Philippines is #5 in gender equality, says WEF; Megan Young said as much weeks ago

UPDATE (Oct 29): Miss World 2013 Megan Young was right all along. The Philippines is one of the countries in the world where men and women are most equal. “One thing I can assure you is that I did not feel that there is a…superior between men and women.” That’s confirmed by the latest Global Gender Gap Index by the World Economic Forum where the Philippines ranked fifth (three points higher), just after Sweden (4th), Norway (3rd), Finalnd (2nd) and Iceland (1st).

To hear Megan Young’s soundbite, watch the video below at 05:20.

—–
5 takeaways from Megan Young’s BBC interview

(Oct 5): Recently crowned Miss World 2013 Megan Young is in London and last night BBC News aired an interview with her on the television program “Impact”. Here are our five top takeaways from the guesting, which lasted just over seven minutes (quotes have been edited for clarity):

On seeing footage of the competition:
“It actually hasn’t sunk in yet, and this is actually my second time to watch that video and I still feel like crying.”

On why she joined Miss World:
“I did think of pageants as very superficial…and I stumbled upon Miss World…and the fact that it’s main focus is charities, which is the ‘beauty with a purpose’…it wasn’t about the glitz and the glamor at all but how you are as a person.”

On being an agent of change in her own country:
“I’d rather start small in helping encourage people and putting that hope out that there’s a tomorrow…that they don’t have to think negatively, it’s always that positive outlook that gets people to evolve.”

On meritocracy in the Philippines:
“It’s based on skill. If you can show people that you’re capable of doing something, then you’ll succeed in life. It’s not about who you are, like if you’re a man or a woman or if you have different preferences in life.”

On World Muslimah, a parallel beauty event held in the same week as Miss World:
“I think it’s a very respectable competition…because they show how they are as an Islamic society….we each have our ways of showing how to be beautiful.”



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on