STAFF REPORTER
PUBLISHED : Monday, 31 August, 2015, 12:29am
UPDATED : Monday, 31 August, 2015, 12:40am
From left: first runner-up Ada Pong, champion Louisa Mak and second runner-up Karmen Kwok in the 2015 Miss Hong Kong pageant. Photo: Felix Wong
Straight-A student and Cambridge law graduate Lousia Mak Ming-sze was named the winner of this year's Miss Hong Kong pageant.
Mak caused some buzz during the competition's second round of interviews in June when she did not answer when asked about Hong Kong's reform package. Mak, however, said she believed in democracy and the freedom to vote.
In 2009, the former Diocesan Girls' School student talked to the press after she scored 10 As in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examinations (HKCEE).
Mak told reporters at the time that she would like to become a politician and even the Hong Kong chief executive one day. "I want to become an influential [person], not only for the pay," she had said.
Lousia Mak Ming-sze receives her crown and sceptre. Photo: Felix Wong
Ada Pong made it as first runner-up while Karmen Kwok ranked second runner-up in the annual competition hosted by broadcaster TVB.
TVB in 2012 planned for the first time to hold public voting for the champion through the internet and a smartphone app, but the system crashed during the show amid a surge of votes. A HK$480,000 car lucky draw was also scrapped. The winners were picked by a panel of judges instead.
In 2014, the pageant voting system earned public attention again when it seemed to give a taste of what Hong Kong suffrage would look like in 2017. A "one man, one vote" system allowed the public to pick the winner - but not before a panel of celebrity judges had served as a nominating committee to screen out seven of the 10 finalists.
Lousia Mak Ming-sze celebrates her pageant victory. Photo: Felix Wong
Veronica Shiu Pui-sie, a university student, was crowned Miss Hong Kong 2014 after winning more than 156,000 votes out of the total 200,000 cast, far outnumbering the first runner-up, Erin Wong Cheuk-ki and law degree graduate Katherine Ho Yim-kuen.
Notable past pageant contestants include Erica Yuen Mi-ming, one of the top five finalists in 2005, who was elected chairwoman of the People Power alliance in July 2013.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1853991/cambridge-law-graduate-louisa-mak-crowned-miss
