Miss Guyana World braces for tomorrow’s pageant
-- I'm doing this one solo."
By Shauna Jemmott


MISS Guyana World Suzette Shim says she is having a grand time at the Miss World competition being staged in Sanya, China, but she is not getting enough support from fellow Guyanese at home.

In an e-mail message to this reporter, Miss Shim said she is having a grand time, meeting a lot of new friends, experiencing a different world, being treated like a queen, doing charitable work, and attending interesting lectures.

But she misses food from her country.
"I'm having an absolutely great time... although I must admit I still miss Guyana and the wonderful food," the country's beauty Ambassador stated.

She said that Sanya, the city that’s her home until after tomorrow’s Miss World pageant, is a paradise.

"I simply can't find another word to describe it. The weather is just like Guyana's, so I'm not homesick for sunshine."
Miss Guyana World executive committee member Asmita Chand last month told the Chronicle Miss Shim was enjoying herself at the contest, and everybody likes her accent.

The queen herself confirmed that she has met a lot of beautiful ladies and said she is sure some of the friendships made will be lasting.

Her best friend is her roommate, Miss Dominican Republic, 18-year-old Claudia Julissa Cruz Rodriguez.

"Everyone is a friend here, but the ones I get along really well with are Dominican Republic (my roommate), Cayman Islands, St. Lucia, Belgium, France, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Netherlands, just to name a few."

"Dominican Republic is a very lovely girl. We get along great and I think we complement each other because we're both a little messy," she said.

Miss St. Lucia and Cayman Islands hang out in Shim's room every night.

"We watch movies, chat about our lives at home and just plain girl stuff and best of all indulge ourselves in desserts," she said, adding, "We irritate room service."

She said the girls really like it when she speaks with a Guyanese dialect, and creolese, and would sometimes laugh.

"I'm enjoying myself. We've had the bikini competition and sports. I had a good time taking part in them and believed I did well in both...Unfortunately I'm in terrible pain from the sports event, it was tough."

Miss Guyana said she and the other delegates visited a Bhuddist Temple and were entertained by the monks.

"They did martial arts and the girls did a traditional dance," she said before adding that the event was inspiring and caused her to really want to learn karate when she returns home.

Miss Shim said she does not receive emails or telephone calls from fellow Guyanese, and wishes to get their support through the internet voting competition on the Miss World website at www.missworld.tv.

The queen said nobody from Guyana is with her in China, and if Guyanese should participate in deciding who becomes queen, and vote for her, she would know from that simple effort that she is being supported by the country and people she represents.

Her mission to find her aunt who lives somewhere in China is still incomplete, and she is still hoping to meet her before she leaves for home.

She said she has not received any encouraging emails from fellow Guyanese, who are not members of the local pageant committee.

"No...no encouraging emails, just yours (thank you)."

"No one from home is with me and no one will be. I'm doing this one solo.