Korean actor Kim Won Shik serenades crowd during Chinatown Global pageant
Kim Won Shik / ARMIN P. ADINA
Korean singer-actor Kim Won Shik entertained Filipinos anew as he graced the “Winners Night” of the first staging of the Mr. and Ms. Chinatown Global pageant in Manila.
The “True Beauty” actor performed his song “To Be With You,” the anthem of the Kim Chiu-Paolo Avelino starrer local adaptation of the Korean series “What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?”
In the brief interlude of his performance at the ceremonies held at the grand ballroom of Hilton Manila in Pasay City on Monday night, Jan. 20, he greeted the crowd composed mostly of Chinese-Filipino spectators and introduced himself.
When he finished his performance, Kim thanked the people inside the ballroom, and then proceeded to congratulate the participants of the twin tilts, coming from around the world.
The Mr. and Ms. Chinatown Global pageant is mounted by ChinoyTV and the Federation of Filipino Chinese Association of the Philippines, and gathered 20 delegates from seven countries for its initial salvo.
Article continues after this advertisementDubbed as “the search for the next face of Chinatown,” the competition crowned pageant veterans as the pioneering pair for the international contest.
Article continues after this advertisementFormer Miss Aura Philippines Khryss Go was crowned as the first-ever Ms. Chinatown Global, while Malaysian pageant king Byron Sng was proclaimed as Mr. Chinatown Global.
Mr. and Ms. Chinatown Global Byron Sng (third from left) and Khryss Go (third from right) with their runners-up (from left) Joseph Morris, Jenina Lui, Julianne Louie, and Arragon Jacob Lor/ARMIN P. ADINA
Aragon Jacob Lor from the Philippines finished second in the male division, while actress and former Miss Hong Kong Julianne Louie placed as first runner-up among the ladies.
Both representatives from Australia, meanwhile, were proclaimed as second runners-up–Joseph Morris, and Jenina Lui who also took part in the 2024 Miss Universe Philippines pageant as the representative of the Filipino community in Sydney.
“I’ll continue to embrace my culture, continue sharing the traditional cultural experience with my friends, my family, and everyone around me,” Sng told INQUIRER.net after his proclamation.
Go, who shared that she did not grow up in a traditional Chinese household, said, “I will want to carry this story of mine to also encourage the youth most especially to relate to me, that they too can be seen, and feel valued as well in the Chinese community.”