Another crop of diaspora babes assembled for the opening of TVB's Miss Chinese International 2003 pageant yesterday. The 20 contestants were from Chinatowns as far afield as Peru and South Africa.

On January 25, they will vie for the Miss Chinese International crown as well as titles such as Miss Vitality and Miss Friendship. Hopefully, they won't follow in the footsteps of some of their predecessors, whose antics earned them titles from tabloid editors including: Miss Behave, awarded to the first contestant to realise her acting dream in a porn movie; Miss Tress, to the first participant to voyage on Cecil Chau's yacht; and Miss Appropriation, to the first woman to front a bogus property deal.

The women were subjected to exhaustive press photography yesterday. There's nothing like getting detailed shots in the bag for later use.