Where Are They Now? 3 Miss Malaysia Who Didn’t Get Their Happily Ever After
BY STEVEN PATRICK
Being crowned Miss Malaysia is a thing of joy and beauty for exactly 12 months—and then it’s time to crown a new Miss. For the girl who’s always dreamed about being a princess, winning Miss Malaysia is a life-changing experience. But for every Andrea Fonseka, Elaine Daly, Yasmin Yusuff, Soo Wincci, Deborah Henry, Lina Teoh, Arianna Teoh, Erra Fazira and Michelle Yeoh, there are a dozen pageant queens who eventually return to normal lives after their reign, and some who never get their happily ever after.
Miss Universe Malaysia 2002 Karen Ang
Sex scandals have been taking down beauty queens for as long as those girls have been dreaming of world peace—you know, make love, not war. But Karen, who was an MAS stewardess when she became Miss Malaysia, never dreamed it would happen to her. Seven years after her crowning glory, a series of pornographic photos popped up on the Internet showing a girl who looked a lot like her in some sexually explicit positions. Karen dismissed the pictures, of course, and no one really knows who posted them in the first place. Now 37, Karen lives an ordinary life out of the limelight.
Sex scandals have been taking down beauty queens for as long as those girls have been dreaming of world peace—you know, make love, not war. But Karen, who was an MAS stewardess when she became Miss Malaysia, never dreamed it would happen to her. Seven years after her crowning glory, a series of pornographic photos popped up on the Internet showing a girl who looked a lot like her in some sexually explicit positions. Karen dismissed the pictures, of course, and no one really knows who posted them in the first place. Now 37, Karen lives an ordinary life out of the limelight.
Miss World Malaysia 1975 Fauziah Haron
Five years after she was crowned, Fauziah got into politics by marrying Bandar Muar Umno branch head Datuk Kadar Shah Sulaiman. But after 23 years and three kids, she filled for divorce, and the courtroom drama that followed played out like a soap opera. Fauziah asked the judge to grant her a one-time alimony of RM5 million, their apartments in California and Hawaii, and several of their luxury cars including a Ferrari, a Porsche and a Benz. However, Datuk Kadar wasn’t present for the hearing because he had to flee the country, fearing for his life, after his house was broken into and his maid attacked and raped. By the end of the divorce proceedings in 2007, Fauziah got less than what she asked for, but has never revealed the full details of the settlement. Datuk Kadar eventually died of an anaemia-related illness in 2011. Now 57, Fauziah is an interior designer.
Five years after she was crowned, Fauziah got into politics by marrying Bandar Muar Umno branch head Datuk Kadar Shah Sulaiman. But after 23 years and three kids, she filled for divorce, and the courtroom drama that followed played out like a soap opera. Fauziah asked the judge to grant her a one-time alimony of RM5 million, their apartments in California and Hawaii, and several of their luxury cars including a Ferrari, a Porsche and a Benz. However, Datuk Kadar wasn’t present for the hearing because he had to flee the country, fearing for his life, after his house was broken into and his maid attacked and raped. By the end of the divorce proceedings in 2007, Fauziah got less than what she asked for, but has never revealed the full details of the settlement. Datuk Kadar eventually died of an anaemia-related illness in 2011. Now 57, Fauziah is an interior designer.
Miss International Malaysia 1969 Pauline Chai
Pauline is in the UK tabloids for all the wrong reasons: she’s involved in the country’s biggest divorce case ever, according to The Daily Mail. She got married a year after becoming Miss Malaysia, and now at 66, she’s splitting from 74-year-old Malaysian businessman Khoo Kay Peng, who’s got a 40% stake in Laura Ashley, is the director of Corus Hotels Limited which includes the very posh Corus Hyde Park Hotel, and owns properties around the world. All their five kids are now grown up.
Pauline is in the UK tabloids for all the wrong reasons: she’s involved in the country’s biggest divorce case ever, according to The Daily Mail. She got married a year after becoming Miss Malaysia, and now at 66, she’s splitting from 74-year-old Malaysian businessman Khoo Kay Peng, who’s got a 40% stake in Laura Ashley, is the director of Corus Hotels Limited which includes the very posh Corus Hyde Park Hotel, and owns properties around the world. All their five kids are now grown up.
Pauline told the tabloids she felt like “a prisoner” on their £30 million (RM150 million) country estate at Rosway Park, near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and claimed she couldn’t leave their home without her husband’s permission. She also said his staff sent her an e-mail telling her she was limited to only £50 a week for food. “It said fruits and vegetables were allowed, but I wasn’t allowed to eat certain things that I wanted. My daughter said to me that I was being treated like a servant. I think she nailed it.” After Pauline filed for divorce on the grounds of ‘unreasonable behaviour’, The Daily Mail reported that she stood to win a £500 million payout. The divorce battle began in July.
Daily Chilli spoke to Mohd Yusuf Ismail, a Miss Malaysia historian of sorts who runs a blog that keeps track of pageant winners, and he says there are lots of other ex-Miss Malaysia who have become successful outside the celebrity spotlight.
Miss Malaysia 1994 Rahima Orchient Yayah, the last Malay girl to win the competition, was also the first Miss Malaysia to break into the top 10 at the Miss World pageant in Sun City, South Africa, the year Aishwarya Rai won as Miss India. “Rahima is now a successful businesswoman, and she just opened her second seafood restaurant in Kuching, after her first one in her hometown of Tawau,” he reveals.
Published: November 11, 2013
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