Miss Mauritius GB 2011 was organised by Mauritius News with the support of the Mauritius Cosmopolitan Society
Written by Editor Monday, 28 March 2011 13:11
Sponsored by (in alpha order) Air Mauritius, A & M Travel, Choolun-Boodhoo (Savina) of Raj Law Solicitors, HRL De Costa, London School of Law, Mauritian Club.Com, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), N9 Travel Centre, Oxford College International, Retnon Shunmoogum of Mauritius Tamil Maha Sangam (MTMS),
Sun Resorts (Hotels Group)
23 UK Mauritian girls, as far as Edinburgh, enrolled for the beauty contest and 19 turned up for the final line-up on February 5 at the Wandsworth Civic Suite in the Borough of Wandsworth in South London.
It was a cold wintry evening and yet the girls came to stand for the tough psychological test of their own personality among a large gathering of spectators. They came on stage a first time in casual dress and subsequently appeared in their evening dresses, one by one, to be questioned in the presence of a panel of judges chaired by Lord Brian Davidson.
The election of the Miss Mauritius GB 2011 and the two runners-up were based on the following criteria: 1. Casual Dress 2. Evening Wear 3. Overall personality 4. Oral delivery on achievements and aspirations.
The lucky winners are:
Miss Mauritius GB 2011: Melissa Nathoo - 25 years old - of Bury St Edmunds, A graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University. (Melissa is in the centre of picture on left)
First Runner-up: Shiksa Matabadul - 19 years old - of Romford, Essex, student nurse at London South Bank University. (Shiksa is on the right in the picture)
Second Runner-up: Rebecca Mangaroo – 21 years – of Epsom, Surrey, studying Business and Design at Kingston University. (Rebecca is on the left in the picture).
The first prize was a return ticket to Mauritius offered by Air Mauritius, and week’s stay for two at the new Long Beach Hotel, Belle Mare, Mauritius, offered by Sun Resorts.
As our contributor Marc Grégoire writes below “Pour un coup d’essai, ça a été un coup de maître.”
P.S.: We must, however, understand the immense frustration of the losers as everyone cannot win. There was quite a bit of lamentation and recrimination around.
I can assure the candidates that there was no hanky-panky in the Miss Mauritius GB election. To avoid any allegation of ‘fixing’, a symptom experienced after each previous competition, I personally hand-picked the judges whose integrity I can vouch for.
The rumour that one of judges had confessed to some girls that the election was fixed can be ascribed to sour-grape.
For the next competition we shall arrange for the audience to vote as well. This was a suggestion made by Mrs Savina Choolun-Boodhoo before the event, but it could not done this time.
The event had its failings such as the undue delay to start and the lack of adequate changing room. We have learned a lot from this experience.
To everyone who contributed to the success of the event, and the girls themselves, I say a big thank-you.
The three Organising Commitee members Dinah Ramsamy, Yvonne Goder and Mel Armoogum deserve special mention for their dedication.
We also have in mind Mrs Vadee Shunmoogum of the Furzdown Bar who came to our rescue when we were badly let down by the Mauritian bar people who pulled out at the last minute fearing that the assistance would not be worth their while. They went back on their word.
Peter Chellen
