February 24, 2023
JAKARTA – The Miss Universe Indonesia contest was launched in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday for the first time under its new license holder PT Capella Swastika Karya (CSK) for the 2023 event.
The license was previously held by Yayasan Putri Indonesia (YPI), the oldest beauty pageant organization in Indonesia which had held the license for the past 30 years.
The launch event was attended by Miss Universe 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel, Miss Dominican Republic 2022 Andreina Martinez and Miss Curaçao 2022 Gabriela Dos Santos. Also attending the event was Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip, CEO of JKN Global Group PCL, the owner of the Miss Universe Organization, as well as senior advisors of Miss Universe Indonesia, Praphol Milintachinda and Fred Mouawad.
During the launch event taking place from Sunday to Thursday, Miss Universe Indonesia held gatherings with members of the Miss Universe family. Miss Universe Indonesia has also organized a group visit to a few locations and tourism spots to introduce the country’s culture to the Miss Universe title holder and top finalists.
The new national director of Miss Universe Indonesia, Poppy Capella, said she intended to provide a platform for Indonesian women, while showing them that they had many amazing talents and qualities fit to become Miss Universe.
Poppy hoped that through Miss Universe Indonesia, she could help young women shine, boost their self-esteem, embrace their Indonesian identities and establish themselves with confidence.
Poppy said Miss Universe Indonesia was ready to transform the current organization while providing accessible opportunities for women to collaborate on improving several social issues occurring in Indonesia. “Indonesian women still have a lot of opportunities to expand. Miss Universe upholds the principles of empowering women,” she said.
Jakrajutatip said that the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) was a globally inclusive organization that celebrated all cultures, backgrounds and religions. “We create and provide a safe space for women to share their stories and drive impact,” she said.
The MUO, she said, provided women who participated on the international platform with the tools to effect positive change personally and professionally, serving as inspirational leaders and role models for their communities and fans around the world.
“So we need this. We need this on the platform. We need this in the competition of each country. That’s why we send out the applications. It is time to change. It’s time to transform and it’s time to elevate everyone to the next level because we need to become and also remain the number one beauty Olympics in the world,” Jakrajutatip said.
Miss Universe currently involves at least 94 countries.
“We have even more candidates to come. A lot more delegates to come. So, ladies and gentlemen, I would love you to please, Indonesian people, put your energy into the next round of the competition in your own country,” she said, adding that the next Miss Universe global stage would be in El Salvador.
Earlier this month, the YPI said it was disappointed by the sudden announcement of the change in license holder from the MUO.
“We were waiting for official news from [MUO] director for global franchise Carlos Capetillo on the continuation of our license,” YPI spokesperson Mega Angkasa said in a statement on Feb. 10, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
Mega said YPI was waiting for license bidding results for 2023, which was announced on Jan. 25. YPI said it only had a short time to prepare for the bidding which closed on Jan. 31.
According to YPI, the MUO was to announce the bidding results on Feb. 7, but YPI did not receive any news until Feb. 8, just minutes after CSK announced it was the new license holder for Indonesia.
YPI, according to Mega, criticized the lack of transparency in the bidding process. (dre)