By now, we might all have heard of the controversy regarding the former Miss Universe Malaysia 2017, Samantha Katie James, over her remarks against the Black Lives Matter movement. She called on the African American community to “relax” and to “accept it as it is” after a nationwide protest erupted following the death of an innocent man, George Floyd.
Weighing on the issue now is the national director of Miss Universe Malaysia Organisation (MUMO) herself, Datin Elaine Daly.
Photo: Facebook Elaine Daly
Daly told the Malay Mail that Samantha’s remark had tarnished the organisation’s name and what it stands for.
“It has affected the pageant’s reputation, but I hope people see beyond that — this is just one girl who has made a statement like this,” said Daly.
“She’s affiliated with us because of the title but we no longer represent her, we have nothing to really do with her anymore actually,” adding that MUMO has distanced itself from Samantha since June 2018 after she bailed out of a three-year contract.
“I did not expect this especially three years down the road after she finished her reign with us, for us to get this kind of backlash,” she said.
Daily, who is also a qualified lawyer and the titleholder for Miss Universe Malaysia in 2003 said that the pageant was established to empower women by giving them a platform to have a voice as well as offering them education scholarships.
“It’s not about putting a girl in a bikini and it’s not just having a pretty face there. It’s giving you a pedestal, a voice to speak out about the right things, not the wrong things like what she (James) has done.”
“She has not done the right thing at all, I’m shocked,” said Daly.
On Samantha’s remarks concerning race where she blatantly said that people “chose to be born as coloured (people) in America” in one of her postings on her personal Instagram account, Daly also criticized how the former Miss Universe identified herself as white, above all else.
“You are Malaysian, what do you mean white?” said Daly. “She’s not white. If we tick the race box, she’s lain-lain but she’s Malaysian.”
In multicultural Malaysia, people of Eurasian heritage fall under the racial category of lain-lain, the Malay word for ‘others’.
Daly’s comments were also related to the remarks made by Samantha on how she was bullied throughout her life for being born in Malaysia but having a Chinese mother and a Brazilian father.
“When people ask me what my race is, I say I’m Malaysian, full stop,” she said. “I don’t say my dad is Eurasian, my mother’s Chinese. If people ask me I’ll explain but I’m not white just because my surname is Daly, which is an Irish surname.”
While Samantha’s has caused an unprecedented outrage in the online community, some, or rather 10,000 people, have signed a petition demanding the 25-year-old’s crown and title to be revoked.
“Nobody has ever won a title and been stripped of it, I don’t know what the legal consequences are so it’s not so easy just to say ‘Okay, I strip you of your title’, there’s so much that goes into it,” said Daly adding that the pageant’s parent organisation in the US had also contacted MUMO after receiving complaints from the public via email.
All in all, Daly reiterates that it is the responsibility of the Miss Universe Malaysia titleholders to be spreading goodwill and positivity after a winner’s reign ends.
“You’re carrying an important title which you will carry for the rest of your life and it’s something that you need to hold up high with dignity as all of us have done over the years.”
“We still maintain our same direction and instil good values in our girls but unfortunately, some are just not as perceptive as others,” she added.
We hope that Samantha will take all that has happened as a learning experience and strive to become a more kind and compassionate person.
By: Siti Farhana Sheikh Yahya
