Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray: Paragon of beauty, brain, eloquenceEssay by Maximo Tumbali, Forum ContributorHer triumph was to be expected based on her total performance and her unique and winsome personality that the judges and the audience clearly saw.
Catriona Gray gave it her all! Beauty, brain, sincerity, self-confidence, humility, patriotism, love of humanity, communication competence, spontaneity, and what have you.
PHOTO CREDIT: REUTERS / ATHIT PERAWONGMETHAWe cannot resist being envious of Miss Catriona Gray's ability to carry herself well. Admittedly, there were other competitors who had qualities that she didn't have. However, Catriona exhibited assets that only she herself can handle very well--her winning assets! Her being a remarkable and impressive communicator is one of them.
Her communication competence did much to help her bring home the Miss Universe crown. The judges used their heads when they gave Catriona their unanimous nod, declaring her the winner of the Miss Universe beauty pageant.
What they saw in her was her cheerful readiness to respond intelligently to the questions thrown at her.
We give her our praises, encomiums, respect, and adulation. And we ourselves are humbled by her brilliance and wit in answering questions and in expressing herself in front of an international audience, humbled because honestly, most of us--students and professionals alike--lag behind when it comes to communicating in English.
It's saddening to note that despite the many years we have spent in learning English, many of us still fall short of speaking it fluently, efficiently.
However, others would argue that English is not our native tongue, so why waste so much time, money, and effort to learn and own it?
Well, there's some sense in what they're saying, but they miss one significant point. Today, whether you like it or not, English is the lingua franca.
In these postmodern times, globalization has--so to speak--taken the entire universe by storm. There's no way to stop it. It's irreversible! And in this age of globalization, we can ill-afford to be complacent.
We need to be competitive. We need to acquire skills and knowledge relevant to the present time. One of them is the ability and facility to use the English language.
It's rather disappointing if not frustrating to know that a good number of our Asian neighbors are doing very well in this respect while we are not. We can only admit in shame that we are at the tail end.
But this is no reason for us to be discouraged.
If others can do it, why can't we? All we need is the passion to learn English. It's far more than just having a casual interest in it.
We therefore need the impetus, the resolve, and the love for the language. In simple ways we can do all these via reading English, mastering its grammar, listening to people who speak and write correct English, and making it our habit to communicate in English--both written and verbal.
Our newly crowned Miss Universe, Catriona Gray, is indeed a paragon of beauty, intelligence, eloquence, and inspiration. Smart and highly eloquent speaker that she is, we are staunchly convinced that she has the potential to be a great leader. Thus, if someday she ever plans or decides to throw her hat into the political arena, she'd be a sure winner.
Kudos to Ms. Catriona Gray. She brought honor and prestige to our country that at present is wading in a sea of problems.
We can only hope that she will be an inspiration to us Filipinos, particularly to our present government leaders, to change or reform themselves for the better.
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