'Orientals may be pretty but in the West they may not see them as that great'

HONGKONG has yet to walk off with a major international beauty pageant, and organisers and beauty competition insiders say the odds on a local beauty being crowned Miss Universe or Miss World are pretty long.

They cite cultural factors, height, personality, the fact most contests have an all-Western board of judges and a ''limited choice'' in contestants as the main reasons behind the lack of success on the international beauty pageant circuit.

''I think it is a question of standards. For us, Oriental girls may be pretty but in the West they may not see them as that great and feel Western women are much more beautiful,'' said Ms Iris Lam, of ATV's public relations department.

ATV is the organiser of the Miss Asia pageant, in which all contestants are Hongkong Chinese. In its eight years, ATV has yet to see a Miss Asia winner take a top international title. The greatest achievement was when a Miss Asia won prizes for best costume and best figure when the Miss World pageant was hosted in Hongkong.

''A lot of the time Asian girls are kind of short and if they stand with a whole bunch of girls they don't really stand out. But recently, a lot of girls joining the pageant are of pretty good quality,'' she said.

Ms Lam said personality - or the perceived lack of it - of Asian women had much to do with the outcome.