Penangite overjoyed at winning Miss Teen Elegance title in Dubai
Dheper Reshaa Teh
24/03/2022
BUKIT MERTAJAM, March 24 (Bernama) -- Dheper Reshaa Teh was overjoyed when her name was announced as the winner of the Miss Teen Elegance at the Miss Teen Universe 2021 held in Dubai earlier this month.
The pageant was to be held last year but was moved to this March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Penangite, who is 20 now, said she was honoured by the award and recognition by the international organisation.
“Even though it is not a main title but it is a big deal for me. It completely validated all of the hard work and dedication that I had put into this competition. I hope I managed to make everyone proud as well,” she told Bernama during an interview at her house here today.
During the competition on March 3, Miss Teen Universe Peru was crowned the pageant winner while Miss Teen Universe South Africa and Miss Teen Universe India were the first and second runners-up, respectively.
Dheper wore her first tiara at the Miss Teen International Malaysia 2018/2019 and since then she has competed in two international pageants, Miss Teen Universe 2019 in New Delhi and Miss Tourism Global City in Guangdong, China this year.
She attributed her successes in pageantry to her parents, whom she said encouraged her to chase her dreams and have always been supportive of her choices.
“When I initially told them I wanted to enrol in pageant competitions at 15 years old, I expected a negative reaction but to my surprise, they were completely supportive.
“My father was the one who drove me to KL (Kuala Lumpur) to audition for my first competition while my mother has been doing my hair and makeup for competitions from the beginning,” she added.
Moving forward, she plans to take a break from pageantry for a few years to concentrate on completing her diploma in business studies at INTI College Penang and then proceed with getting a degree.
Commenting on her daughter being named Miss Teen Elegance, Tanuja Kumar, 45, said her motherly instincts knew Dheper would not return Malaysia empty handed.
“I was beaming with pride when they announced her as Miss Teen Elegance. It goes to show that Malaysian women radiate elegance,” she added.
-- BERNAMA
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