In response to Joanna Lee's discussion on why the former Miss Singapore is still making headlines...(ST Oct 6)

I believe the interest is also sparked by the fact that Ms Low appears to exemplify the stereotype of what most laypersons hold toward beauty queens: attractive but empty-headed bimbos. She appears to be the epitome of this stereotype and her example verifies or confirms our popular conception. People have an inherent psychological need to feel accurate about these things and hence she became the topic of focus. It's still amazing to me how she managed to clinch the crown and ascend the throne considering the way she presented herself in interviews. Because I didn't watch the pageant, it made me curious about the caliber of other contestants. Anyway, as the scoop on her enlarged and made its way to the masses, her image declined. In some way perhaps, the public began to feel vindicated. Her rise to fame promptly degenerated into a spiral downhill, which in itself composed a very dramatic and riveting story that provided bountiful entertainment. Though the underlying reasons for the overwhelming attention were disparate, just a while back news about the former Ms California being "deposed" of her title created identical sensations in the US. News about beauty queens rising and falling make good subjects to expand on in popular media. As the drama unfolded (and continues to I suppose; seems like the saga might prolong given Ms Low's penchant for the limelight), my initial anger as a Singaporean woman being misrepresented by Ms Low's lackluster and embarrassing presentation has subsided. Truthfully, as much as many of us (including myself) enjoy dissing her, there are people in Singapore, who speak like her, act like her, maybe have some form of psychological dysfunction, and lack insight about these. It is just unfortunate that she became the target because of her high profile that is magnified in a small country where news comprises mainly economic reports, propaganda, and banal news about petty theft and outrage of modesty. Undoubtedly, the "Ris Low" epic not only constitutes an unraveling of a dark past pertaining to a Singaporean teenager living among us, but also a reflection of the Singaporean mass media and citizen journalism, which is thriving in Singapore.