Young, beautiful - and

Profile

with a cause

By Chris Peteru

A concern about problems facing young Samoans may sound a strange reason to enter a beauty pageant, but recently crowned Miss South Pacific Verona Ah Ching doesn’t think so.

What has blown away many of her countrymen, had newspaper publishers printing editorials praising her and seen politically incorrect beauty contests become popular again, is an individual who, aside from her physical attractive ness, has a refreshing absence of pre tence.

Whether crawling along the catwalk with an imitation turtle on her back as she did at this year’s pageant or waving to any army of well-wishers, the University of the South Pacific student is the promot ers’ dream: knock-down good looks, charm and intelligence.

However, the 20-year-old brunette’s intentions to strut her stuff in the Miss Samoa contest that led to her South Pacific win earlier in the year almost did n’t happen.

“My parents didn’t agree with it at first. They thought I just wanted to enter because it was, you know, girls’ stuff. It was only later they found out why I real ly wanted to go in.”

By entering and winning both the South Pacific and national title, Ah Ching hopes to use the recognition to raise the

profile of youth issues.

Once the moral support did arrive, mounting expectations from all quarters brought some unwelcome pressure on the

normally low-key approach Ah Ching

maintains in her life.

“There was pressure from my family and my school, but more from the people I was working with at the Visitors Bureau.

It never really hit me that they were des perate to win - not just the bureau but the

public as well. They were so high with hopes that I was going to get it... I could n’t get away from people saying, ‘You must do this’ or ‘You must do that. We are

expecting you to get it’.” An interest in drama and dancing made her the standout act on the night with an interpretation of a Samoan legend - and a traditional

Miss South Pacific Veronica Ah Ching ... “It hasn’t really occurred to [the young] that they were put here for a purpose” Pictures: Chris Peteru

Samoan wedding garment seldom seem.

“I’ve always liked expressing myself through my hands and my body because I’m not the sort of person who is good at saying outright what I actually feel.”

Her life philosophy stems from her own tough upbringing as the eldest of

seven siblings.

“From there I leamt that life is not exactly a bed of roses. I might as well tell the truth as beat around the bush”.

To provide inspiration, her diary is full of verse and maxims such as Rudyard

Kipling’s Desperado.

Despite some personal setbacks she is reluctant to talk about. Ah Ching believes young Samoans today are facing a backs to-the-wall situation, with growing unem ployment and a lack of opportunity at home.

“The emotional situation for young people at the moment is awful with sui cide, a lack of communication in the home - a lot of things.

“All of them have a purpose - they were all chosen to do something in life.

Some of them feel aimless, but it hasn’t really occurred to them that they were put here to do something. And now is the time.”

An hour-glass figure is powered by her favourite dish - no Diet anything here fried pilchards and rice.

“I eat a lot. I must be heavy now,” she laughs. For Pacific Islanders, who put on

kilos just by looking at food, her exercise programme is almost heresy. Netball and tramping up Mt Vaea, home of author Robert Louis Stevenson, with a bunch of girlfriends is all there is to it.

Like many young Islanders, Ah Ching believes her good fortune is partly attributed to a strong Christian faith that began when she joined the local Congregational church as a five-year-old.

“My spiritual faith relationship with the Lord is just pushing me to do all this.

Sometimes when I’m bogged down with something and I’m driving along, I blurt it out to the Lord and somehow an hour later or weeks later, he acknowledges my prayer.”

It hasn’t all been church singalongs and cocktail functions, admits Ah Ching, who believes public life can be a bit like living in goldfish bowl. Part of the prize package is to work with the Western Samoa Visitors Bureau as a promotions

officer involving trips to Germany and

Japan in the coming year. End-of-year

exams prevented a visit to London last month. Winning the title means plans for a career in psychiatric medicine (again to help Samoan youth) at Auckland University have had to be put on hold for the next 12 months.

An academically successful student and former head prefect at the elite St Mary’s Girls’ College, Ah Ching says: “I am desperate to become a doctor. It was

the one thing I was thinking of when I was being crowned. I thought, ‘Looks like this is what I’m going to be studying for the next 12 months.’

“But I think this will help a lot. It’s important I do this before taking up medicine so it will help me come into tune with other people.” There should, howev er, be time for her one other passion reading. Serious thoughts of becoming a private investigator led her to sleuth through every whodunnit novel Agatha Christie has written. Australian author Barbara Cartland and Erich Segal are other favourites.

“I know it’s boring, but I really like reading - anything from storybooks to newspapers and novels. My Dad and I swap Agatha Christie novels whenever we can. I like something different to happen all the time, so I’m really looking forward to all of this.”

Although Western Samoa owns the rights to the contest, it’s taken 10 years before any Western Samoan has been con sidered good enough to win it.

Says Tourism Minister Tuilaepa

Sailele, who actually managed to smile in public shortly after the result was announced, “We are very happy with the result, and believe Verona Ah Ching will be an ideal representative of women in the South Pacific region for the year.”

For once, public opinion seems to agree. ■

The contestants