The real Miss Samoa answers Queensland crown fiasco with grace, humility
THE REAL MISS SAMOA: (Left to right) Ms. Haylani Kuruppu when she was crowned Miss Samoa by former Miss Samoa and reigning Miss Pacific Islands Fonoifafo McFarland-Seumanu; at the Brisbane 60th Independence Flag Raising on Monday, 3 October; and dancing her victory siva at the Miss Samoa Pageant last month.
Photo: Vanu Studios and Haylani Kuruppu/Facebook
A despicable act meant to disgrace the crown and title of reigning Miss Samoa Haylani Pearl Mataupu Kuruppu has backfired with Samoans rallying around the nation’s beauty queen and ambassador by flooding social media with messages of love, admiration and support.
The expressed love and support from Samoans is in response to an incident that occurred at the 60th Independence Flag Raising celebration held for the Samoan community in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on Monday, 3 October, 2022.
At the incident, Miss Samoa was instructed by a member of the organising committee to remove her crown and sash during the celebration, a witness named Ivy Tafa told Pulotu Canada McCarthy in a live broadcast on Monday.
Unbeknownst to most members of the organising committee Ms. Kuruppu was at the flag-raising, said Ms. Tafa.
But while the newly crowned Miss Samoa who arrived in Australia on 21 September, sat unrecognised, another young woman also wearing a crown and a sash that reads “Miss Samoa Australia” was seated prominently among the dignitaries.
Ms. Tafa said the confusion around the whereabouts of “the real Miss Samoa” began on Friday night at the Faatuatua i le Le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) ball.
F.A.S.T. Deputy Leader Laauli Leuatea Schmidt was at the ball.
At the F.A.S.T. ball, a young woman wearing a crown and a sash was announced before her siva as “Miss Samoa.”
But it was not Ms. Kuruppu.
“It started from Friday night at the F.A.S.T. ball. Someone announced the Miss Samoa’s siva and we thought it was the official Miss Samoa but when she was brought to the front. We were shocked. It was not Haylani,” said Ms. Tafa.
“I was shocked and I was not the only one. Everyone was asking the same question: who is this Miss? There was lots of talk but I feel for the daughter of Samoa because it’s not her fault to put her in that position.
The search for “the real Miss Samoa” continued on Monday when Samoans gathered in Brisbane for the flag raising.
“So today (Monday) I felt sad. The reason I felt sad is because none of us knew that the official Miss Samoa, Haylani was at the flag-raising,” said Ms. Tafa.
Attendees were again shocked when “the Miss Samoa” was announced – but again it was not Ms. Kuruppu.
“Even members of the committee who put the programme together did not know the real Miss Samoa was there. They announced the siva for Miss Samoa but it was another...who went and danced,” said Ms. Tafa.
She told Pulotu that members of the committee were grumbling about an elder committee member identified as Koleta who instructed the real Miss Samoa to remove her crown and her sash.
“She told the Miss Samoa, this daughter of Samoa, to remove her crown and her sash. This happened today. No one knows about it...no one knew our official Miss Samoa was there,” said Ms. Tafa.
“So this woman, she is a mother, sure she had a ‘practice Miss’ there but if she had a clean heart and spirit why did she not go and get the official Miss Samoa, whether she was invited or not invited. Why didn’t she go and say ‘come here and go sit with my unofficial Miss’ to make that side look nice.”
She expressed “sadness” because many people were asking for the Miss Samoa.
“I am sad because so many people were asking: where is the real Miss Samoa? That is the question people were asking. They were grumbling and complaining, saying ‘ who is this Miss? Why have they not brought out the real Miss Samoa – where is she?,” Ms. Tafa.
“And no one knew that she (the real Miss Samoa) was sitting beneath the tent on the other end. But this woman refused to seat the real Miss Samoa where she should be seated.”
She said the Miss Samoa was crowned in Samoa and has already received the blessings of the country.
“She already has the crown. The country has blessed her so where ever she goes, she must wear her crown and sash no one can tell her to take it off...no. She can’t do that. She was already crowned in Samoa,” said Ms. Tafa.
“What has Koleta done? She has disgraced this daughter of Samoa... her actions speaks louder than words. We have seen it. This is sad.”
She almost lost her cool but friends helped to calm Ms. Tafa.
“Miss Samoa told people ‘that woman told me to remove my crown and sash’...that is the lowest thing anyone can do...she should be ashamed of herself. I almost lost my patience but some of my friends helped to lower my blood pressure but I called out to Koleta ‘do your job well’,” Ms. Tafa said.
“Everything else was else was great. It was perfect, everything went well, one hundred percent but that was the only thing – Koleta did this underhandedly most of them, the committee members, they were shocked. They were disappointed with her to be honest with you because I saw it.”
EyeSpy questions sent to the real Miss Samoa, and officials with the Samoa Tourism Authority (S.T.A.), did not receive a reply.
Unconfirmed reports from Australia said Miss Samoa, when instructed by the Brisbane committee member to remove her crown and sash, did so humbly and with tears in her eyes.
In a Facebook post that followed the incident. Ms. Kuruppu published a photo taken at the location of the flag-raising.
In the photo, she is wearing her Miss Samoa crown and Miss Samoa sash.
The photo caption reads: “Come what may and love what’s to come.”
Miss Samoa punctuates her statement with two emojis: a Samoa flag and sparkles.
Ms. Kuruppu’s name has been trending on Facebook since the flag-raising incident.
Samoans are flooding Facebook with posts that express, love, blessings, admiration and support for “the real Miss Samoa.”
As Miss Samoa, Ms. Kuruppu is an employee of the S.T.A. and an ambassador for Samoa here and abroad.
She is a Return Missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The fiasco at the Brisbane flag-raising comes less than a month after Ms. Kuruppu was crowned Miss Samoa by outgoing Miss Samoa and reigning Miss Pacific Islands Fonoifafo McFarland-Seumanu, at Gym 1 in Tuanaimato on Saturday, 10 September, 2022.
The reigning Miss Samoa is from Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria.
Brisbane is the capital of the state of Queensland.