Monday was an emotional day for us Malaysians, thanks to the whole ‘Best National Costume’ blunder at the 2019 Miss Universe.

For a few hours, we made history for winning something during the pageant for the first time ever, but the celebration was short-lived as the Philippines were later hailed as the rightful winner – a move that made Malaysians furious.

Miss Universe Malaysia Shweta Sekhon broke her silence over the fiasco through a post via her Instagram recently and told her side of the story.

“No words can ever describe how grateful am I to the Lord for this crazy journey of mine at Miss Universe,” she wrote.

No words can ever describe how grateful am I to the Lord for this crazy journey of mine at @missuniverse I came across many new faces , made tons of friends , gained many sisters , got so many mothers and most importantly IT WAS CHRISTMAS SEASON YESTERDAY DURING BREAKFAST WHEN I RECEIVED GIFTS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD ! . . . Many has been asking me questions and clarification about the National Costume . Well 4 countries were briefed to be on standby as we were Top 4 for National Costume and Philippines was part of it too . We were told that a picture would be displayed if we made it to top 20 and if we don’t , we would have to put it on . The entire day the crew went on finding my costume as I was told to be the WINNER . That is why I got into the costume too . . . . I am totally fine with it because in my eyes , every girl that came to compete is a winner ! Philippines or Malaysia. , there isn’t any difference because we are O N E ! ❤️ Congratulations @zozitunzi for the title too ! Truly deserving indeed and I can’t wait to see your journey !!! ??❤️ . . Congratulations to the very beautiful @gazinii too ! Love you so much babe ?❤️ . . . And to my fellow Malaysians , I can’t wait to be back and get to work ! Trust me , this is just the beginning ! I can’t wait to make you all proud ! I AM UNSTOPPABLE ????❤️ . . . #MissUniverse #MissUniverseMalaysia #MissUniverseMalaysia2019 #RoadToMissUniverse #ShwetaSekhon #BeautyBeyondYou #YourBodyYourSay

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“Many has been asking me questions and clarification about the National Costume. Well 4 countries were briefed to be on standby as we were Top 4 for National Costume and Philippines was part of it too.”

“The entire day the crew went on finding my costume as I was told to be the WINNER. That is why I got into the costume too”

She ended the post by saying that she’s fine with the final outcome and “every girl that came to compete is a winner”.

Short-lived historical moment.
The post attracted over 13,000 likes and nearly 1,000 comments, a majority of them congratulating her and telling her how proud they are of her accomplishments.

Miss Universe Malaysia National Director Elaine Daly also aired her grievances via her Instagram account.

“I am extremely disappointed at how the Best National Costume announcement at Miss Universe has come to this,” Elaine wrote.

I am extremely disappointed at how the Best National Costume announcement at Miss Universe has come to this. A few hours ago, during the live telecast just after the opening round, Shweta was asked to go backstage to change into her National Costume for it to be showcased as Best National Costume, and that’s what she did, and conducted interviews as well. When she came out, the host Steve Harvey announced Philippines as the winner and even when he approached to talk to Shweta, he still assumed he was talking to Philippines she of course corrected him and said it was Malaysia and not Philippines. And she continued to explain her costume. Malaysia, who has never been placed at Miss Universe nor won anything, rejoiced! 4 hours later, we found out via Twitter that Miss Philippines was the actual winner. I have taken sometime to reply anyone because I was waiting for an explanation from the Miss Universe Organisation. So I emailed Paula - the President and asked her to please clarify, Paula replied me and said that Philippines won the online voting, but the producing staff backstage picked their favorite and wanted to showcase her. However this was not explained on the show. To everyone who watched it, it was like as if Malaysia had won. Because why would you put a delegate in her costume, have her do interviews and then tell her that she actually didn’t win but was just the producing staff’s choice . I’m speechless but it is what it is. To all of you who have congratulated and made us feel special, I thank you. Shweta and her national costume will always be a winner to us. I mean, we did get all eyes on Malaysia and we got to show off our culture and heritage right?

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After seeking clarification from the President of Miss Universe, Elaine found out that apparently the Philippines won the online voting, but the producing staff backstage picked their favourite and wanted to showcase her.

The matter wasn’t briefed to Shweta, so everyone who tuned in thought she had won.

“Why would you put a delegate in her costume, have her do interviews and then tell her that she actually didn’t win but was just the producing staff’s choice?” Elaine questioned the organisation.

Well, it’s too late to turn back time now but we all know how controversial Miss Universe can be, especially when it comes to announcing winners.

Regardless of what happened, we’re proud of Miss Universe Malaysia and Carven Ong’s creation. Congratulations!