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Media reports that she cannot speak Indonesian fluently and criticism of her American accent are dismissed calmly by Kerenina Sunny Halim, who was crowned Miss Indonesia on June 5.

Halim has been reported as needing a translator to answer judges’ questions during the pageant and has been criticized on blogs as being unfit to represent the nation.

She appeared relaxed on Friday afternoon, however, as she asked if the interview would be held in English or Indonesian. She began conversing in English but seemed comfortable switching to Indonesian, which, despite reports to the contrary, she spoke fluently. She blamed fatigue and nerves on the night of the pageant for her language difficulties.

“I haven’t actually read [the criticism] in the media, I just heard from friends,” she said. “I love Indonesia and I am very proud of being an Indonesian, and that is more important. Language is easy, if you use it often, then you will be more fluent.”

The 23-year-old had just returned from her first overseas trip as Miss Indonesia.

“We went to Vietnam for three charity events and were able to raise $20 million,” Kerenina said. “[The money] went to underprivileged kids around Vietnam so they can go to school.”

Kerenina is the daughter of social workers, and she and three siblings have also worked for non-governmental organizations, so charity work is nothing new to her. The family traveled extensively during her childhood as part of her parents’ work for The Family International.

“When we, the children, finished high school we were free to choose whether we still wanted to be in that social group or not,” Kerenina said.

She and her siblings were home-schooled from kindergarten through high school, along with the children of other social workers. “I chose to stay as I found satisfaction there.”

At 18, Kerenina moved to India on her own. A year later she returned to Indonesia to work for The Family International in Aceh following the 2004 tsunami. Three of her siblings work for NGOs in Croatia and the United States.

“Everyone in the family is a social worker except my brother Steve,” Kerenina said of Steve Emmanuel — a well-known sinetron (TV soap opera) actor who changed his name to Yusuf Iman after converting to Islam.

As Miss Indonesia, Kerenina is expected to promote Indonesian culture and represent the country at international events. In November, she will fly to South Africa to represent Indonesia at the Miss World contest.

She said her most important preparation for that pageant was mental. “So I can deal with what might come to me,” Kerenina said.

Participants in the Miss World pageant are required to wear bathing suits in one section of the competition and Kerenina said she was aware some groups in Indonesia might criticize that.

“Walking around wearing bathing suits is not a choice, we only follow the rules. It would be better if they can support us rather than criticize us,” she said. “I think they should focus more on the good we do than on the things we wear.”

She said pageants were not judged solely on physical beauty, with inner beauty being more important. “[Inner beauty] includes the way you behave, how you interact with others and how you respect them,” she said. “You have to be intelligent, too, yet willing to be open to learn new things.

Responding to her critics, Kerenina said, “People have every right to their own opinion, but whatever they think about me, one way to know is to talk to me in person to get to know me better. Then you can say, ‘Oh, so this is Kerenina.’ ”