Arts
When beauty is earth – bound
Miss Earth 2015: Angelia Ong
“Climate change is unstoppable, but we can slow it down and give our planet a chance to heal itself. There is no ‘Plan B,’ this Earth is not ours to begin with. Everything around us is just borrowed – things that we need to respect and protect.” This is the message that Miss Earth 2015 hopes to deliver during her visit to Sri Lanka as she prepares to create awareness on some of the pressing concerns of the environment.
The Sunday Times Magazine caught up with 26-year-old Angelia Ong who representing Philippines at the Miss Earth pageant 2015, won the prestigious title ( giving her country a second successive win) and has since been travelling around the world, delivering a message of hope.
“I think the number one threat, not only to the environment, but also to humanity is climate change,” she tells us adding that people have been denying that it exists altogether, because it will affect their business concerns. But now it is undeniable that it’s happening.
“In Philippines, we are used to typhoons, because we are located beside the Pacific Ocean, where it’s formed. However, the thing that’s changed lately is that our typhoons get stronger and just ruin lives and the environment,” she says.
However there’s only so much that Angelia can do as Miss Earth. What’s important, according to her, is that we learn how to help and keep each other informed of the ways we can ease the problem of climate change, because there are no overnight solutions, rather it’s a continuous process.
Angelia tells us they put their investment and effort into children because with the grownups, it’s really hard to break old habits, “but we don’t stop trying.”
She hits home when she tells us, “We should never give up on nature, because Mother Nature never gave up on us. It’s just us who are hurting her. I think the first step to a better environment, is really the acknowledgment of the problem. Once you acknowledge that there is a problem that’s the time we get to do things and be part of a solution.”
It was fate that drove her to become tMiss Earth in Vienna Austria, she tells us. This was because she wasn’t a “pageant person” before. “Do you know how your mum tells you, that you’re beautiful all the time? Of course you believe it. But it’s a different thing when the people around you, encourage you to join competitions and that’s what really encouraged me and empowered me,” she says.
The competition was a huge challenge for her because it was the Philippines which had won the previous year and people told her that it was impossible to have a back-to-back win.
“I had to work harder than the rest of the girls but it was all worth it, because on that coronation night when they said ‘Philippines’, it was amazing,” she says, wiping the tears away from her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she continues, “I shouted, I cried and I laughed. I did everything altogether.”
Miss Earth Water 2015: Brittany Payne. Pix by Athula Devapriya
“I really want to be remembered as the queen who did her job,” she says, adding that she always wanted to make an impact.
Miss Earth is very different from other beauty pageants, Angelia tells us. It doesn’t only make you “rock your heels but it also gets your hands a bit dirty, with planting trees, going to public schools teaching the kids and it’s really something that you will cherish for the rest of your life.”
They aren’t just beauties with a crown, she stresses. “ No matter how pretty you are, if you don’t have a love for the environment, it will show,” she tells us. “We want an ambassador who has the heart to do this job, not just the looks, we are all beautiful in our own ways, it’s the heart that really differs,” she says.
Angelia will be part of launching a project of planting one million trees in Sri Lanka. “Isn’t that exciting? You guys will be one million trees greener,” she says.
She is also joined by Brittany Payne of USA, who was crowned Miss Earth-Water 2015. “You have to be beauty for a cause,” Brittany tells us adding that she has been in beauty pageants for the past eight years, but Miss Earth has been a different experience altogether.
“Making it into the top four was unreal because this was an international pageant. I knew that mentally and emotionally you had to be prepared for this,” she says.
It takes a little maturing going into it, she concedes adding that the experience definitely made her humble and love where she came from. “As a contestant for Miss USA next year, I would tell you that this pageant isn’t just about outer beauty or how well you model, it’s honestly about what you can do to inspire others, and that’s really a big percentage of your score, unlike other pageants, where they like you to volunteer but it’s not required,” she says.