Sabrina Mendes Wins Miss Hong Kong 2021; Kristy Shaw Breaks Miss Friendship Curse

The ongoing battle to become Miss Hong Kong 2021 (2021香港小姐競選) finally ended on 12th September. The results surprised many and the “Miss Friendship” curse may have finally been broken!

The champion of the pageant was Sabrina Mendes (宋宛穎). Carina Leung (梁凱晴) scored the first runner up while Kristy Shaw (邵初) was the second runner up.

According to Hong Kong media, Sabrina’s win had been carefully cultivated by her mother since she was a child. The 22-year-old Chinese-Portuguese is not only a high-achieving student, she’s also proficient in seven different dance arts. “My mother is (very) supportive,” Sabrina said. “She strongly recommended I (join the pageant), because Miss Hong Kong has been her dream. The pageant was also part of my plans, so I joined.”

Sabrina’s mother was apparently the runner-up of Miss Macau 1990. She’s been pushing her daughter to help her improve. Sabrina mentioned that her mother would point out her mistakes when she did badly, but praise her when she performed well. The newly crowned Miss Hong Kong 2021 graduated from the University of Toronto in Biochemistry and Human Biology. Her current aim is to become a doctor.

Second runner up Kristy also won the Miss Friendship award, which was a surprise! There have been rumours about a ‘curse’ on the award. Apparently, people believed that it was impossible to win the Miss Friendship award and place in the top three.

Kristy knew about the ‘curse’, however, she attributed her confidence of winning to singer Jacky Cheung (张学友), who performed during the finale. “When I got (Miss Friendship), they said there was a (curse), but I think this year is very special,” she confided prior to the results being announced. “Jacky Cheung is here. I think I may be able to win the prize!”

Jacky last performed for Miss Hong Kong in 2001. This year, he sang “Spring Breeze, Autumn Rain (春风秋雨)”, “Li Xianglan (李香兰)” and “Love is Eternal (爱是永恒)”. He also did a duet with Malaysian singer Gin Lee (李幸倪).

Aside from the top three champions, another unexpected win was Penny Yeung (楊培琳) who won Miss Photogenic. Fabienne Kwan (關楓馨) had initially been a favourite to win, however she was placed 4th.