Miss National Asia Queen Linda Phung
Linda Phung is the Queen of the first ever Miss National Asia Pageant which was held in San Francisco this past July. Born in San Francisco and of Chinese descent she is considered one of the most talented and beautiful Asian American women in the United States. She has the mysterious characteristic of an Asian woman and the sophisticated sense of an American woman. Linda Phung is the Queen of the first ever Miss National Asia Pageant which was held in San Francisco this past July. Born in San Francisco and of Chinese descent she is considered one of the most talented and beautiful Asian American women in the United States. She has the mysterious characteristic of an Asian woman and the sophisticated sense of an American woman. Both of her characters made her the Queen of the Miss National Asia Pageant. The main goal of this high energy pageant is to help Asian American women increase their cultural awareness throughout the entire country. By embracing the beauty of the Asian culture, the pageant captures the beauty and pride of Asian American women. The pageant also serves as a platform for Asian American women to shed light on certain issues that they face today in the Asian American communities across the nation. With that in mind, the Pageant provides the atmosphere for women to challenge themselves at becoming their very best and rewards them for the efforts.
We’re not just Asian OR just American, we’re Asian American.
ASIANCE: Where were you born?
Linda: I was born and raised in San Francisco, but my parents immigrated from Vietnam. The United States is absolutely awesome! I feel very privileged to be able to grow up in the United States, where everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
ASIANCE: Why did you decide to enter the Miss National Asia contest?
Linda: I decided to compete in Miss National Asia because being that it is my last year in college, I will graduate soon and would like to pursue my law degree as well as kick off my career. I decided before I open a new chapter in my life, I wanted to compete in one more pageant, just in memory of my young adolescent years.
ASIANCE: How did your life change after you got the first prize of Miss National Asia?
Linda: After being crowned Miss National Asia, small aspects in my life began to change. I realized that being in the public eye, I am constantly being watched, therefore, I must be a good role model for the young generation. I felt more responsible in the community, and I always had to have a “proper” appearance.
ASIANCE: What do you think the contest will do for you?
Linda: I am very grateful to the pageant committee. They are like a second family to me. It has opened many doors for me. Not only did I get over my fear of being on stage, the pageant has also taught me how to be poised, as well as graceful. I learned many things from the pageant that I will definitely remember for the rest of my life.
ASIANCE: What are you involved in these days?
Linda: After the pageant, I was involved in a lot of charity and volunteer work, which I truly love. The most rewarding part of my job, being a Queen, is to know that I am making a positive impact on my community. Our pageant participates in several different volunteering activities. We are very active in the “Self Help For the Eldery” Organization, which is an organization that supports the eldery of low income, providing them with assistance as well as low income housing. Aside from smaller volunteering in a variety of activities, all of the court members focus on their “platform.” A platform is a speech that the girls made on Pageant night, stating, that if they were to win the Queen title, what would they utilize it for? What positive changes would they want to make in the world as Miss National Asia in order to make a difference? My platform is children with cleft palates, and I am working around the world to assist children affected by cleft palates by providing them with reconstructive surgery at no cost to their family. I am working with this organization to fundraise as well as raise awareness so that we may further the development and research for this worthy cause.
ASIANCE: How did your family react to you winning the pageant?
Linda: I've competed in many pageants before, and my parents always support me. They have always taught me to go after my dreams, because no dream is too big. I believe that after I won my title, my parents were very happy for me and also very proud.
ASIANCE: What is your next goal?
Linda: My next goal would be to obtain my law degree, have a stable career, be able to take care of my parents, and purchase them a home, as well as marry the love of my life.
ASIANCE: What do you think about Asian girls in the USA?
Linda: I believe that Asian women have a special charm to them. I believe that Asian women are very mysterious, but that is what makes them beautiful. I believe that Asian women are charming because of their upbringing. At times, they are very modest, and shy. But that is what makes them unique, and beautiful. We must be proud of our heritage and not for one minute forget who we are and where we came from. We're not just Asian OR just American, we're Asian American.
ASIANCE: What is your motto?
Linda: My motto “carpe diem” seize the day, live everyday like it is your last, because you never know what may come tomorrow, and tomorrow is never a promise. You should always let the people you love, know that you love them.
ASIANCE: Any message to our readers!
Linda: Reach for the moon, because even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. No dream is too big, or too out of reach. If you really want something, work hard for it and never give up!
For more information on the pageant visit http://missnationalasia.com/
Yuriko Kobayashi is from Japan and studying in the United States. She is one of Asiance’s favorite interns ;).
Can Linda Phung explain this news article below?
http://haivannews.com/busting-an-internet-fraud-ring-dogged-police-work-sends-to-prison-p4730-142.htm
What I’m about to say is based on my personal experience and reasonable judgement after having competed in Miss National Asia. Before I write more, I just want to say that if you’re considering competing for Miss National Asia, I highly recommend you don’t. If you’d like to hear my thoughts, please read below.
First off, when you come in as a contestant, all the staff of Miss National Asia are very nice to you (of course, it’s their job). Linda Phung (who is now the director of MNA) comes off as a very sweet and caring person. When contestants show up late to rehearsal of make a mistake, she will never lecture or scold them. She’ll tell other contestants something along the line of “OMG, i’m so worried about “some name.” Can you please check and make sure that she’s okay OR Can you please help her learn the dance” etc etc. That is Linda’s style. Linda acts very courteous and says thank you for every little thing. She gives a very good first impression and tries to be likeable. When she first meets you at the pageant rehearsals, she will try to win your friendship by acting supportive and caring. However, if one were to look beyond the kindness that Linda shows on the surface and dig deeper into Miss National Asia’s history, you’ll find some questionable facts. Sadly, I didn’t research these facts until after I had competed in Miss National Asia. I’ll state the facts for you below and you can choose to research more into it if you’d like.
First off, when Linda Phung competed in Miss National Asia in 2006, her boyfriend Alvin Ma (commonly called Vin Ma) was the producer behind the pageant. If you look up public records in CA, the pageant is registered under Alvin Ma. From my personal judgement after seeing these facts, I formed my opinion that Alvin Ma (Vin) gave his gf Linda Phung the crown that year 2006. Miss National Asia is Linda Phung and Vin Ma’s pageant which is why they have been running it all these years along with their group of friends (Peter, Calvin Ma (Vin’s brother), Johnson, etc).
It’s also hard to trust Alvin Ma (Vin) and Calvin Ma since I found out they were involved in identity theft crimes. See link below and research more yourself.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/anatomy-of-an-internet-scam/3289
http://haivannews.com/busting-an-internet-fraud-ring-dogged-police-work-sends-to-prison-p4730-142.htm
http://it.moldova.org/news/internet-fraud-ring-sends-brothers-to-jail-55290-eng.html
Another thing to notice is that Miss National Asia’s 2007 winner Victoria Chu (Vicky) is not listed on their website, wikipedia page, or anything. When I was a MNA contestant, I asked Linda why Victoria was not active with MNA and how come her name is never listed on anything to note that she was the queen of 2007. Linda tried to make Vicky Chu look bad by telling me that when Vicky became Miss National Asia queen she never made appearances to events like she was suppose to. Linda said that Vicky demanded she get picked up in a nice car and chauffered to all events with makeup, hair and everything paid for. Later on, I found Victoria Chu (Vicky) on myspace and messaged her to ask what her experience competing in Miss National Asia was like and how it was to be queen. Vicky told me she was a local to the bay area so make appearances at events for Miss National Asia was of no difficult for her. She told me that she did NOT demand a chauffeur and professional makeup/hair paid for like Linda had said. Vicky said that she refused to make appearances for Miss National Asia because Linda had promised her a monetary prize for winning the pageant and that she was never given any of her money. Vicky felt it was shady and unfair and refused to make appearances until things were cleared (which never happened). Also, Vicky won the pageant in 2007 which is the year after Linda Phung held the crown. Vicky said that Linda still wanted to be in the spotlight and attention as queen so Linda was very intrusive and did not let Vicky be a queen or do things as she’d like. Since Vicky was not willing to do what Linda and Vin wanted and would not shut up about the money that she was suppose to receive, she was completely removed from MNA as 2007’s queen and Linda continued to reign as queen for both 2006 and 2007… making appearances, waving for cameras, and all the attention she desperately wanted. If you also notice, after the incident with Victoria Chu, Miss National Asia no longer promises any monetary prize for winning the pageant. Instead, Linda Phung and the staff will tell you “oh, you should do the pageant from the goodness of your heart because you want to make a difference, not because of the money.” That phrase sounds philanthropic to the ear doesn’t it? (that’s also how they can cheat you out of a prize without getting in trouble for it)
Now let’s talk about the pageant. As a former contestant of Miss National Asia, I personally do feel MNA is a scam. When I competed, Dow-An Kou got the crown. Dow-An had a big sponsorship from the Huntington Hotel and also hired Linda Phung to do her makeup for the entire pageant (from makeup for sponsor visits to makeup the night of the pageant). All the girls who were on the royal court had sponsorships and brought in money for MNA. All the queens of MNA brought in sponsorship money for the pageant. Honestly, I think if you don’t bring in money for MNA, don’t waste time competing because you’re not going to win. I’m sorry, but it’s unfair like that.
Also, during the pageant, when it came to the question and answer portion, the finalists were suppose to pick questions out of a bowl. In a fair world…when you pick a question out of bowl, whichever question you get (whether easy or hard for you) is basically your luck. However, Linda rigged this portion. How? Well, Linda held the question bowl and the contestant pulled out a piece of paper from the bowl. Technically, there is suppose to be only ONE question on there. However, Linda rigged it by putting multiple questions on there. Nobody can see this because she is the only one holding and reading the paper. Since there are multiple questions on the paper, Linda can choose which question she wants to read off… she reads off the easier question to the contestant she wants to win and reads off the harder question to the contestant she does NOT want to win. How do I know this, you ask? I know this because I was a finalist and when Linda held the paper up, I could see the list of questions through the light. Linda tried to play it safe by doubling the layer of paper, but I STILL SAW IT. That’s when i got suspicious and did research when i got home and found out all the stuff i wrote above. Like I said earlier, Linda and Vin controls who wins the pageant and unless you bring in lots of sponsorship money for them, they’re not going to give you the crown or even a spot on the royal court.
Not to be mean, but I also found Linda Phung, Alvin Ma, and all the staffs of Miss National Asia to be more on the ghetto side. They talk in an unclassy manner and none of them are educated. Linda Phung graduated from the University of San Francisco and one of their other staff Johnson graduated from UC Berkeley law school… but other than that, the other staffers are all either drop-outs or stuck in junior college for life. They’re all friends from before too. Actually, almost all of them are Alvin Ma’s friends. Linda picks up a few friends here and there from the contestants of Miss National Asia, but other than that she doesn’t really seem to spend much time with anyone else except Vin Ma. Linda Phung wears the pants in the relationship so Vin just does whatever she says. Linda relies on Vin for happiness and is always stuck with him.
If this pageant was more legit, I think more people would be willing to volunteer their time to help with the pageant instead of just Linda, Vin, and their friends running the pageant. They’re probably scared that other people will find out about their scam too.
Here’s my advice to anybody thinking of competing in Miss National Asia: I HOPE YOU DON’T. If you have the talent and heart, you can compete in other legit pageants and win… HEK, you don’t even need to be a beauty queen, just take that talent and heart of yours and make a difference in the world. You don’t need a crown to do that! 🙂
Please let me remind you again that what I just said above is based on my personal experience and reasonable judgement after having competed in Miss National Asia. If you want to formulate your own opinion, feel free to do more research and ask around on your own. I hope I’ve been helpful.
It is so important to throroughly research everything these days with the increasing numbers of clever scammers out there! You have to do your due diligence before entering any of these contests because it is becoming more and more difficult to police all of these new ventures. Any pageants, contests, sweepstakes, etc. that require money from the participants upfront should be a big red flag.
People readily sign away their rights on the internet each day! Look at Facebook and Myspace for instance. Most people never read the fine print before signing away all of their rights to privacy. Read the fine print before you sign or agree to anything and if you don’t understand the terms of agreement have someone review it who does. People willingly join these pageants, sites, etc. and agree to their terms, and even go so far as to contribute funds. I have seen it happen first hand with certain so-called charitable organizations. There are always going to be very clever people who are greedy and create opportunities through immoral actions. That goes for healthcare, the internet, electronic devices, and so forth. We have to learn to take responsibility for and to protect ourselves as we live in a very different world now.
It’s a scam. they scam elder people for money. linda and her scam buddies been doing this for years.
I commend you for you for exposing them!