HONG KONG, Aug 31 — If you thought beauty pageants belonged to a bygone era where only looks mattered, this year’s Miss Hong Kong pageant is out to prove you wrong.

Favourite Louisa Mak Ming-sze, who was crowned Miss Hong Kong last night, is a Cambridge law graduate.

She also scored 10 As in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examinations.

First runner-up Ada Pong Cheuk-yan, meanwhile, is a Manhattan School of Music opera graduate.

The Standard reported that she also is the daughter of Paul Pong Po-lam, managing director of Pegasus Fund Managers, while her aunt is Scarlett Pong Oi-lan, a Sha Tin district councillor.

Coincidentally, both women are long-time friends, having attended Diocesan Girls’ School together in Hong Kong.

Mak, who said she enjoys yoga and outdoor activities and hopes to make an impact in society, repeated an earlier aspiration during the competition to be Hong Kong’s first female chief executive, according to The Standard.

The South China Morning Post added that Mak caused some buzz during the competition’s second round of interviews in June when she dodged a question about Hong Kong’s reform package. She chose to assert that she believed in democracy and the freedom to vote instead.

Mak was also named Miss Photogenic while Karmen Kwok Ka-man was the second runner-up. All three women are 23 years old.