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Tongue-Tied Miss Indonesia Becomes a Web Phenomenon
Jakarta Globe | August 24, 2010

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lalani
8:28am Aug 27, 2010

@ mansoer... listen to yourself! INTERNATIONAL event... that in itself implies different nationalities, thus different languages. Yes English is the most universally spoken language, but it is NOT the only language. Accept people for who they are.

mansoer
11:39am Aug 26, 2010

You can't tell anyone who you really are if you cannot communicate to them accordingly.. by translator ?? i don't think so.. This is an international event, speaking in english is a must..


BajingLoncat
6:22pm Aug 24, 2010

All she was trying to say was: "My advice to men is: If you're nice to women, they'll cheer you up when you're feeling down." This doesn't come close to beating Miss South Carolina 2007, the undisputed queen of talking rubbish English at beauty pageants: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

zerodiversity
1:54pm Aug 24, 2010

I really think this is embarrassing for Indonesia but the poor girl is not at fault. In the first place, she should have been adequately prepared way before she joined the competition. I feel embarrassed at the Puteri Indonesia for not helping the poor girl.

lalani
10:48am Aug 24, 2010

Seriously guys, leave the poor girl alone. English is my native tongue and I'll be the first to admit it is one of the HARDEST languages to learn. If you honestly believe Miss Qory has a lack of motivation to learn, try learning Chinese in only one year and be able to speak it fluently, then tell me it's a lack of motivation. Any language that is not your native tongue is going to be at least a little difficult to learn and the fact that this girl was brave enough to even attempt to speak English should be applauded. I do agree that a translator would be a good idea for her simply because I know how stressful those competitions are. To all of you being hard on her, let me see you get up there in her place and not make at least ONE blunder. It's called stress people! Leave her alone! I am proud of her and hope she wins. (btw, I am not Indonesian...I am American for those of you that might be wondering)

If Miss Indonesia Qory Sandioriva’s performance during a preliminary interview is any indication, it seems the country will once again fail to win the world’s most coveted pageant crown.

Qory is one of 83 contestants vying for the title of Miss Universe 2010, which is to be awarded in Las Vegas on Monday at 9 p.m. local time.

But a YouTube video of the 19-year-old answering questions in broken English during a preliminary round of the pageant has cast doubt on her qualifications.

The video, posted on Aug. 15, had been viewed more than 23,000 times and has garnered hundreds of comments. It has also circulated on the social networking site Facebook and has drawn a lot of comments — mostly critical of Qory’s attempts to speak English.

The video shows Qory being asked what would be her best advice to a man. She nervously answers: “I think when you down the women can make you up, and I think the women can be said that ‘I have advice for you’ if you way up, you have to be nice with people, include women, so when you down, women can be nice with you.”

One person who viewed the video on YouTube, Nanieshimasu, commented that Qory’s poor performance has “once again shown that Indonesia has failed to select a qualified candidate for Miss Universe.”

“You shouldn’t force yourself to speak English. Don’t let language barriers bury your true potential. It’s not perfect but I believe it would be better to use a translator,” Nanieshimasu wrote.

Another user, Eriqueque, was less forgiving, saying the Puteri Indonesia Foundation, which organizes the Miss Indonesia pageant and sends the winner to Miss Universe, had failed to properly prepare Qory to compete on a global stage in Las Vegas.

“When she was selected as Puteri Indonesia, I thought, oh well, she’s naturally pretty and has a lot of potential. Qory has had at least one full year to prepare herself and it’s obvious that she’s been slacking off,” Eriqueque wrote.

Despite the many harsh comments, some Internet users still believed Qory had done her best to impress the judges. “Show some support, English is not our mother tongue, bear with her,” an anonymous YouTube user wrote.

Radio announcer Silfia Ahmad said Qory’s poor English was the least of her problems.

“Qory went on and on about her bad experience of dating a guy with multiple girlfriends. That’s not proper,” she said.

However, Silfia said Qory should not take all the blame for the interview. She said the Puteri Indonesia Foundation should have prepared Qory more thoroughly before sending her off to the United States.

“I’m sure in a way she’s an intelligent girl, but her team should know better,” she said. “If she can’t speak English fluently then don’t use English — use an interpreter.”

Qory is not the first Indonesian beauty queen to stumble over her words on the global stage.

Three years ago, Miss Indonesia Nadine Chandrawinata became a punch line when she said “Indonesia is a beautiful city” during an interview at the Miss Universe pageant.