Beautiful, elegant, intelligent, compassionate and gracious are the terms which have been chosen to introduce her to the world. Indeed Miss Sri Lanka Australia 2020 Subani Jayasinghe lives up to these words. The 27- year-old beauty with a Sri Lankan lineage who hails from Melbourne, Australia, emerged as the winner at the renowned beauty pageant which was held on an online platform due to the pandemic.
“That was the most challenging part of the whole event. This has never happened before in the history of pageants, so contestants and the organizers of Miss Sri Lanka Australia and Miss South Asia Australia- Dilkie Perera, Savindhi Jain and Vishni Perera- Jainudeen adapted very well and hosted an outstanding ‘virtual pageant’,” she said adding that though it was done virtually, it was an amazing and memorable experience for all those who took part.
“Since it was held online, I did not get to meet a single contestant in person until recently when we had a get together just for the Melbourne contestants. We were all coming together from different parts of Australia, such as Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia and I was competing from Melbourne, Victoria. But we all grew remarkably close having never met before and I found that to be amazing. All the girls I met through this contest had outstanding personalities and I am so glad to have met all of them. Hopefully, we will get to meet in person soon at the red-carpet event due at end of this year,” Subani enthused.
Life has been quite different for Subani since winning the pageant. Opportunities for modeling flooded in with the exposure she got through the pageant.
“It is quite hectic juggling between work and making time for photo shoots and other modeling projects, but I am enjoying it very much,” she said.
She says that the decision to take part in Miss Sri Lanka Australia was quite a spontaneous one. She has always entertained the idea of taking part in a beauty pageant since she was a little girl.
“I remember dressing up like a beauty queen in my mom’s long dresses and doing the catwalk around my room waving my hand in the air. However, my dreams took a back seat as time went by with studies taking the highest place in my list of priorities. I ended up moving to Australia for my higher education. Last year during the COVID-19 lockdown I came across the news that Miss Sri Lanka Australia is taking applications and since I had completed my studies and had some time to invest on something else, I decided to finally give my dreams a go,” she recalled on how she decided to apply for the beauty pageant.
She notes that the hard work and dedication that goes behind what you see as a glamourous event on the outside took her by surprise. She had never imagined that putting together an event of this nature demanded such commitment.
“I signed up to the competition hoping to win, of course. But once I met the other girls, I knew it is going to be a tough competition. So, you can imagine my surprise when they announced that I have won the competition. But I guess at the end of the day, we are all winners as there was so much to take home from this pageant, in terms of knowledge and experience. We were trained by top models who have walked internationals runways, public speaking coaches and other incredible women in the industry who had much to share from their experience,” she pointed out.
Recalling some of the highlights of the competition Subani noted that the jury had questioned her on why her culture is important to her. Her answer had been that moving away from Sri Lanka to Australia not only made her miss home but also the beautiful island rich with an amazing heritage and a culture.
She said, “In Sri Lanka you’ll find the most hospitable people, I assure you, you’ll never leave a home without a steaming cup of tea and a new friendship What I’m wearing today is called the “Osariya” it’s six yards of pure elegance wrapped in a beauty pattern.
Although I am wearing just the one today, we Lankan ladies wear seven on these exquisite long necklaces - especially on our wedding day with beautiful patterns of swans and florals which symbolises purity, beauty and the auspicious. This beautiful outfit does not just represent how beautiful our Sri Lankan ladies dress, but also the pride and meaning it carries speaks for itself. What inspired me to take part in this pageant is the opportunity it gives be a part of the south Asian communities here in Australia, and to have and to use the platform I create through this to promote self love - something most young people need to embrace before we all become victims of overwhelming social media benchmarks. I hope this opportunity is the beginning of many more...”
Raised in a single parent household, Subani is the only child of Shamalee Jayakody who currently resides in the US. Subani spent most of her childhood with her grandparents in Rathnapura. A product of Lyceum International School, Rathnapura, she later moved to Colombo for her Advanced Levels.
“My mom and my grandparents are my rock. They are the reason I am who I am today. All credits go to them and right now I miss them very much because I have not had a chance to visit them since the beginning of the pandemic,” she said with a note of emotion adding that she is counting days till she can visit Sri Lanka again.
“I have not been in Sri Lanka since 2017. I was planning to travel last year but everything had to be cancelled due to COVID-19. I love everything about Sri Lanka. It is indeed a paradise when you think about it. I am a huge beach lover so that is where I will spend most of my time next time I am there. I am also looking forward to experiencing the Lankan wildlife by traveling to wildlife sanctuaries such as Yala, Kumana and Udawalawa,” she added.
Queried about her beauty mantra and Subani says that she does not have a 10-step skin care routine or a ‘beauty routine’.
“But I do have a daily routine. I make sure to get at least eight hours of sleep daily in spite of how early I have to wake up. Planning your day ahead is the key. I try to eat healthy as much as possible. Stay out of sugars and processed food. But there is the occasional Maccas run I am not going to lie. When it comes to skin care, less is more, and I feel it is what you consume internally more than what you apply on the outside that derives results, so eat healthy,” she opined.
She says that she appreciates criticism as long as it is constructive criticism.
“We are not always perfect, at least I am not, and can learn a thing or two from someone who wants to see us progress. But destructive criticism is a whole different story, my way is to ignore, because such negative behaviors do not deserve my time or attention,” she said.
She intends to use her title to empower South Asian women and communities in Australia through platforms such as by being member of Committee for Sri Lanka, an Organisation representing South Asian communities and empowering young leaders.
“COVID-19 restrictions have hindered my ability to actively take on such work however with easing restrictions I’ll be more actively working with the South Asian Communities in the future. Further, I intend to use my voice to advocate self-love and kindness, qualities that are slowly diluting in the modern day and age,” Subani expressed.
Australia is still under moderate COVID-19 restrictions yet amid those guidelines Subani is working on some projects relating to entertainment industry in Australia these days. Those will be published in the near future.
“With regards to Committee for Sri Lanka, we organized and exciting cultural event which was held on April 25 with the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in mind. The intention was to bring together diverse cultures Australia is well known for. The idea was to raise awareness of different cultures and to appreciate and celebrate that difference together,” she said.
Her goal is to continue to actively participate in empowering and creating change in the South Asian communities in Australia with the help of people like Savindhi Perera, Vishini Perera- Jainudeen and Dilkie Perera who are the organizers of the pageants and are heavily involved in community activities and leadership.
“If you know you have something in you that you want to take to the world, be it an amazing talent or positive change you want to spread, if you want to grow out of your comfort zone, want a platform to be heard, be empowered this is a good place to begin that journey,” are her words of wisdom to other youth living abroad who wish to showcase their skills in competitions of this nature.
