The Miss British Empire 2018 international beauty pageant which took place in Perth, Australia saw Dr Nuwandika Lakmali Wickramarathne - Siriwardena been crowed as the ‘Queen of the Night.’ Dr. Nuwandika in conversation with Young Voice told us about her victory. Let’s start off with your overwhelming joy at winning the pageant?
I was pretty confident that I would win. So I thought I should put the national flag into my bag, because I had a feeling that I might wave it and shout if I win. It was a great competition. There were 97 competitors from around the world. It was a challenge with the New Zealander and Australian but I was not nervous. When they announced that I was the winner I just did not know what came over me… my emotions were overwhelming and I had to control myself from shouting for joy.
How did you enter this competition?
With the exposure into the field of modelling and the talent agency, StarNow Modeling, I had the opportunity to apply for the pageant. There is no National Director representing Sri Lanka for this pageant. It was mainly organised by the British. For countries which do not have National Directors, the competitors can apply by entering a photo contest. Thereafter, the pageant organisers would request a complete profile in order to shortlist applicants. I was selected and was proud to represent Sri Lanka in Australia.
What is the main objective in organising this kind of competition?
Actually, they had good objectives in this pageant. Sri Lanka is a Commonwealth country. Their objective in doing this pageant was to build up mutual understanding, communication and maintain strong relationships among the Commonwealth countries.
As a competitor what criteria did you have to fulfill to be eligible?
Beauty isn’t the only thing included in their list of criteria; they especially considered the height of the candidate, the personality, educational level and communication skills. Besides these, the way we pose for the pictures and the figure were taken into consideration. There were four rounds in the pageant such as evening wear, beach wear, photo shoots and the interviews.
For most competitors, the interview round is bit tough. How did you face it?
The interview round happened in front of a big crowd. The first question they asked me was “why do you think you should be Miss British Empire?”, and I answered, “Miss British Empire Organisation has a good objective which is to expand communication among different cultures and spread goodwill and understanding all over the world. The person who is crowned should be able to fulfill those objectives, I’m prepared for that and my objective is also the same, therefore, I think I’m the most suitable person for this crown.” Secondly they asked me, if I were to migrate to another other country, which country would you choose and what will you do? I replied “I like to go to USA, but not to stay there my whole life, but to become a good model and study about modeling. I want to become a good businesswoman also, but more than that I want to continue social services.
Can you explain how competitive it was for you?
Actually I think all the candidates were very talented. Within the contest we had to walk like a model and show our figure, and appear well for photographs. I guess I scored high points on that. At the contest I was a model and not a doctor.
What was the memorable moment in Perth?
Another incident happened when I was in the final round at the competition. I was the contestant no. 1, the contestant no.2 was Miss New Zealand, when I was about to step on the stage, she was telling me that ‘you are so beautiful, talented and you perform nicely.’ I had to perform in front of a crowd of strangers.These words encouraged and empowered me. After finishing my round and when I came to her, she was telling me that “you have done very nicely, wow, brilliant! I think you are going to hit the crown.”
We would like to know about your family, childhood and education.
My mother is a housewife and my father is a businessman, my sister is studying law at a Malaysian university. I had a brother, he passed away 10 years back due to a road accident when I was in my third year at the university.
When I was a kid, I did well in mathematics, but since I wanted to be a doctor I had to give up mathematics, and I followed the MBBS degree. Meanwhile I wanted to pursue my other talents. I wanted to be a singer; I was a member of the aesthetic band and the western band during my school time. For O/Ls and A/Ls I went to Government Science College Matale. I entered Peradeniya Medical Faculty in 2006. I graduated in 2012. Later I worked as an assistant lecturer in the Pathology Department at University of Peradeniya, thereafter I got my first internship at the district hospital Matale. In 2014 I got my first medical appointment to the base hospital Mahiyanganaya I’m one of the directors of Waters Edge and am the Healthy Life Style Ambassador in the Western province.
What are your future plans?
There are lots of future plans that I have prioritised. The first thing in my list is social service. I think it is our duty to help the helpless. So my aim is to promote social service within my country and globally. I’m working towards that. What I gain from modeling and from the aesthetic activities, will be dedicated for social services and I especially want to generate a fund for cancer patients.
What do you think about ‘Modeling’?
Actually modeling is a respectable profession. These days a lot of people enter this field without any education and destroy it. My advice is without prior education; please don’t enter any field. You can do self studying with whatever you’ve got. Today everybody has got smart phones, we have access to the internet, and there are many educational sites to go through. If we type a word in the internet, we can learn alot of things.
You are multi talented, is that correct?
Of course, I think that I was born with music, music is in my blood, I can dance too. I think there is nothing I can’t do. In near future I will be acting in films. I have some invitations from Hollywood and Bollywood. If I give them the priority, I have to give up certain things. After establishing the Fund for the cancer patients I will engage in those in the near future.
What is your advice to the younger generation?
Today, the younger generation is engulfed by social media.They don’t know what is happening around them.
They are the “Facebook Heros”and also the greatest manipulators in today’s society. If one does a good thing, they comment on it in a bad way and don’t allow that person to do good things and they also don’t serve the society. They are stopping the things what the good people are doing.
In our childhood we didn’t have internet, wifi and smartphones. The technology is developing very rapidly in this era.
They can use that productively. I mean young people can earn from the technology. You must enter into a field and promote yourself through that field, and find a way to serve the society. That should be the target of our younger generation.