Over one hundred young women from around the globe came together in Zhengzhou, China over the past three weeks in hopes of bringing home the title of Miss Tourism Queen International. The beauty pageant, which is in its 59th year, aims to promote global tourism while celebrating ethnic beauty around the world. Considered to be Grand Slam of the pageant industry (also Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Earth), Miss Tourism Queen International 2008 saw 128 countries represented in China this year – one of the highest showings of any international pageant.
One of the most discussed delegates this year was the current Miss Pakistan World, 24-year-old Mahleej Sarkari. The Toronto-based native of Pakistan proved that her homeland has a growing presence in the pageant world – a notion that was unheard of only a decade ago. Pakistani extremists have disbarred beauty pageants in Pakistan indefinitely;
Mahleej Sarkari was born in Karachi, Pakistan and now lives in Toronto, Canada. She hopes that her participation in this industry can help bring awareness to Pakistani women and prove that progression is essential for the liberation of Pakistan. Although Miss Peru, Silvia Vanessa took the top honour, Sarkari was anticipated to place in the top 20 by GlobalBeauties.com, (a website that focuses on the pageant industry) and she took the 2nd runner-up position in the Miss Disco portion of the pageant.
Back in Toronto, Sarkari is preparing to hand over her crown to Miss Pakistan World 2008. The crowning will be take place on May 23rd at the Versailles Conference Center in Mississauga, Canada.
If you’d like more information about this topic, photos, or to set up an interview with Mahleej Sarkari or Sonia Ahmed, please contact Dan Thompson at 647-343-3105 or email Dan at daniel@tamaradaniels.com.
