PETALING JAYA, March 16 — “Why was I born in a kampung in Malaysia and not a big city in China? I love China and Japan.”
That is just one of the troubling remarks that landed Abby Lee, a Miss International Malaysia (MIM) 2022 finalist, in the soup.
A series of inflammatory Instagram posts by the beauty pageant contestant went viral after a Facebook user by the name of Hui Yue shared them publicly.
Lee condemned Malaysia and its people as well as wrote vulgar xenophobic comments against Central and South Asians.
In one of the screenshots, Lee admitted that she only participated in the beauty contest because she was interested in it, not because she loved her country.
“I join these for my interests, not because I love my country.
“Those close to me have always known that I don’t even care about the country.
“I never considered myself a Malaysian and have always wanted to migrate,” she wrote.
After complaining that a photographer did not take good shots of her during the competition, Lee lashed out by lamenting that she was born in a Malaysian village instead of China and Japan which she held in high regard.
Lee’s remarks sparked outrage from Malaysians, who slammed the model for her racist statements.
Many also said that Lee lacked the qualities of an inspiring beauty queen whose role is to promote positivity and represent their country to spread goodwill.
MIM has since removed all pictures and mention of Lee from their Instagram account.
Lee responded to the reactions in a statement earlier today saying that some of the accusations were false.
“Recently, I noticed some false news that I did harm to me and the organisation,” she wrote on Instagram Stories.
Lee clarified that she was in an emotional state following the incident with the photographer.
She said her vents had no malicious intent and apologised to those who were offended.
“I apologised for my emotional deed, very sorry, MIM did not involve in this issue and have given me warning after knowing it (sic).
“I am very sorry for causing trouble for MIM.
“Any other messages were groundless rumours, but it was my fault for letting it happen to MIM, again very sorry for that,” she said.
