By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, April 27: Kuching lass Tamira Lallemand was crowned Miss Cultural Harvest Festival 2019 at the grand finale at Sarawak Cultural Village here last night.
The 22-year-old beauty beats 11 other finalists and went home with RM3,000 cash, crown, sash, trophy, a bouquet of flower, a year’s supply of hair care products, a complimentary 2-day, 1-night stay at a leading local hotel.
In addition, she was also rewarded with a scholarship worth RM28,000 to pursue a Diploma in Tourism course at a college here.
The crown was placed on her head by guest-of-honour Datin Melinda Claudia Buckin, wife of Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan.
Also present were Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) director (Tourism and Hospitality) Edwin Abit and his wife, Elizabeth Nora George, Sarawak Cultural Village general manager Jane Lian Labang and last year’s winner Melinda Peter Jinap.
Tamira, who is of Bidayuh-English parentage, told the guests that she hoped to pursue a degree in electrical engineering and that playing video games and watching classic movies top her list of things to do during her leisure hours.
She had also won the subsidiary title `Miss Mydin SHFF 2019’ earlier.
The first runner-up at the grand finale was Dayang Nursyafiqah-Qawiemah, 21, who is also of Malay-Chinese parentage. She aspires to be a flight attendant. In her bag are also `Miss Beautiful Eyesight Sarawak Harvest and Folklore Festival (SHFF) 2019’ and `Miss Favourite Karuna SHFF 2019’ titles.
The second runner-up was 24-year-old University Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) undergraduate Lidya Yusreena Abdul Ellias, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Communication Programme in Social Science degree. She had earlier won the `Miss Talent SHFF 2019’ subsidiary title.
Dayang received RM2,000, while Lidya got RM1,000 in prize monies.
Each of them was also given a sash, trophy, a bouquet of flowers, hair care products, complimentary 2-day, 1-night stay at two local hotels and scholarship worth RM28,000 to do a Diploma in Tourism course at a local college.
The remaining nine finalists did not go home empty-handed. They were each given RM300 cash, trophy, haircare product and an intensive English course worth RM4,000 at a local college.
The other subsidiary title winners were 19-year-old Olivia Christise Winnie of Sri Aman (Miss Fitness Riverside 2019) and 18-year-old Nurdiyana Baharin of Kuching (Miss Congeniality SHFF 2019 title).
This year, the contestants took to the catwalk wearing traditional Orang Ulu costumes.
The panel of judges comprised RTM Sarawak radio producer Datin Lydia Paya, International Women’s Association Kuala Lumpur advisor Datin Pearl Masna Ulun and theatre activists, scriptwriter and theatre coach Zakaria Hassan. — DayakDaily
