Uproar over pageant contestant's marital status. She says: I ANNULLED MARRIAGE AS... HUBBY ALREADY MARRIED

By Ho Lian-Yi
December 10, 2007

A LOCAL beauty contest is again mired in controversy - and it seems to be the same refrain: Why has a married woman been allowed to take part?


Eye of the storm: Miss Alisha Kaur, the MissSingapore Indian Universal contestant who was accused of being married. She's not - her marriage was annulled - and has papers to prove it.

This time, the poison darts are aimed at Ms Alisha Kaur, whose demure nature makes her an unlikely candidate for controversy.

Yet, the 25-year-old dental assistant's marital status has come under scrutiny after she joined a beauty pageant recently.

Why is a married woman taking part in a pageant where contestants are referred to as 'Miss', her detractors have asked.

Ms Kaur is a contestant in MissSingapore Indian Universal, one of three pageants aimed at Indian Singaporean beauties.

It is understood that at least two contestants, one of them a winner, were disqualified from previous pageants for being married. One woman called The New Paper on Sunday to say that one of her friends had attended Ms Kaur's wedding.

'How can you put a Mrs in the Miss category?' she argued.

When contacted earlier this week, contest organiser Daisy Morgan, 27, confirmed that others had also complained about MsKaur's marital status.

Ms Daisy said: 'Before you called me, another guy called to say this girl is married.'

But she added that these allegations are baseless because she has written proof that Ms Kaur is legally not married.

It turned out that Ms Kaur did marry in April 2004. But the marriage was subsequently annulled, meaning that it is legally regarded as never having taken place.

The reason for the annulment: The groom turned out to be already married, something which she discovered only after their wedding.

He later vanished from her life.

Ms Kaur showed us the legal papers that proved she had annulled her marriage.

As the photographer asked her to pose with the papers, she sighed, saying: 'It's not something to be proud of.' But nothing to be ashamed of, either.

She said her husband-that-never was, an Indian national, is a musician.

'We just registered at the Registry of Marriages. But within a month, he ran back home. I couldn't find him. So I filed for an annulment, and got my single status back,' she said.

She said she has no idea where he is now.

With just a trace of bitterness, she said: 'No one should penalise me in this competition because I worked very hard.'

She said she was well aware of the rules and would have joined the Mrs category if she had been a divorcee.

'I feel bad that people have done this to tarnish my name. I also feel bad for my organiser,' she said.

Ms Daisy is standing behind Ms Kaur and said she will compete in the final as originally planned.

This controversy must have seemed awfully familiar to Ms Daisy.

She saw the same thing happen last year, when she was a contestant in Mrs India Singapore Worldwide, a different event.

The New Paper on Sunday learnt that the winner of last year's MissIndia Singapore Worldwide was stripped of her title because she was married.

EXPELLED
The organiser, Ms Manbir Chyle Lalwani, 34, who's the creative director of advertising firm Sketchworxs, confirmed the winner did forfeit the crown to the first runner-up, but said she could not reveal why because of the terms of settlement.

In 2000, there was a similar incident where a finalist was expelled after she was discovered to be married.

Ms Kaur's case highlights the competitive nature of beauty pageants.

Ms Daisy's pageant is a new entry into the local Indian beauty industry together with another upstart, MissIndian International.

Before them, there was only MissIndia Singapore Worldwide.

But now, all three pageants are being held around the same time.

And they do have one other thing in common: With memories of last year still fresh on their minds, all three pageants have taken steps to avoid any repeat of controversy.

In Universal, contestants face a fine of $5,000 for breaching terms of the contract.

In Worldwide, the organisers have made sure that they know the contestants' family members personally.

As for Miss Indian International, the contestants are all personal friends of the organiser.