- Miss Intercontinental 2022 Lê Nguyễn Bảo Ngọc on acting on issues she feels strongly about
Standing tall at 1.85 metres (or six feet and two inches), she combines beauty, brains, and activism to perfection. Lê Nguyễn Bảo Ngọc was crowned Miss Intercontinental last year (in 2022) and is the reigning queen. Before being the first Vietnamese woman to be crowned Miss Intercontinental 2022, she was the first runner-up at the Miss World Vietnam 2022 and in the top 22 for Miss Vietnam 2020.
Bảo Ngọc is known for her altruistic nature, her desire to help others, and her passion for protecting the environment, and is challenging the faulty notion that beauty is nothing more than what meets the eye. She is a global ambassador for the official website of Earth Day 2024 and leads awareness campaigns on climate change issues inside and outside of Vietnam.
She is following a degree in Business Administration at the Ho Chi Minh International University and plans on following it up with a master’s. She is a model as well, loves travelling, camping, photography, and cooking, and lives by her life motto of “there is a lesson in almost everything you do and getting that lesson is how you move forward”.
Born in the heart of the Mekong Delta – in Can Tho City, fuelled by her love for travel, she began exploring Vietnam on her own on the day she turned 18. Winning the crown and travelling to various countries that encompass the Miss Intercontinental pageant marked the first time she has travelled out of her country.
Bảo Ngọc was in Colombo as part of her global tour and Kaleidoscope gained an exclusive interview with the 22-year-old queen to discuss her dreams and goals and what it means to be a beauty queen in the 21st century.
The following are excerpts from the interview:
What does winning the crown mean to you?
Winning the crown means pride to myself, my country, and my team. I was born in Vietnam and for the entire time of competing in the Miss Intercontinental, we had never had the chance to touch the crown before. I tried my best to bring the best of myself to represent my country and to represent the essence of the Vietnamese people. I tried to show what is best in a Vietnamese female and the judges were convinced.
It really means everything to me to honour the effort, time, and investment put into trying to conquer the title. It was a moment of joy and pride. To win the crown also meant that it was my first time going abroad and my mission is to bring the brightest values and most authentic version of the modern Vietnamese female through me to the world. I represent my roots and want to connect across cultures and be a true ambassador of the world.
When beauty pageants focus on a female’s beauty, is that not discriminatory, especially when females are fighting for equal rights?
I am not against beauty pageants and I understand that sometimes you need to focus on the external look and the outlook of the contestants. To be frank, it is a beauty contest after all. But nowadays, beauty has grown into considering the inner look as well as the outer look. In the 21st century, many females have begun to realise that they can convey their own inner beauty through their behaviour, actions, thoughts, and mindset. It is about what is on the inside, which – combined with everything else – creates a beautiful, stunning, and elegant person.
When you meet females who are well spoken, who fight for females’ rights, justice, equality, and what is right, others look at these females knowing that they are incredible. They will undoubtedly say: “This female is not just beautiful, but brilliant.” Nowadays, beauty contests should not be just about external beauty. It should also be about what is on the inside and about what you advocate for.
By winning this crown, how do you hope to make a difference to females in general?
The crown I wear is very symbolic. When you look at the crown it shows a representation of the five continents, with a figure of a female in the centre of the crown. This represents my mission as Miss Intercontinental. I always ask myself what I can do for my people and for my community, especially for the females in my community.
Most of the females in my community are still very vulnerable and don’t have the exposure and opportunities to actually strive for their dreams, goals, and transformational actions. Whenever I put this crown on my head, I remember the females of my community and of the world and I ask myself what I can do as an individual, as a female, to contribute to the equality of females.
Environmental conservation is one of your passions. You launched Earth Everyday by Bao Ngoc. What exactly is this project?
I started working in climate change awareness a few years ago, before I decided to go into pageantry. I was an upcoming and potential climate change and environmental activist at the time. I started and continued many projects in Vietnam prior to winning the title. As soon as I won the crown, I returned to this issue and thought about how I can contribute.
With climate change being one of the most significant problems that the world faces today, I needed to emphasise that it is an issue that is threatening the sustainability of life. So, when I was appointed the Global Ambassador for the official website of Earth Day 2024 in Vietnam, we tried to implement campaigns for the event in Vietnam for the first time.
But simply having projects on Earth Day alone is not enough. It has to be continued. That is when I decided to start a project called Earth Day Every Day, because I needed to endorse the fact that the Earth Day is every day. When we think about Earth Day, my message was that there is no point being an earth lover for one day of the year as that love has to continue 365 days of the year. With Earth Day Every Day, this message was emphasised, first to create awareness on the importance of protecting the environment and making sure our actions reflect this, and secondly, to bring in the habit of protecting nature as a matter of course on a daily basis.
You became the ambassador for four programmes within just one month of winning the crown. What drove you to do this?
The day that I turned 18 and decided to travel solo around my country was the day that I also realised that I absolutely love my country and want to be the voice of my people. I have always felt very strongly about various issues, and as a result, I do a lot of work as an ambassador for these causes in Vietnam.
When one is a public figure, that platform is a weapon for you to use to get yourself heard. I know this and I use this weapon to fight for issues that are close to my heart, including sustainability and women’s rights. I try to make an impact by using my voice as well as the knowledge that I have to share with the world. Being who I am, I can influence young people to do the right thing. I want them to see me as a role model for the right reasons and be inspired to take action to mitigate some of the world’s most critical problems.
You are six foot two inches, which is unusual for an Asian woman. Has your height been an advantage or disadvantage in your daily work?
I admit that I am very tall. In fact, I am one of the tallest queens, if not the tallest in Vietnam, which I am very proud of. But my height is also the cause of many a funny story. When I go through doors, for instance, I am constantly bumping my head. It is not always an advantage to be this tall in everyday life, but in a pageant, it is definitely an advantage. When you are in the formation, where all the girls from every continent are lined up and some of them are really tall, it is an absolute advantage.
Girls from the West are definitely much taller than girls from our part of the world. Being this tall makes me more confident and I don’t have that fear that people will not see me because of my height. When I stand, they see me anyway. However, while being tall is an advantage at a beauty pageant to a certain degree, it is not a deciding factor. Having participated in a few pageants, I know that while the external look of the participant is important, there is much more that the judges look for in presenting a young female the crown.
What plans do you have for yourself after you have finished your year?
I am 22-years-old now and I am still a bachelor’s student. I am trying to complete my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a major in Marketing. I am in my final year right now and after that I can hopefully get a scholarship that will give me the opportunity to complete my master’s in a foreign country. This has always been my plan since I won.
I want to be able to travel as well. In the broader sense, I have always strived towards creating a social impact with my work and projects, and wherever my career takes me, I want to work in areas associated with my passions. I am trying to be a sustainability activist in Vietnam and to encourage youth participation in sustainability issues. I also want to return to Sri Lanka in the future because you have made me feel very welcome here. I would love to explore more of Sri Lankan life.
(The writer is the host, director, and co-producer of the weekly digital programme ‘Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo’ which can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. She has over three decades of experience in print, electronic, and social media)