January 8, 2009 - Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM:
Miss World 2008, Ksenia Sukhinova choses Vietnam as first stop on charity tour. She arrived in Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday, beginning an 18-day charity tour of Vietnam her first since she won the world’s premier beauty contest last month.
She expressed her happiness at being able to help disadvantaged people in Vietnam in a press briefing at HCMC’s Sheraton Saigon Hotel.
Sukhinova is accompanied by Miss World Organization’s Chairwoman Julia Morley and American-Vietnamese Hoang Kieu, the president of Antibody Antigen Supply Inc. (RAAS) group. Morley said they chose Vietnam for the first charity tour because the Vietnamese are “special people with a strong will.”
Sukhinova will participate in many activities during her visit, including handing over houses to the poor and joining some cultural events. After spending today and tomorrow in the central resort town of Nha Trang, she will visit Hanoi, a few northern provinces, the central localities of Thua-Thien Hue, Quang Ngai and Da Nang, as well as the Mekong Delta provinces of Kien Giang, Tien Giang and Hau Giang.
The journey, which is estimated to cost more than VND20 billion (US$1.16 million), will close in HCMC.
On January 25, which is also the last day of the 2008 lunar year, the beauty queen will celebrate Lunar New Year’s Eve at HCMC’s September 23rd Park.
Sukhinova’s predecessor Zhang Zi Lin of China couldn’t come to Vietnam as scheduled due to some personal problems but Hoang Kieu said she would join the tour from January 12. Sukhinova said she wants to outdo the Chinese in terms of a Miss World’s charity tasks. According to Kieu, Zhang had raised more than $30 million from around the world in her one-year term.
Kieu said the trip was the first step of his company’s 2009 charity program. He thanked local authorities and organizations for assisting RAAS with its projects, citing the VND180 billion ($10.35 million) raised in Kien Giang so far as an example.
Sukhinova was crowned Miss World 2008 last December in South Africa. The 22-year-old is a student pursuing a science degree from the Tyumen Oil and Gas University. RAAS will organize the Miss World 2010 contest in Nha Trang Town on the central coast, according to an agreement signed last July.
Morley said she is keeping abreast of Vietnam’s preparation work for the event. “We must work hard together to do it correctly and beautifully,” she said.
Ksenia Sukhinova's Biodata/Profile:
Birth name: Ksenia Vladimirovna Sukhinova
Birth location: Nizhnevartovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Eye color: Blue
Hair color: Brown
Title: Miss Russia 2007
Miss World 2008
(Thank you and credits to Trong Kha: thanhniennews.com, http://www.globalbeauties.com, http://www.popcrunch.com and all sources for information and pictures)
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