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Nita Sofiani: Beauty goes all out to save the environment
(JP/R
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(JP/R. Berto Wedhatama) (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)
(JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)
The newly crowned Miss Earth Indonesia 2013 Nita Sofiani is more than ready to go all out to help save the environment.
As a start, she will focus on water conservation, in line with this year's Miss Earth Indonesia theme, Celebrating the Conservation & Preservation of Indonesian Water.
'I think many people still use water excessively. They don't really care about preserving our water resources, even though it is one of the most important things for living creatures,' Nita, who is from Bandung, West Java, told reporters after the grand final night.
But before asking people to join her in the fight to conserve water, she said she would lead by example.
'After that, I will ask my closest friends and family to change their water-use habits, and then I will reach out to society at-large,' the 21-year-old said.
Nita, who graduated with a degree in English from Maranatha University in Bandung and prior to the contest worked as a make-up artist, defeated 26 other semi-finalists in the grand final of the first Miss Earth Indonesia pageant.
The contest was organized by El John Pageant and took place at Sasana Kriya in Taman Mini Indonesian Indah in East Jakarta on Thursday night.
One of the jury members, Johnnie Sugiarto, said she deserved the title as she had shown the greatest interest to learn in depth about ways to save the environment during the 10-day pre-final quarantine phase.
'She was not afraid to get wet and dirty during our mangrove planting event, and she did not hesitate when she had to clean up garbage out of a lake,' said Johnnie, the founder of El John.
Twenty-nine semi-finalists competed for the title of Miss Earth Indonesia 2013. Johnnie said, however that the panel of judges had eliminated two due to lack of interest shown during the pre-final quarantine.
Also sitting on the jury were Agus Dermawan from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Miss Tourism Indonesia 2012 Reinita Arlin Puspita, environmental expert Nani S Firmansyah and Siti Aini Hanum from the Environment Ministry.
The grand final night began with a fashion show featuring the 27 semi-finalists, accompanied by a musical performance from Dira Sugandi.
Soon after, the presenters announced the top 10, who then had to face questions prepared beforehand by the other contestants.
The questions revolved around the benefits of biopores, the value of mangrove forests to the ecosystem, the roles they would want to take on if named the winner and ways to preserve water.
'Turning off the faucet when brushing your teeth and watering plants with water already used to rinse fruit are some of the easiest ways to help conserve water,' one of the finalists, Rhesa Putri Januar, said.
The judges then choose the five girls who would continue to the final round: Nita, Kanty Widjaja, Vitri Dwi Martini Daniati, Rakhmi Wijiharti and Yossico Stephanie.
In the final round, the finalists had to face another round of questions, this time prepared by the judges, such as suggestions for reducing air pollution, how to engage the community in their environmental programs and how to reduce plastic waste.
When the presenters called Nita's name, Miss Earth 2012 Tereza Fajksová from the Czech Republic immediately put the Rp 250-million crown onto her head.
The pageant also had several special awards, such as Best National Costume, Best Talent, Best Catwalk and Miss Earth Indonesia Peace.
Johnnie said all winners had to participate in the environmental projects that El John had prepared.
At the end of this month, they will fly to Balikpapan in East Kalimantan to take part in a meeting organized by the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry regarding environmental cooperative programs.
In addition, Nita said, she would also attend several preliminary sessions with El John to get ready to participate in the Miss Earth 2013 pageant, which will be held in the Philippines in December.
