 16, she will fly back to London.”

As of press time yesterday, according to Cory, she was still waiting for word from Malacañang if Megan could make a courtesy call on Pres. Noynoy Aquino.

“We are also trying to contact the DOT for a meeting with Megan,” added Cory. “There’s a possibility for the Miss World pageant to be held here. Next year, it will be held in London.”

In the BBC interview, Megan confessed that when her name was called as winner, “It was surreal, actually, because I was prepared that maybe I wouldn‘t get it. But if I won it, that would be spectacular. If I didn’t, then it was fine with me. I wanted to be a good sport that night.”

And how did she feel with her pictures being splashed on the front pages of all newspapers in the Philippines several days after the pageant?

“It was heart-warming for me,” said Megan, “because we have had a lot of issues going on for the past month. For me to be that spark of hope and inspiration back home, for me to be able to uplift the spirit of my fellow Filipinos, is an honor.”

Asked by Hockings what made her join the contest, Megan broke into her endearing toothsome smile.

“Well, it’s funny because I had said that I did think of beauty contests as superficial and that’s one of the reasons why I didn’t join before even though people had been constantly telling me, ‘Megan, you should join, you should join.’ But I didn’t see any asset in joining, you know, what would I get out of it? What would be my purpose in it?

“And I joined the Miss World pageant because I’d been hearing about it for a time and the fact that its main purpose is charity, that’s why it’s called ‘Beauty with a Purpose,’ and that hit me. I said, ‘Maybe that’s what I wanted;’ it wasn’t about the glitz and the glamour at all but how you can help people.”

As the whole world knew, there was a protest against the pageant being held in the world’s largest Muslim country because it was perceived to be against the Muslim teaching of not showing a woman’s delicate parts in public.

“Was it still relevant?” Hockings asked Megan, referring to beauty contests in a modern world.

“I think it is,” Megan promptly answered. ”No matter what you do, no matter what time and where you are in the world, people always need help, they constantly need help, and that is what the purpose of Miss World is — to reach out to the less privileged,” recalling her promise to be the best Miss World ever, adding, “and my goal here is not only to do that but to let people know what they can do to help as well.”

Taking note of what Hockings called the “hard-line Muslims’ protest against the pageant” that objectifies women, Megan said in a friendly tone, “Well, first of all I can’t please everyone. That’s one fact that we probably know in this day and age. And that’s what my goal is this year…to prove to people what Miss World does, what is its purpose, and that is helping other people and reaching out.”

And how did she think she could help in problems confronting the Philippines such as extreme poverty, issues about contraception, etc.?

Megan: “I would say that you can do it in a big or small way and it’s great to start small because you have that foundation of getting to where you want to be and I think I’d rather start small and encourage people, and make them see that hope that there’s a tomorrow that they don’t have to suffer…that they should not think negatively, that there’s always that positive outlook to get people to evolve.”

Hockings mentioned that statistics showed that the Philippines is one of the countries in the world where men and women are equal. Did Megan feel that when she was growing up?

“Well, one thing I can assure you is that I did not feel that there was a difference between men and women…you know, that one is superior or inferior to the other. What’s important is that if you can show people that you are capable of doing something, then you will succeed in life. It’s not about whether you are a man or a woman.”    

At the same time that the Miss World pageant was going on in Indonesia, there was a report that some kind of a Miss Muslim Indonesia search was also in progress.

“Yes, I’ve heard about that,” confirmed Megan. “I think it’s a very respectable competition because they show how they are in the Islam society and it’s one way of showing people how they can achieve that title. Same thing with Miss World because we also have our ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ which is  supporting charities, so we each have our way of showing people how to be beautiful.”

I will end this piece with a call from Cory Quirino: “Let us all give our first Miss World Megan Young a grand homecoming. Meeting place is Ayala Avenue corner Buendia in Makati, 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11. Wear blue, the color of the Miss World crown. All offices are requested to shower Megan with blue confetti.”

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