Miss Hong Kong Ellyn Ngai aims to promote women’s rights, redefine beauty standards

The newly crowned Miss Hong Kong has expressed her wish to use her status to promote women’s rights, calling for them to be given more support and for society to adopt a broader vision of beauty.

Ellyn Ngai Lok-lam, dubbed the “Michele Reis of CityU” by her former classmates at City University, laid out her ambitions on Monday, a day after winning the annual beauty pageant held by broadcaster TVB.

The 23-year-old, who measures 167.5cm (5.5 feet) tall, said during a question and answer session in the contest that women should not be defined by their appearance, after she was asked to react to some online comments claiming she was unworthy of comparisons to 1988 winner Reis.

She used an interview with the broadcaster on Monday to explain her own understanding of beauty.

“Black skin can be beautiful, and white skin can be pretty too,” Ngai said.