Earlier this week, the just-crowned champion of ATV’s Miss Asia Pageant Malaysia 2023 (亚洲小姐竞选) Luwe Xin Hui (Luwee, 雷欣蕙) found herself in hot water. Netizens had flocked to her socials after her win, with many claiming Luwe Xin Hui had bullied her classmates.
After a few days of staying mum, the 23-year-old finally addressed the issue via ATV’s official channels. Despite Luwe Xin Hui’s apology and clarification of the matter, her response was unfortunately not well-received by netizens.
“In the past two days, I have spent some time thinking about the past and reflecting on it,” Luwe started. “The following is my apology and clarification.” She claimed that two of the netizens who had made allegations against her were indeed her classmates 黄康嘉 (Huang Kangjia) and 戴欣仪 (Dai Xinyi) from junior high.
“To Huang Kangjia, I would like to apologise to you first. I (did) call you “the Egyptian Pharaoh”, but I did not give (you) the nickname. I am very sorry for making fun of my classmates’ nicknames,” she wrote. But, Luwe denied having made fun of her in the school toilets and pouring water on her. “I need to clarify that these incidents never happened. It’s a shame these baseless accusations were made,” she stated.
Luwe also apologised to Dai Xinyi for the quarrel, yet claimed she had never acted out in class. “(Me) pouring water, throwing (my) classmates’ water bottles into the trash, getting the class to target (you) and (trapping you) in the toilet are not facts,” she stated. In fact, according to Luwe, the three of them had once been good friends and shared multiple friend groups.
However, they had apparently separated after Luwe supposedly started talking more to guys. “I was excluded from the group,” she alleged. “In order to resolve the problem, I apologised to Kangjia and Xinyi, but in the end I was ostracized.” She also claimed her classmates had called her a “dwarf“. “Additionally, the report that I bullied 30 to 80 people is untrue,” she said firmly.
“I admit that when I was young, I was indeed rebellious, had a bad temper and was very rude. I will reflect on it, and I did pay the price today,” she wrote. But, Luwe still maintained that it was not feasible for her to bully so many people. She also denied that her schools had not taken any action against her, adding she had been expelled from school over a demerit.
Luwe claimed other accusations made by anonymous accounts were false, but she felt it was par for the course. “When I chose (to join) the beauty pageant and won the championship, I fully understood that the future would be very different from the present. Any move I make will be magnified, and even in the face of various rumors, I need to accept it. I will reflect on myself and my growth,” she said.
Despite her lengthy apology, netizens still aren’t too happy with her. Several questioned the sincerity of said apology, claiming she had ended up shirking the blame. “(You) apologised first, then said it’s not my fault. What kind of logic is this?” one questioned.
Others were offended she was attempting to deny their joint testimony. “Miss, your bullying started in 2014,” a comment read. “Did you forget?” Another stated: “How dare you say that none of this is true to students who were bullied by you?”
A few also opined Luwe Xin Hui’s actions would speak louder than words. “If you are really repentant, please voluntarily give up your (title) as champion and quit social media for some time to let others see your sincerity, generosity and true repentance,” one suggested.
Well, pageant organisers Asia Television (ATV, 亞洲電視) have released a statement promising to look into the issue and will be taking legal action if necessary. For now, all we can do is wait for the results, we suppose.
Watch Luwe Xin Hui’s apology video here:
