Miss South Asia Australia Pageant 2018: Story: Marie Pietersz, Melbourne; Pics: courtesy Hiru Photography

Story: Marie Pietersz, Melbourne
Pics: courtesy Hiru Photography

When VIPs keep attending your events year after year despite their busy schedules, you know they value and are acknowledging your efforts. This is what happens with Dilkie Perera’s Miss Sri Lanka Australia (MSLA) and Miss South Asia Australia (MSAA) Pageants.

Among the number of VIPS who attended this year’s double Pageant held at the Savoy Vibe Hotel in the Melbourne CBD on 16 September were Julian Hill MP, Federal Member for Bruce, stopping by on his way to Canberra, and Inga Peulich MLC, Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs, leaving a family party early to attend. VIPs from all countrie represented by participants were also present in a solidarity show of support.

The impressive line-up of other dignitaries included:

Liz Beattie, former Victorian MP
Marianne Lau, Vice Chair ECCV
Kaushalya Vaghela, Advisor to the Victorian Multicultural Minister
Praveen Kumar, Advisor to Peter Khalil, Federal MP
Donald Betts, Former US Senator
W G A Prasanna, Consul General for Sri Lanka in Victoria
Bandu Dissanayake, Former Consul for Sri Lanka in Victoria
Ayesha Bux, Former Trade Consul, Pakistan
Jennifer Yang, Former Mayor, Manningham City Council
Chandra Bamunasinghe, Former Deputy Mayor, Hume City Council

Community Leaders –

Bom Yonzon and Ram Kumar Sheshtra from Nepal  
Aloke and Aakash Kumar from India, and
Molina Asthana and Mustafa Hasan from Bangaldesh.  

Keynote speaker Julian Hill MP compared this Pageant, where all participants are winners and encouraged to value and be proud of their individuality, to some of the other beauty pageants around the world where participants are expected to conform to certain stereotype expectations. In this Pageant, in contrast, participants are not expected to parade in swimwear, rather in traditional, formal and casual wear only.

In its second year, the MSAA Pageant didn’t fail to dazzle and glitter with the vibrant colours of the traditional costumes worn by participants from the six South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The Pageant attracted a large number of interstate contestants from SA, WA, NSW and ATC as well as from the host State, Melbourne. Contestants hailed from many professions including doctors, chartered accountants, financiers, health and legal industry professionals as well as tertiary students, which says a lot for the excellent reputation of the Pageant and Pageant organisers. The Miss Sri Lanka Australia Pageant also included teenagers.

For the second consecutive year the MSAA Pageant was dedicated to promoting awareness of domestic violence. Contestants underwent a mandatory half day training session on the subject conducted by the Dr Manjula O’Conner, Director, Australian Centre for Human Rights and Health.

The highly esteemed judging panel included Ms Reena Koak (Managing Director of Miss India Australia Pageant, from Sydney), Mr Tek Kirant (Head stylist and choreographer of Miss Nepal Oceania Pageant, from Brisbane), Miss Emily Thomas (International Model) and Jay Randeniya (former Mr Sri Lanka Australia winner).

Dilkie is the entrepreneur behind these Pageants, seeing a need for young first, second and even third generation Australians with Sri Lankan and South Asian heritage to have a platform to showcase their inherited cultures through integration and participation in the cultural and community fabric that is the Australian essence, which includes a comprehensive career-enhancing training program with public speaking, networking, community and media exposure, and high end catwalk exposure for a year following participation in the Pageant. Dilkie is ably assisted in her work by daughters Savindhi and Vishni and Consultant Tania Betts and Assistants Nishni and Yashodhi.

Winners in the 2018 MSAA Pageant are:

1. Miss South Asia Australia 2018
Winner – Namitha Susan Kurian (India)
1st runner up – Nazanin Hosseini (Afghanistan) from New South Wales
2nd runner up – Shajuty Islam (Bangladesh)

2. Mr South Asia Australia 2018
Winner – Nishan Joseph (Sri Lanka)
1st runner up – Yath Karun (Sri Lanka)
2nd runner up – Niraj Thakker (India)

3. Mrs South Asia Australia 2018
Winner – Tarini Fernando (Sri Lanka)
Runner up – Poonam Shetty (India) from Western Australia

4.Ms South Asia Australia 2018
Winner – Anmol Sagar (India) 
Runner up – Zaiba Musa (Pakistan) from South Australia

5. Ms South Asia Australia 2018 
Winner – Anmol Sagar (India) 
Runner up – Zaiba Musa (Pakistan) from South Australia