AN advocate of financial literacy and a recording artist were crowned Mr. and Ms. Chinatown Philippines 2016, respectively, at the Resorts World Manila in Pasay City last Sunday night, during a pageant that highlighted the excellence of Filipino-Chinese youth in areas of leadership, the arts, entrepreneurship, and academics.
Named winners were Jan Louie Ngo for male division and Shirley Vy for female division. They will serve as the new ambassadors for the Filipino-Chinese community who will promote culture, unity, and friendship.
Ngo, who stands 5’9”, is a student at the Jubilee Christian Academy. He considers himself a strong advocate of financial literacy and wants to teach the youth about financial freedom.
During the question and answer portion, Ngo was asked what he will do if he wins the contest. Ngo answered: “The first thing that I would do is to promote my advocacy that is financial literacy among the youth. I believe that it is important for us to instill the values of prudence and saving which is in our backbone being Chinese in the young ones in order for them to achieve a lot and attain financial freedom. I will do this by creating tie ups with the FFCCCII and various associations of Chinese so that I can teach as early as those in Grade 6 financial literacy.”
Vy, who stands 5’3”, is a student at the Leyte Progressive High School. Born and raised in Tacloban City, the new beauty queen is a recording artist under Universal Records Philippines and has released a debut album entitled “Simply Bossa” and an OPM single “Sabihin Mo.”
She was asked by Senator Risa Hontiveros during the question-and-answer segment: “As a young Filipino-Chinese, how would you use our recent victory in the Permanent Court of Arbitration which decided in favor of the Philippines? How would you use it to promote world peace?”
Vy answered: “I want to promote world peace by telling the people that we should not add fuel to the fire, especially in social media. We should not bash or rant our victory. Instead, we should promote friendship to maintain the friendship that we have made from generation to generation.”
First runner-up honors went to Sherwin Yao and Lin Zeng while second runners-up were Wryan Chua and Pichie Lim.
Other candidates who finished in the Top 10 were Nelson Lin, Richmond Balila, LeitzAng, and Germaine Chuabio.
Winners of special awards were: Shireen Rosales, Talent; Don Kim and Trisha Dy, Cultural Attire; Nelson Lin and Katrina Go, Congeniality; Jan Louie Ngo and Eunice Rogando, Photogenic; Ngo and Shirley Vy, Swimwear/Swimsuit; Benedict Siao and Leitz Ang, Formal Wear/Evening Gown; Sherwin Yao and Pichie Lim, Mr. and Ms. Philippine Airlines; Ms Oriental, Vy; and Chua and Ang, Shimmian ambassadors.
Crowds cheered wildly as the 30 contestants – 15 boys and 15 girls – paraded on stage at the sold-out competition. Hosts Robi Domingo, Gretchen Ho, Janeena Chan, and Willord Chua cited the rich history of Filipino-Chinese traditions as they infused interesting information about Tsinoys in various portions of the contest.
Aside from Sen. Hontiveros, other members of the board of judges were Miss Chinatown 1974 Arlene Cheng, fashion designer Ditta Sandico, Hoseki Chief Creative Director Knoi Esmane, FFCCCII Executive Vice President Henry Lim Bon Liong, Oriental Group General Manager Kevin Wong, Chinese Embassy Cultural Counsellor Pan Feng, Confucius Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University Executive Director Cynthia Liang, Everbright Property Management, Inc., Managing Director Alex Martos, ABS-CBN Chief Financial Officer Aldin Serrano, and Regal Films producer Roselle Monteverde. (Robert R. Requintina)