Miss Hong Kong Contestant Louisa Mak’s Academic Background Wows Netizens
Meeting with 134 applicants, the first round of interviews for the Miss Hong Kong 2015 Pageant completed this week to mixed reviews. Although netizens gave mediocre responses to the majority of the applicants, one contestant stood out among the rest.
Contestant Louisa Mak (麥明詩), touted as the younger version of actress Charlie Yeung (楊采妮), has been gaining some interest online. Aside from her innocent and pretty looks, she is also well-educated, and is voted by netizens for having the best chance to win the crown this year. The 23-year-old recently graduated from the University of Cambridge with a B.A. in Law and is notable for scoring a rare 10A in the HKCEE when she was attending Diocesan Girls’ School.
Louisa, born and raised in Hong Kong, is the youngest daughter of respected parents. Her father is the Vice Principal of the S.K.H. Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School, and her mother is a professional therapist. Like Louisa, her older brother is also academically successful, and he is currently studying medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Gaining media attention for obtaining 10A in the HKCEE back in 2009, Louisa had said in an interview that she wanted to study law. She looks up to Dr. Margaret Ng (吳靄儀) and Audrey Eu (余若薇), two former members of the Legislative Council, and aspires to be as successful as them. Interested in serving her community, Louisa also said she wanted to become Hong Kong’s female Chief Executive.
After taking her HKCEE, she went to Wellington College in England to further her studies. The A-level student was then accepted into the University of Cambridge, where she earned a B.A. in Law.
In addition to her academic success, Louisa is also an active volleyball player and had participated in the MassMutual Jr. Space Camp in the United States when she was younger.
Source: ihktv
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Well, I bet she already famous regardless whether or not she wins the crown. This is so biased.
@tess hasn’t beauty pageant reports always relied on ‘bias’ and gimmick? ‘Contestant A is a knock off Michelle Reis’ or ‘contestant B is the most beautiful of tjis year.’
I MUCH rather have them be biased towards a miss hk contestant because of their educational achievements than outward appearance because 1) it emphasizes the ‘brain’ instead of beauty for once to the general public and 2) she actually worked hard for those achievements so she deserves the praise
@peanutbutterjelly Perhaps that’s that common way of HK beauty pageant ways of dealing with the preliminary rounds of selecting the contestants. I see this as a mean of “promoting her” and it is truly unfair to those who are competing but not being given the exposure. Although I agree looks don’t always come first but smarter also doesn’t always mean better. Personality is also a very important factor in winning the competition.
@tess I agree that the whole media play is unfair but I don’t remember it being all that different from the other years with all the ‘hot favourites’ talk. Hell, even back in 1991 the gossip magazines all practically predicted Anita Yuen would win based on her looks alone.
Personality should, in a perfect world, always be the most important, however, personality having a big impact in a *beauty* contest is not always convincing for a lot of people (remember how people bashed kate tsui saying she was too ‘ugly’ to win miss hk? Even though she performed the best that year). Also it’s less tangible than educational background and, to an extend, physical beauty.
Then she should just be a lawyer, why she gotta be in MHK pageant?
Bet thats her way of getting into entertainment industry
@spearmintx3 maybe it’s always been her dream to participate but she is still smart enough to get a degree first? Ever thought of that?
@peanutbutterjelly OFC i did thought of it LMAOO.
im just trying to say that if she wins or didn’t win TVB will still ask her if she wants to enter the industry & i bet she will .
@spearmintx3 and what if she’ll join? Doesn’t take away any of her academic achievements.
Impressive but begs one question; why waste the education and brains and join Miss HK? Wanna play the fame game which doesn’t care if you have even a PhD as you’re generally assumed to be not as smart as everybody else. A waste.
@funnlim
Good question and my thoughts exactly! If she has the brains and good academic background then why join Ms. HK? I bet that is her way of entering the circle and becoming an actress instead of a lawyer. Many past Ms. his have had strong academic backgrounds but decided to drop it all just to enter the circle. Hey,maybe they want to get hitched by an actor or some rich man and live a high and luxurious life? Who knows?
@hetieshou
Oops meant to say Ms.HKs. Gosh,where is the edit button?
@hetieshou agree with you both. seems like a waste for a cambridge law graduate to join a pageant. but then i remember sandy lau who won miss hk in 2009 used to work in goldman sachs and supposedly entered the pageant because it was her late father (or step fathers) wish or something. might be a sentimental reason for her too.
@funnlim How is it a ‘waste’? It’s not like she’ll lose her degree or anything. I don’t see why people will undermine her achievements just because she participates in a beauty contest, if anything don’t people only remember Amy Kwok, besides as ‘the wife of Sean Lau’, as the ‘highly educated engineer miss hk’?
@peanutbutterjelly Was she an engineer?I thought she was MBA holder? ANd oldest Miss HK contestant?
Yes I get it. It is something to fall back on. But believe me if she intends to practice, there will be some sniggering. There are smart women who joined the pageant just so because they can or have nothing to do at that time. If her intention is to join entertainment industry, why wasn’t she in drama class? A bit curious on that. Maybe she is on holiday, needs something to do and so joined this. But it is a waste. Her law degree is from a prestigious university that leads to everywhere. And she is not really utilising it. Maybe she will later.
@funnlim Amy Kwok has has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering but she also seems smart in investing and making money. I have yet to see anyone diminish her intelligence because of her pageant title.
I mean, at this point we can only speculate why she participated and it really is a moot point.
However, it may seem like a ‘waste’ to a lot of people but ultimately, you’ve got to do what makes you happy in life. My friend is very passionate about music but her parents wanted her to study something ‘useful’ so she went on to study economy. She has a master’s degree now in it and even though she doesn’t regret it she is still going to study piano next year and hopes to have a musical career.
@funnlim why do you need a drama class if you can take a short way to where you want? look at grace chan and many other former miss hk,who have become succesfully as an actress?
@funnlim who can give her the guarantee that her choice for miss hk/entertainment circle will be succesfull? a degree is always better than not having one.see it as an optional way for her career.
I disagree with all of you. I think it’s such a smart move on her part.
Let’s say she does want to enter the entertainment industry: nothing wrong with that, if she succeeds then it’s great but if not she can always call back on her education. She’ll be fine either way.
But maybe she wants to participate for the fame and recognition? Again, nothing wrong with it, if she wins it can even help her further her career. She already proved herself to be intelligent or at least well educated, a miss hong Kong title will only enhance her achievements.
In other words she won’t have anything to lose by participating, I see only gains for the Cambridge graduate here.
@peanutbutterjelly *fall back on
Slightly off topic… but is one’s parent’s educational background or career an important factor in defining them? I’ve had some issues with people judging other people based on their parent’s and family’s (siblings) educational background and career. Shouldn’t an individual’s successes be defined by their own making?
While Louisa Mak’s academic achievements are commendable, I noticed that the article highlighted her good “background” by also revealing her parent’s and brother’s successes, which is what piqued my interest regarding this question.
@huynh To show good breeding, no more than that. Rare for highly educated family member in a highly educated family to join the industry especially in Asia and especially in Chinese entertainment. Most either graduated from drama school or none at all.
A beauty with brains. While she may have done well academically, maybe her real dream is to join the entertainment industry or perhaps she has her reasons why she wants the exposure and public recognition. After all she aims to serve the community and be HK’s female chief executive. Joining Miss HK pageant may be one of the stepping stone for her to achieve her goal. After all one can only join when young rather than regret not doing it when old.
In recent years the winners of MHK has all been from wealthy backgrounds.. So if this year, this girl wins, it’ll honestly be no surprise for me.
Maybe it’s to boost her law career, who knows? The modern hipster approach to all rounder.
One of my best friends in Singapore is a lawyer, also from Cambridge. Another is also a lawyer from local univeristy, married to a judge.
I hang out with them and their pals enough when I am back home, to know it’s pretty traditional territory – it’s not really ‘respectable’ to be a beauty contestant, or associated with showbiz (esp actress). Even among the old-rich mindset.
But that was back then … maybe you have to be ‘outstanding all around’ to get ahead in the game. Afterall there is a glut of lawyers.
@nomad822 Mindset still the same.
typo: outstanding all rounder, to get ahead in the game
Not to be negative, a BA degree is very common. Article cited she have a B.A. in Law at University of Cambridge. BA is a Bachelor of Arts and no where near a lawyer degree. JD (Juris Doctor) is a lawyer degree.