WINNIE Young Yuen-yee fought off 11 fellow contestants and protests from June 4 demonstrators to be crowned Miss Hong Kong last night.
About 40 students picketed the Hong Kong Coliseum throughout the beauty pageant, angry that it had gone ahead on the sixth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Miss Young, 25, a health care adviser, she said she was aware of the protests and understood people's feelings. But she had concentrated on doing well in the final and was delighted to have won.
Watched over by police, students gathered outside the Coliseum as participants and guests arrived for the TVB-organised gala.
'We think June 4 is a day on which all Chinese people feel shame, and the TV station has undermined the mass media's responsibility to reflect public concern,' student Kan Man said.
Miss Young, who wants to become a TV presenter, beat second-placed Sophie Rahman, 20, and third-placed Shirley Chau Yuong-yee, 24, for the top prize.