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By Kyle T.
This Dindi Gallardo look-alike struck me as somewhat
snobbish at first. Unlike the other delegates who would let out a
gracious smile without prodding, she intermittently projects an aloof
presence amidst the scrutiny of the media people during the Press
Presentation. During my brief conversation with her, I found out
that she is actually a sensible yet serious individual. If at
any, the only weakness I saw beneath Calista's beautiful face is her
tendency to show an underlying lack of humor in her personality.
In one of my lighter questions which is supposed to elicit a smile
from her end, she still remained sedate Here are excerpts from
our one-on-one:
Have you done any special preparations for this
contest? If yes, what is it?
"…Yes because I
actually joined and won Miss Singapore Chinatown 2000 and I am
supposed to represent my country in the Miss Asia-Pacific Pageant.
But when the organizers told me that there is a new contest, Miss
Earth, to be held here in Manila as well, I told them that I'm more
interested to join Miss Earth because we have our own responsibilities
to promote or make our environment better. And also, we are not
only talking about Asia, we are talking about the world here.
You know that I come from a small country, where everyone is educated
about the environment and that helps in containing whatever problems
there are. I don't need to study or anything like that because I was
raised knowing the values of preserving Mother Earth. Without
the earth, there will be no future for us."
Did you come here for the Miss Earth Pageant to
win, to place, or to just participate?
"…I came here to
actually promote Miss Earth, to educate the public to take care of our
environment - this is my main reason of coming here, because I
strongly believe that environment is very important. If you
can't do your part to be responsible, then it's time to wake up."
Some people think that beauty queens are larger than
life, how can you convince them that you are just as normal as anybody
else? "
… I don't know about beauty
queens being larger than life because for me, I am just a simple girl.
I am the same as everyone. I mean a beauty queen can be anybody
because if you can have a kind heart for the world, no matter
what, as a human being, we are the same. It doesn't matter if
you are beauty queen or just like one of the poor people, a worker, or
salesman, as long as you have a heart in the right place and you care
for other people, care for the world, care for the whole surrounding,
we are all the same. There's no difference if you're a beauty queen.
Everyone can be a beauty queen if you have a heart."
As a beauty queen, you are expected to stay fit
and healthy, name me one food you cannot resist eating
. "…Chili. Big
red hot chilis. My favorite food is hot chili!" |
