Asian Miss Global beauty pageant winner on mental health, female empowerment and being a therapist
- Sophia Ng won last year’s Miss Global competition, making her the first Asian to hold the title
- The Vancouver-born, Hong Kong-based therapist has used the platform it gave her to help redefine what ‘beauty’ means to women all over the world
If you ask Sophia Ng, the most memorable part of winning last year’s Miss Global competition was not the moment she was crowned – it was when a little Asian girl, who appeared no more than eight years old, came up to her afterwards and said: “I’m so glad it is you [who won] because you have my eyes.”
“But, as I got older, I learned that this is just a different form of beauty and it should be celebrated. It really made me feel like if I ever got the chance, which I did, I really hope that I can be a mirror.”
Founded in 2011, Miss Global is an annual global beauty pageant for single women between the ages of 18 and 35 – and the significance of Ng being the first Asian to hold the title goes way beyond physical appearance.
The fashion, entertainment and pageant industries have long struggled with diversity and inclusion. Chinese model Liu Wen took part in the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2009, making her the first Asian model to do so since its inception in 1995.