Singapore’s representative to the upcoming Miss Universe pageant plans to wear a dress depicting a key moment of the U. S.-North Korea summit that Singapore<\/b>
\nSINGAPORE \u2013 Singapore\u2019s representative to the upcoming Miss Universe pageant plans to wear a dress depicting a key moment of the U. S.-North Korea summit that Singapore hosted earlier this year, but the design of her gown has raised hackles in the wealthy city-state.
The outfit, which shows two hands draped in the flags of the United States and North Korea locked in warm handshake on an electric blue background lined with iconic tourist attractions in Singapore, has drawn flak on social media since it was unveiled late last month.
An online petition has been launched to prevent the costume from being paraded by 23-year-old Singaporean model Zahra Khanum as a national costume at the pageant in Bangkok later this month, with many criticizing it as not representative of Singapore besides being ugly, gawdy and poorly designed.
\u201cIt would truly be a sad day to have Singapore represented with the American and North Korean flags,\u201d said the petition, which was started by Sandra Galistan, and has attracted more than 1,700 online supporters. \u201cThere is nothing about this distasteful costume that truly represents Singapore. It is totally non-representative, inappropriate and ridiculous to say the least.\u201d
However, Khanum has defended the costume and was quoted by the state-run Channel News Asia as saying that it is \u201cjust a representation of what Singapore stands for, which is world peace, and the fact that Singapore is reaching out to other countries to create positive relationships.\u201d
Moe Kasim, 48, the creative director of Moephosis Concepts (Singapore) who designed the costume, was undeterred by the criticism.
\u201cI\u2019m a very positive person. I guess after designing and making national costumes for various pageants over the past 10 years, I\u2019m mentally prepared for all kinds of responses,\u201d he said in an email reply to Kyodo News.
He said he was asked by the organizers to design something based on the historic summit between U. S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which was held June 12 on Singapore\u2019s Sentosa Island.
\u201cI believe the organizers wanted to highlight what was relevant, current and unique \u2014 something that was probably only going to happen once in our lifetime and in Singapore\u2019s history,\u201d he said.
\u201cI naturally thought of world peace and the elements of it, hence, the design,\u201d he said of the costume, which also features two large feathery wings.<\/p>\n