A 20-year-old Sikh girl will represent Malaysia at the Miss Universe 2016 finals at Manila. Kiranmeet Kaur Baljeet Singh Jassal won the Miss Universe Malaysia title in 2016 and was awarded the 'Miss My Dentist Winning Smile' subsidiary title.
Kiran's family shifted to Malaysia decades ago and is based in the suburbs of Subang Jaya town in Selangor state.
Her mother, Ranjit Kaur, was the winner of the Classic Mrs Malaysia title in 2015 while her sister Ranmeet, a model, was also a beauty pageant title holder and a doctor by profession.
Jassal Sisters
The Jassal sisters grew up admiring and idolising beauty queens Miss World 1994 Aishwarya Rai and Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen.
Their stories resonated strongly with me because they did something else with their lives other than just being a beauty queen, especially Sushmita Sen, as she did a lot of charity work outside of Miss Universe.Kiran Jassal
Kiran With Her Mother
Kiran, who is studying dentistry at the International Medical University (IMU), said beauty pageants were good platforms for younger women to voice their opinions.
Beauty pageants could be used to gain fame and publicity. But I think if it is used right, you can get the public recognition to raise awareness and bring light to certain causes as you have a huge target audience.Kiran Jassal
Kiran Sharing a Moment With Dad
Her sister Ranmeet, a medical graduate of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in India, says the perception of beauty pageants has changed over the years.
More women who are equally good in education are taking the initiative because it is a good platform to educate and inspire young women. [sic]
The 65th Miss Universe 2016 finals will take place in Manila, Phillipines on 20 January.
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