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On January 24 this year, history was made in the Miss Malawi Beauty Pageant when Mable Pullu followed in the footsteps of her mother Martha and sister Elizabeth to grab the crown. Pullu’s mother claimed the crown in 1978 while Elizabeth won it in 2001.
It was all excitement in the family. But eleven months down the line, is the excitement that Pullu had still there?
“Generally, it has been good because I have come to learn a few things. I can’t complain really. However, my activities were limited by lack of finances and transport,” said the 23-year-old beauty queen in an interview Wednesday.
She said among her achievements are charity works and her involvement in Aids awareness among youths.
“I have reached out to a number of youths in various districts creating awareness on HIV/Aids. This was a success because I was working with Nac [National Aids Commission]. I could see that my presence at such forums had an impact and I felt good,” said Pullu who has visited Chiradzulu, Lilongwe and Mzuzu as part of the World Aids Day campaign for last year.
Pullu has also visited a number of orphanages on charitable missions, where she donated various items.
“But lack of money and transport limited my activities because I could not travel much and I failed to source enough things to donate to orphans or other underprivileged groups in our society,” she said.
Pullu said being Miss Malawi has opened up other avenues in her life. She said through the various activities she undertook, she learnt a few things like “being good to people because you never know where you will meet them next”. She did not elaborate.
“I also learnt that life is tough and for you to survive, you have to be tough as well. Be focused and lay down your life goals and agenda. This helps you to see the direction your life will take, otherwise, you do things blindly and become a failure,” said Pullu, a holder of a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from University of Malawi’s Bunda College.
Although her sister was the first queen to represent Malawi at the Miss World pageant, Pullu is not bitter that she did not make it to the international contest.
“Much as I would have loved to participate in the Miss World, I was not all that disappointed because I knew from the beginning that the chances of participating were very slim. So my hopes were not that high,” she said, adding Miss World requires a lot of things which Malawi cannot easily fulfil.
She said the main problem is money because in her case, she had to raise about K1 million to participate.
“The main stumbling block is money otherwise, the issues of height and looks, like hairdo and others, are not important. The country has beautiful and intelligent girls who can make it on the bigger stage if supported. After all, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder so we cannot strive to look like those [girls] from other countries,’ said Pullu, adding self confidence is another virtue in such contests.
She advised that good beauty queens are those who are sharp upstairs as well.
“I would encourage all aspiring for the crown to work hard in school. It means a lot to be beautiful and brainy. Education should come before beauty because this will help the queens for the rest of their lives,” she said.
Asked if she thinks the crown was worthwhile, Pullu took a deep breath, laughed and said: “There were times I thought time was dragging because I wanted to be out of it. I wanted others to come in and see what they will bring. And there were times again when I felt I should continue.”
Pullu, who would have handed over the crown to the next queen next month, will have to wait until March or April because organisers of the contest have changed the calendar.
“This will have both advantages and disadvantages to me. On one hand, it will help me continue with some of the things I started. On the other, I will need more time out of my job. Usually, there is a conflict of interest between the demand of my job and the office of Miss Malawi,” said Pullu who is working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
On proposals to have only undergraduates and graduates vying for the country’s top beauty accolade, Pullu said the idea was not good because there are equally capable people with Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE).
“What should happen is that there should be a selection process involving interviews where only those who are capable will be picked to participate in the contests,” she suggested, adding that organisation of the pageant itself gives more room for improvement.
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