Women of substance

By K.M. LEW

At a time when there’s never been a greater need for change, nothing is more refreshing than a competition which celebrates diversity in beauty.

     Hotelier Karina Abdullah is, at 107kg, not your average beauty queen. First, the 24-year-old does not conform to the oh-so-boring rule stating that all beauty queens should be tall, willowy and hourglass-perfect. Second, she has more secrets than Miss World or Miss Universe would care to admit.

     “Of course I wanted to be thin when I was younger,” says Karina, when I asked if she ever had issues with her weight.

From left: First runner-up Mandy Ong Liam, title holder Karina Abdullah and second runner-up

     “I was 55kg when I was 15. My weight shot up due to the gastritis medication I was taking and, all of a sudden, I lost all confidence in myself.”

     Looking at her now, one would never think that. She is, after all, basking in the afterglow of the recent Jumbo Queen competition organised by Plaza Sungei Wang in Kuala Lumpur, where she was crowned reigning queen for 2010. She walked away with RM5,000 in cash, a trophy and sash.

     Clad in a canary yellow maxidress that drapes beautifully across her voluptuous size-14 frame and red high-heel pumps, she is a picture of serenity and self-assurance.

     “I never expected to win,” she says. “I spent a lot of time rehearsing what I was going to say when I got on stage, but I was so nervous that I forgot my speech when the time came. It was embarrassing!”

     But if the praises of Sungei Wang’s senior manager K. K. Lim are anything to go by, Karina is destined for things much bigger than herself.

Diana Lau (also above) won the Most Talented Jumbo Queen title for her dance.

     “She’s a natural beauty. She outshone the other nine finalists because of the way she carried herself,” he gushes later when she is out of earshot.

     Lim, who sat in as a judge for the finals, was also in charge of organising this unusual beauty pageant, which was originally held in Thailand to highlight the plight of Asian elephants (according to Thai stipulations, a Jumbo Queen has to weigh more than 80kg and reflect the grace and beauty of the majestic pachyderm). However, Lim’s motive was a purely tactical one. He wanted to boost weekday attendance at a shopping mall which receives a bulk of its clientele on weekends.

     “I was holidaying in Bangkok when I came across some magazines with Jumbo Queens on their front page, and I thought what a great idea,” he says. “But from the very beginning, I knew that it would take Malaysians some time to warm up to the idea.”

     Just as Lim expected, our nation’s very first Jumbo Queen pageant only had 20 applicants when it was held in 2007.

No big deal

     After a two-year hiatus, the Jumbo Queen pageant is back with more big-name sponsors and monetary backing. This time, however, more than 40 aspirants, including a 50-year-old housewife, signed up to compete (yes, there is no age limit, simply because Lim is afraid that imposing too many restrictions could work against his favour).

     “The competition provides an opportunity for all plus-sized women to be in the limelight,” he says. “The only rule is that you have to be above 18 and confident! Many applicants who didn’t make the cut were actually quite pretty, but were painfully shy.”

     Confidence, it seems, can get you far, as with 33-year-old Suhaily Mohamad Ali, who was one of those who had no qualms singing and dancing in front of hundreds of spectators, despite being the heaviest contestant at 143kg. As such, the mother of six managed to breeze her way through rounds one and two to emerge among the top 10.

     “This is actually my second time competing in Jumbo Queen because I didn’t win the last time!” she says, smiling mischievously. “My best friend Azurah asked me to join in with her this year. I’ve always been interested in modelling, so I thought why not? I want everyone to know that big women can be beautiful too.”

     Suhaily may not have won this year’s pageant either, but she claims that participating in it was one of the best decisions she’s made in her life. Of course, it also helped that she had a tremendous amount of support from close friends and family.

     “Yeah, you should’ve seen her supporters. They all came dressed in pink, waving banners and cheering very loudly!” exclaims a very amused Lim.

     “I’ve never had a problem with the way I look and neither do my kids or husband, who’s much smaller than I am,” says Suhaily, adding that his love and adoration for her did not waver even when she was piling on the kilos after the birth of their second child.

     “If anything, I think he loves me even more. He gets really jealous when he sees me talking to other men!” she says, eyes twinkling.

     The housewife — whose daily chores consist of everything from keeping the house spick and span to caring for the kids (her youngest is five) — claims that her weight has never interfered with her work.

     “I think the only problem for me is finding the right clothes because everything here is so tiny! That, and the fact that I’ve never been brave enough to get into a Kancil!” she says. “Otherwise, I feel healthy. I cook, I clean, I dance.”

     According to Lim, the public has a clichéd, and often mistaken, perception of plus-sized women — “Even I was guilty of thinking that once,” he admits.

     However, the pageant has taught him that not all of them are as “lazy” or as “helpless” as their weight implies.

     “This negative stereotyping is really unfair,” he says. “I found out after organising this event that they’re all great girls, fun and friendly. Some of them are even more energetic than their skinnier peers!”

     He is referring to Diana Lau, 27, whose effortless shimmies, gyrations and leg-splits during the pageant’s talent portion won her the Most Talented Jumbo Queen title.

     Lau, who works as a dance teacher by day and a lounge performer by night, is also present for the interview. Clad in a short denim skirt and hot pink tube, she is easily the most brazen and effervescent of the bunch.

     “I’ve been dancing for eight years and I know several dance styles including bellydancing, hip-hop, freestyle and new jazz,” she says, after apologising for her halting English. “I didn’t even choreograph the routine that I performed that day. It just comes naturally.”

     The Sarawakian, who migrated to the big city five years ago in search of a better lifestyle, says that opportunities are scarce for someone her size. Her talent, however, is enough to wipe the smirk off most faces. Take Lim, for instance, who can’t help but rave over what he witnessed on stage a week ago.

     “I guess it runs in my family,” says the very athletic Lau, who had also represented her home state in national basketball and wushu competitions when she was younger. “My older brother is a break-dancer and my older sister is an aerobics instructor. They’re all really skinny, however. I’m the only one who weighs 90kg.”

Don’t give me attitude!

     For someone with multiple tattoos and a well-rehearsed tough-girl act, Lau is surprisingly gracious and trusting. Within moments of meeting me, she prattles on about her life, including the recent messy divorce she’s had to go through (it ended with the husband winning sole custody of their six-year-old) and the sudden, unexpected break-up from her current fiancé.

     “He just packed up and disappeared when he found out that I had joined the pageant,” she reveals. “He’s been pressuring me to lose weight for some time and keeps comparing me to other girls. I didn’t hear a word from him after that.”

     Asked if she was heartbroken, Lau, who seems unruffled by her experience, says in Chinese: “I suppose what is yours, is yours, and what isn’t, will never be. I’m just glad that I got to see his true colours before we got married.”

     Like Karina, Lau has struggled with her body since she was a teenager (“I used to weigh 130kg,” she declares).

     She has tried everything — dieting, medication, health supplements and even regular appointments with a nutritionist — to shed those pounds. Unfortunately, her tenacious quest backfired.

     “I was on this yellow pill about two years ago,” she says. “Not only was it cheap, about RM1 for one, it was also very effective. I was 12kg lighter after one month. This would’ve been a good thing if I hadn’t blacked out one day. I did not wake up till two days later — in the emergency ward of a hospital.”

     Karina, who could relate to what Lau had gone through, quips, “Yes, I know the pill! It gives you heart palpitations, doesn’t it? I was on that too!”

     Lau and Karina may have sworn off diet pills since the passing of the “yellow pill” fad, but the former is still coming to terms with her own body.

     “I need to lose more weight because my profession requires me to be slim and slender. They call me “Diana-saur” at the club now. Also, the salespeople always give me hell when I’m out shopping for clothes for my job. They get very rude and condescending when they see me picking out the sexy stuff,” says Lau.

     Despite their monumental confidence, Karina and Suhaily are not exempted from societal prejudice either. The public, it seems, can be “cruel”, “unforgiving” and “judgemental” when you’re a plus-sized woman trapped in an over-starved, over-plasticised society.

     “Even my children’s friends tease them about having a fat mother. However, my kids would always reply, ‘My mother is beautiful. Is yours?’,” says Suhaily, smiling.

     However, both women do not let such pettiness get to them.

     “Yes, it’s not unusual for the public to discriminate against us because of our size. They just stare at you and start to make snide remarks. But whenever that happens, I just put on a whole lot of sass, like my role models Aretha Franklin and Queen Latifah. My boyfriend loves it!” says Karina.

     She claims that the competition has helped her “see the light” by reinforcing her belief that plus-sized women can do anything they put their minds to, including landing themselves a spot in the entertainment industry.

     “For years, I’ve wanted to join Akademi Fantasia but I hadn’t dared to,” says Karina. “Now I’m ready to fulfil my dreams!”

     Lau, meanwhile, claims she only told her parents about the competition after it ended because she didn’t want them to worry needlessly — “They’re very traditional people and wouldn’t approve,” she says. Their reaction, she tells me, was expected: shocked one moment, happy the next.

     “It was something I had to do for myself. I wanted to prove that I could achieve something. Not to the world, but for myself,” says Lau.

     While the Jumbo Queen pageant still remains of little national or international interest (the only other Jumbo Queen pageant outside of Thailand is held annually in Italy), Lim says he hopes to change this. And as far-fetched as this may sound, he believes that, with enough support, the pageant can be taken as seriously as Miss Universe or Miss World in the future.

     And why not? The pageant could send a message of self-acceptance to all the little girls struggling with demons of their own.

     “You shouldn’t change yourself because of other people’s mistakes, especially if your family and close friends already love you,” says Lau firmly.

     “Happiness is a choice. The days will pass even when you’re sad. Being happy makes life a whole lot easier and you’ve got only one life.”