Mina Sue Choi

 Woman of the Hour: Miss Earth 2022

By Earl D C. Bracamonte

It was her eco-video that endeared current Miss Earth winner Mina Sue Choi to pageant aficionados, especially Filipino fans, since the pageant was not only held in Manila but that it was also run by Carousel Productions, a Filipino entity.

Deftly mimicking the movements of a bottle nose dolphin, which was her fauna of choice, the 24-year-old Communications student effortlessly glided through the seawater, in her submitted entry, and straight into the hearts of fans and followers.

"Dolphins help maintain the natural balance in the food chain. They are essential to the Marine Ecosystem as they level out the population of fish, and other producers and primary/secondary consumers of the food chain," she averred.

Pageant audiences were probably surprised to see that Mina Sue was fluent in speaking English - a feat for every aspirant who hails from a non-English speaking country. Remember the "Parasite" team who received the Oscar Best Picture in 2020 and gave their gratitude in very brief sentences? That will give you an idea.

Fortunately, Mina Sue was born in Sydney, Australia and lived there until she was seven. This gave her formative years a good grasp of the English language. The family then moved back to Korea where she attended and completed her elementary education with the  country's public school system.

She would leave Korea, yet again, and move to Canada with her family and continue her schooling there. She now recalls, that growing up meant moving around the world - which included residing in parts of the United States and China. Little did she know that is was her itinerant upbringing that would mold her into an outstanding 'woman of the earth.'

She is Korea's first Big Four (Universe/World/International/Earth) titleholder for winning Miss Earth 2022, and second if gauged by the Top 5 standards that included the Miss Supranational, which her compatriot Jenny Kim won in 2017.

The other near-victory instances for Korea came in 1988 when both their representatives won first runners-up positions in the Miss Universe and Miss World competitions that year. Jang Yoon-Jeong in the Miss Universe tilt and Chui Yeon-Hee in the Miss World quest.

"Rich experiences do not require rich expenses; the experiences can be made by using our travel budgets more wisely by purchasing local goods, supporting local businesses, opting for public transportation, bikes, and more," enthused the polyglot and globetrotter.

Next year, her other compatriot Hanna Kim will represent Korea in the 71st Miss Universe edition in Louisiana. The energetic former schoolteacher gamely shared her makeup tutorial on the Miss Universe website.

Mina Sue says that even when her reign will be over, she will continue being a vanguard for our ailing planet. "My advocacy is promoting reduction of carbon footprints in cities with sustainable mobility and encouraging lifestyles that will help reduce carbon emissions in our daily lives."

Mina Sue's elemental court is comprised of Sheridan Mortlock (Air, Australia), Nadeen Ayoub (Water, Palestine), and Andrea Aguilera (Fire, Colombia).