Usually, women’s pageants generate a lot more buzz than men’s pageants but recently, the Mister International Competition has garnered significant attention because of one particular contestant’s choice of outfit.
Among the official National Costume portraits shared on the Mister International Instagram page, Mister Singapore Sean Nicholas Sutiono’s portrait stood out the most for his “minimal” outfit.
Whilst contestants from other countries were decked out in their respective intricate and over the top national costumes, Sean was dressed in just the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Physical Training (PT) shorts and a pair of black boots. He was also holding the Singaporean flag behind him.
Mister Malaysia
Mister Philippines
Consequently, this has resulted in ridicule from the public who mocked Singapore for lacking in culture, calling the republic the USA of Southeast Asia.
An ode to Singapore
Little do they know that Mister Singapore’s “national costume” has a deeper meaning.
In an Instagram post, Sean and the official Mister Singapore account explained that the outfit was a statement to honour Singapore and to remember Mister Singapore founder, Alan Sim who recently passed on.
While comments below the photo shared by the official Mister International account showed that Singaporeans were upset and embarrassed at Sean’s outfit, they were all supportive after Sean and the Mister Singapore account cleared the air.
They thought that Sean portrayed the true Singapore spirit because the outfit acted as an ode to (the) National Service in Singapore, an undeniably iconic aspect of the Singaporean male identity and experience.
Nonetheless, do not fret because the official Mister Singapore also added that Sean’s actual national costume is in the works.
We can’t wait to see Singapore’s national costume!
Also read: Meet Melissa Raouf, The First-Ever Miss England Finalist To Compete Without Wearing Any Makeup
