SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO—“My-Hang, from Daly City,” the young woman said as she walked to the front of the stage and gave a quick pose.
“You forgot to say your age!” replied a pageant official who was overseeing the rehearsal.
My-Hang Pham flashed a sheepish smile. The 23-year-old was practicing with about a dozen other women Wednesday in preparation for the sixth-annual Miss National Asia Pageant.
The pageant, to be held Saturday at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, will feature 14 finalists who were chosen from a pool of 80 young women from around the world. There were originally 15 finalists, but one dropped out recently.
“A friend of mine did it, and she said it was such a great experience,” Pham said. “She was so afraid of public speaking. Now she can definitely go in front of others and speak without any problems.”
Competing in the contest is good way to build up her confidence, she said, and “it’s the experience of a lifetime.”
The pageant was started in 2006 to help boost cultural awareness among young Asian-American women. The event has grown in popularity and was attended by more than 1,000 people last year, according to pageant officials.
“We want to emphasize that it’s not just a shiny crown, a sash and a name,” said Linda Phung, who was the pageant’s first winner in 2006 and is now its director. “You have to be able to do something to give back to your community.”
She added, “A lot of the girls, whether they want to promote cultural awareness, (or spotlight) Hepatitis B or certain diseases, we ask them to discuss that when they introduce themselves, what they’re passionate about and what they want to promote.”
Pham said that in addition to submitting the usual head and body shots, she also had to prepare a platform speech and an “ethnic” speech. She said the winner will sign a one-year contract to attend events and do a lot of community service.
“Our previous queen attended more than 300 events, including traveling to Vietnam (where she) made care packages to donate to (underprivileged) children,” Phung said.
She said the pageant staff consists of volunteers who do not benefit financially from the pageant but find the experience extremely rewarding.
“As the first winner, it’s really created who I am today. Not just in my modeling career, but my professional career,” Phung said. “I went from being a shy person to being completely outgoing.”
This year’s finalists hail mostly from the United States but also included two international contestants — one each from Canada and Vietnam.
“In Vietnam, a relative’s friend told me about the pageant and said it was pretty significant,” Ngoc Hang Tra, 21, said in Vietnamese. “So I started researching it on the Internet, and that’s how I ended up here.”
Pham said she is ecstatic about participating in the pageant.
“I’d feel great (if I won). I’m nervous to be up there, especially in front of people I know,” she said. “But no matter what, I know that it would make them proud just to see me there.”
The pageant will be at 6 p.m. Saturday. VIP admission is $65 and general admission is $25. For details, go to http://www.missnationalasia.com.