24 abril 2008

Beauty for a purpose





She was born into a poor family but became one of Vietnam’s youngest beauty queens.

Mai Phuong Thuy, the 2006 Miss Vietnam, is set to star in a TV series on social evils.

She will reprise the life of a real-life beauty queen who ruined her life through drugs and prostitution and died of HIV/AIDS.
It is among her latest socially-relevant endeavors.
The 20-year-old beauty, who finished in the top 16 at the 2006 Miss World pageant and has gone on to be the face of many social and charity programs at home since then, spoke to Thanh Nien Daily about her life’s calling.

Has your daily life changed dramatically since becoming Miss Vietnam at just 18?

Mai Phuong Thuy: I think my life has changed somewhat since 2006.
But I soon adapted to the changes which have offered me many good opportunities to help the disadvantaged.It is not age but your upbringing and perceptions that decide how mature you are.You are known for being an outstanding student.

Why did you decide to compete in the Miss Vietnam pageant? Was it because you wanted to tell people “I am not only intellectual but also beautiful?”

My father passed away when I was six.Right at an early age, I understood how difficult it was for my mother to raise her two daughters.
The more I’ve grown up, the more I believe I should live positively and show how caring I am towards my family and other people.
I think knowledge is the key I must gain to improve the status of my family.
Passing the entrance exam at the Foreign Trade University and winning a full scholarship from RMIT University in Hanoi are part of my efforts to enhance my knowledge.
I am hoping to get other scholarships to study abroad.
As for why I decided to compete in the 2006 Miss Vietnam pageant, well, I think [proving one’s] intellect is not the only way to establish oneself.
Life provides me opportunities to experiment and the beauty contest was one of many challenges to prove myself.

Do you hope to show you are a perfect woman through your academic achievements, beauty as well as charity work?

To tell the truth, my life’s purpose is to become a perfect woman.Besides my family, I also want to help needy people.I do charity with all my heart.All the money I donate comes from my advertising and entertainment activities.I have just produced a DVD that features lots of my work and activities and the beauty spots in some 50 provinces that I have been to.I will use the profits from the DVD sales to help disadvantaged people.I want to do other businesses to earn more money so that I can do more charity work.

You always say study is the most important but you join in many social and performing activities, which might impact on your study at the university?

If I live only for myself, it is not difficult.I am living for many people who set their belief and hope in me.Therefore, I always try not only to study my best but also to grab any opportunities to work and to help the others.Almost two years since the day I became a beauty queen, I look back, feeling happy that I have done several helpful works while still achieving satisfactory academic result.

It is said you are going to write a tell-all book on beauty contests and related charity activities. Aren’t you worried what you write might impact on people and your relationships with them?

I am going to publish my diaries.I think I should reveal the negative aspects of what I have seen and experienced.I will narrate truthfully what some people do not want to say since they still have careers to think about.Though I am not a professional artist, I want to see a wholesome and professional entertainment industry without some of the seamier aspects I have seen.

The diary, to be published as soon as you hand over your crown to the 2008 Miss Vietnam, is meant to cause a sensation and boost your reputation, isn’t it?

The book will also include many pieces criticizing me that have never been seen in the local media.The book has been censored and licensed, and all the stories are truthful.You are said to be a voracious reader.

You have mentioned books that you love but all of them are foreign. Don’t you care for Vietnamese literature?

Vietnamese books have nourished my soul since I was small.Now I am grown up and possess to some extent, I think, knowledge about my country, culture and people.So I desire to broaden my mind.I want to be up-to-date on everything around the world, especially in the context of international integration.Reading foreign books is also a good way to improve my foreign language skills.

Reported by Diem Thu

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