Hanoi: Miss World Malaysia Taanusiya Chetty has won the hearts of many after a video of her delivering an empowering message in four languages-English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil-went viral. 'I want to leave a message by saying that it's not about how much we can change the world but how much you can be the change. Jangan tunggu dunia berubah, jadilah perubahan. That's the very essence of how a Miss World should be,' she said in the clip of her Head-to-Head Challenge at Miss World on Sunday.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Taanusiya, 26, is representing Malaysia at the 73rd Miss World pageant in Vietnam, competing against 86 other contestants from across the globe. In her speech, Taanusiya opened up about her personal tragedy that drove her toward social work, recalling the loss of her mother at age 14 in a fatal road accident while travelling to a family funeral.
The Miss World Malaysia titleholder shared that while the loss plunged her into deep grief, the unconditional support of her stepmother eventually inspired her journey toward community empowerment. Driven by that experience, Taanusiya turned to education and charity work, founding her movement 'Be The Change Malaysia' in 2022 before officially registering the organisation, Pertubuhan Suara Perubahan Insan Murni.
Under this banner, she collaborated with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to set up a specialised school-in-hospital initiative for Orang Asli children, alongside conducting art workshops for autistic youth and visiting paediatric leukaemia patients. 'By 2028, I wish to work with the Miss World Organisation to expand Be The Change Malaysia into an international territory because I believe that we could work and align together to achieve the desired goal.
'One of the chapters that I came up with before I even competed here is to expand my emotional intelligence movement in Cambodia and Vietnam,' she said, adding that since launching her platform, her initiatives have impacted 8,000 children and raised RM60,000 through community outreach programmes. 'In that moment, I felt like my journey is not about myself- how much I could shine, but how much light from the candles that I could light up to every single individual,' she said.
To date, Malaysia's best achievement at the Miss World pageant was recorded by Lina Teoh, who finished third in 1998. Rahimah Orchient Yayah made it into the Top 10 in 1994, while Deborah Henry secured a place in the Top 16 in 2007.