May Myat Noe/ Mae Myat Noe
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Here she is, sitting before a group of journalists, pensively looking away from the tiara that she knows she has to return prematurely. She had pulled the tiara out of its blue box before photographers to convey to the world that she had not stolen it and would return it on getting an apology from the organisers.
i) May Myat Noe dethroned amid theft claims By Lwin Mar Htun | Monday, 01 September 2014 Myanmar Times
iii) Norman’s blog
Personal details
Birth name: That Htet Aung
Born on: October 13, 1998 (apparently the Miss Asia Pacific World contest May had said that she was born in 1996)
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
In 2014 May was a student
Claims to fame
May Myat Noe of Myanmar made history by winning the Miss Asia Pacific World crown in May 2014. May was the first winner of an international beauty contest from Myanmar. She was hailed as a national heroine by teenaged girls in Myanmar. There was national pride on her victory.
May is a dancer, singer and actor. Her crown was about to boost her career in all three spheres.
So, she went to Seoul, with her mother, for three months, to record songs with Mabi Dolls, a K-Pop girl band and receive training in pop singing.
Controversy
The decision of May and her mother to extend their stay in South Korea is said to have offended the Miss Asia Pacific World organisation, which said that there was an understanding between May and the organisers that she would stay in Seoul for only 10 days. They ordered her to return home.
May countered this on Facebook saying, ‘In the contract that I had signed with the Agency, I was promised a proper accommodation for the three months stay in Korea as a vocalist. I was shocked upon arrival that no such arrangement is made.
‘The organisation also accused that my mother illegally acquired a three month visa despite the fact that their letter of invitation was meant for only until August 29. Here, I must impress upon them the fact that, regardless of the limitations made in their invitation letter, it is the prerogative of the Korean Embassy here in Yangon to issue a visa to any applicant for any period of time as they see fit.’
Differences with the organisers: May’s version
May Myat Noe said, ‘My decision to return home was reached mainly due to the fact that;
-my mother, who was there with three months visa, was forced to leave Korea on pain of termination of my contract even though the very contract stipulates my family can stay over.
-I was given a strong impression that I should leave Korea for a while, without my mother, to Japan for a few days with no apparent reason but just to extend my Korean visa.
- I was told that, in order to generate funds to produce my music album, I need to accept invitations to escort some business tycoons whenever they require my company.’
Dethroning
On August 27 the Miss Asia Pacific World organisation announced that May had been stripped of her crown.
As early as in June 2014 rumours had started floating that there were serious differences between May Myat Noe, the beauty queen, and Mrs. Daw Hla Nu Htun, the national director of the Miss Asia Pacific World contest in Yangon, Myanmar. May was rumoured to have told her friends that Daw Hla Nu Htun wanted 30 per cent of her income.
Mrs. Daw Hla Nu Htun’s camp countered by claiming that before her coronation May had promised Daw that she would enter into a three-year contract with her, and that once she won the crown, May promptly forgot her promise.
Ms. Daw’s husband is the official photographer for the Miss Asia Pacific World 2014 organisation in South Korea. Apparently the beauty queen was rude to Ms. Daw’s husband.
After the split, May Myat Noe appointed mother as her manager.
Rumours started swirling that May’s mother was the cause of the problem and that she was haughty with the media and May’s fans.
According to Mrs Daw Hla Nu Htun, the Seoul-based organisers had decided to dethrone May Myat Noe in June 2014 itself. Apparently May Myat Noe had been disrespectful to them and her mother had interfered with her training.
Myanmar Times wrote: In a letter stripping May Myat Noe of her crown, Miss Asia Pacific World accused her of lying and disrespectful behaviour to pageant officials and fans.
Hinting at other issues not mentioned in the letter, the organisers said they no longer had confidence that she could perform her duties successfully, and they would select a new incumbent on the basis of beauty, personal and professional qualities and “the right attitude”.
They asked May Myat Noe to return the crown to Daw Hla Nu Htun on her return to Yangon.
They booked May on a flight to take her back to Yangon on August 28. However, on August 27, May Myat Noe and her mother rescheduled the tickets and ceased to be in touch with the organisers. This infuriated them further.
The ‘stolen’ tiara
Meanwhile media reports accused May Myat Noe of decamping from South Korea without returning her Swarovski tiara, valued at between US$100,000 and $200,000.
It was true that May had not returned the crown. Therefore, on Sept 2, 2014, May countered by saying, “I find no reason to keep the Crown in my possession, with honour, handed out by such an organisation. That, however, doesn't mean that I will relinquish this object to the national directors [based in Myanmar]… In their effort to discredit me, they have created an atmosphere where the press is starting to report more along the line of the Myanmar Beauty Queen stole the tiara and went back home. Therefore, it is natural for me to feel that an apology should be demanded to rectify the damage they have done to the integrity of my country. Once such remorse became apparent, I shall return the Crown willingly without a trace of reservation.”
The breast implants
The organisers also said that they had paid $10,000 for her breast implants. ‘but it remains unclear whether she had the surgery,’ Myanmar Times wrote
Myanmar Times added: David Kim, director of media for the Seoul-based pageant… told Associated Press that organisers had been happy to pay for her surgery. “We thought she should be more beautiful ... so as soon as she arrived we sent her to the hospital to operate on her breasts," he said, adding that this had also been done for past winners. "If she has no good nose, then maybe, if she likes, we can operate on her nose. If it's breasts, then breasts."
May was not happy about this suggestion. She wrote on Facebook, ‘-I was put under duress to undergo a head to toe cosmetic surgery which I refused… Should there be a need to prove in a defamation case that I did not go under the knife to beautify myself?’
The lie
The Seoul-based organisers accused May Myat Noe of lying. While this was not elaborated upon, it could have been about her age.
May admitted this on Facebook. She wrote, ‘My only regret would be not protesting firmly enough when the national directors [Mrs Daw] changed my age from 16 to 18.’ Obviously this had been done to make May eligible for the contest.
May Myat Noe
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! - May Myat Noe, after she was smothered by accusations and controversy.
May was a front runner from Day Two
Three pix need downloading: 00, 000 and prize getting at top.
From the day she landed in Korea, at least by that night, it was clear that this serene beauty from Myanmar was the one the other girls would compete against. Hence her victory was no fluke.
On Day 2 of the run-up to the finals—and many days ahead of the finals—‘mr_electriccat’ noted on Missosology, around noon, the feeling that the contest was ‘between Myanmar and the Philippines, both of them are gorgeous and actually would be a strong MU/MW material.’
A few hours later Sandman predicted, also on Missosology: ‘This contest is between mongolia, myanmar and the philippines./ splitting hair further, it's philippines for the crown, myanmar as 1st runner up and mongolia as second runner up.’
The same day May Myat Noe was given the 1st Special Award in Miss Asia Pacific World 2014. The pageant’s major sponsor Pangyo Techno valley appointed her their brand ambassador.
By the evening of the 22nd, the buzz, as recorded by Muzical on Missosology, was:
‘Philippine,,India and Myanmar is leading at the moment.../
‘Most probably Philippines going to win this time knowing that India already had a back to back n it'll be difficult to replicate it again n Myanmar doesn't have much training n sash to win it’
Clearly the consensus was that the raw diamond from Myanmar had it in her to be a world-beater. If only someone could polish her rough edges. May’s winning the first award in the run-up to the finals reflected this consensus.
So, by the second day itself May was on everyone’s lists of front runners.
The Miss Asia Pacific World contest
In previous years, too, contestants had made serious allegations against the Miss Asia Pacific World pageant.
In 2011, Miss Wales, Amy Willerton, and some other contestants had accused the contest of being fixed ‘after a woman representing Venezuela was apparently named runner-up of the talent round before competing.’ Independent
Career in cinema
"Thway Saung Phyar Yaung Htar Thu Ko Kyae Zuu Sat Par Myae" Movie Making by Director Nyo Min Lwin in Yangon on September 23, 2014. Actor Phyo Nge Soe and May Myat Noe, Miss Asia Pacific World 2014, were starring in the movie together with other supporting actors.
