AT THE age of 27, Dhivya Dhyana Suppiah has taken part in several major pageants.
Her first beauty pageant was when she was 21. At the time, she was enrolled in medical school.
In 2014 she took part in Miss Malaysia World and was placed in the Top 5 and in 2016 took part in Miss Malaysia Universe were she emerged runner-up.
Currently, she is a houseman at one of the busiest hospitals in the country, Klang General Hospital.
Aside from that, she has done some modelling, and is also active in social work.
Essentially, she is the kind of young lady who knows what she wants and goes all out to excel at it.
A middle child, and the daughter of two accountants, Dhiyva was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but moved back to Malaysia with her family at the age of two.
Her parents threw their full support behind their driven daughter. She was encouraged to take part in pageants by her father, and to do social work by her mother.
What made you go into beauty pageants?
"It all began in 1995 when Sushmita Sen won Miss Universe and was doing a world tour.
"My father was in the organising committee and when she was visiting an old folks home, he managed to take me there.
When I met her, I thought: 'Oh my God! This is my idol! I have to be like her'.
"It was my father who encouraged me to take part in pageants.
"In school I used to write that my ambition was to be Miss Universe, and my teachers used to laugh.
"It is a funny thing that I [actually] joined Miss Universe Malaysia and became runner-up."
How did studying medicine come about?
"Somewhere along the line I wanted to become a doctor.
"My father always used to say you have a choice to either continue sleeping and dreaming, or to wake up and chase that dream.
"I was determined to model and medicine. I am living proof that you can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it."
How did you balance it all initially?
"When I was taking part in Miss Universe Malaysia , I was in my final year of medical school. My final exams were [taking place] around the same time as the pageant finals.
"I would [rehearse] for Miss Universe from 7am to 10pm.
"When everybody was asleep I would be studying. I would get about four hours of sleep [a day], and that lasted about a month or two until the grand finals.
"I ended up passing both."
Where were you staying during this time?
"My clinical studies was during my final year. We (Miss Universe Malaysia contestants) were all quarantined in Palace of the Golden Horses.
"So I would drive back and forth between Seremban (IMU) and the hotel.
"The night before the Miss Universe Malaysia finals I had to sit for my final medical exams.
"After I finished my final papers I drove back for rehearsals, and the next day was the crowning [ceremony].
"I was exhausted, but it was worth it."
People tend to forget that many beauty pageant winners also went on to professional careers like becoming doctors.
"People always look at models or pageant queens as girls with pretty faces, but nothing up here (pointing to her head).
"But I beg to differ.
"Times are changing. We have a lot of dental students, doctors, engineers, and architects winning pageants. "
"It is no more about 'another pretty face'.
"It is about 'beauty with brains'."
What kind of girl were you growing up?
"I was an enthusiast I would say.
"I am a little hyper active.
"Everything that I saw and wanted to do, I did.
"I wanted to learn an instrument, so I took up piano.
"I wanted to learn how to sing, so I took up classical singing (Carnatic).
"I wanted to dance, so I took up Bharatanatyam for eight years.
"In between I wanted to do hip hop, and I took part in a hip hop dance class.
"I pretty much did everything.
"I have great parents who said: 'If you want to do it, go do it'."
