THINK well of Miss World contestants and winners. They already know they cannot succeed by being merely a pretty face.
“Miss World is a beauty outside and a beauty inside,” maintained Karen Jansen, Miss Belgium 2025 and a Miss World pageant contestant, to an Indian journalist in Hyderabad last May.
“You must command your inner world; a man ruled by chaos inside will always create chaos outside!” another fellow journalist and motivator, the late American Napoleon Hill, once observed, capturing a pervasive internal malaise that often ruins the outer world.
The inner world of man is constantly running with intentions.
Perchance, Mrs Julia Morley, currently CEO of the Miss World Organisation, noticed an unsung humanitarian champion when she paid a debut visit to Singapore 56 years ago, where an unusual act of “intentional kindness” in the streets captivated her interest.
“The Londoner first visited Singapore in 1971 and was intrigued by an old lady she observed each morning from her hotel room window,” reported Mei Ann Foo in a 2018 edition of Prestige, a Hong Kong-based lifestyle magazine.
What Morley Saw in Singapore
“The entire do-good arm – Miss World’s ‘Beauty With a Purpose’ – was inspired by this profound encounter in Singapore,” Mei Ann wrote.
“The old lady would walk out into the streets carrying two bags in her hands – one filled with clean towels, the other with food – which she distributed to people on the streets,” Mei Ann quoted Mrs. Morley as saying.
“This was in 1971, and people were still quite poor in Singapore. But I watched her going around, putting her hand on people’s shoulders, helping them cope daily.”
“The last day I was there, I wanted to talk to her, so I got into the lift and out of the hotel to catch her before she began her morning walkabout,” Mei Ann further quoted Morley.
The Inspirational Moment for ‘Beauty With a Purpose’
“I asked her why she did what she did.
“She looked at me and said, ‘My dear, is it not better to light one candle in the darkness than not to see at all?’”
Her figurative answer struck Morley as a defining moment: “I realised that was her purpose in life.”
That was it – the origin of “Beauty With a Purpose” was found.
Where could this shining act of kindness come from unless it is first generated inside the old lady before it manifested outwardly in the streets of Singapore!
The old lady may have been haggard, but she epitomised “a beauty inside.”
So the origin of Miss World’s “Beauty With a Purpose” – the idea of being both beautiful outside and beautiful inside – was hatched in Singapore.
“Looking at that, I felt we must do it too. We are all women, and we are at this show – we must all have a purpose. Young women cannot just look beautiful and wear bikinis. And it is not their fault, because people instruct them to do so. But I thought, if I had the power, I can change what we do.”
The Shift in Focus
And change she did. In 1972, she founded the “Beauty With a Purpose” initiative, not to abandon or belittle physical beauty, but to connect it directly to humanitarian action – leveraging the aura of exceptional beauty for constructive service.
The initiative encourages Miss World contestants to engage in humanitarian projects, just as the old Singaporean lady had showered intentional kindness upon needy strangers in 1971.
Why Morley was in Singapore in 1971 is unclear. But that was the year Britain withdrew its forces from the city-state, removing a major economic pillar and prompting Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to mount a do-or-die industrialisation pivot to create jobs.
Perhaps, because many had become jobless, the old lady gave herself a small personal humanitarian mission to make some difference.
Yet to quote a proverb such as, “Is it not better to light one candle in the darkness than not to see at all?” – using metaphor rather than literal speech – suggests she must have been well read.
The Point: Every Small Act Makes a Difference
As noted, Morley quickly sensed that the old lady was purpose-driven, though most people probably still would not have understood her.
A Google search reveals a more common variation of the saying: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness,” originally coined in 1907 by Methodist minister William Watkinson. It teaches that it is better to take a small constructive action – lighting a candle – than merely complain about a problem by cursing the darkness.
In other words, even a small proactive step in a difficult situation can change something for the better, whether in personal life or in society.
A small act may seem insignificant, but if everyone is taught to apply it, the cumulative social benefit can be enormous.
Changing Miss World, Not the World
The day Morley took charge, she taught her contestants this gem of wisdom – but with a sense of proportion.
“I am not trying to change the world. I’d be crazy to think I could. I am changing Miss World.”
In what ways has Mrs. Morley changed Miss World?
Since she became CEO of the Miss World Organisation in 2000, following the death of her husband, Eric Morley, “Beauty With a Purpose” has become the cornerstone of the pageant, fundamentally transforming it from a traditional beauty contest into a philanthropic platform.
Her leadership shifted the focus from purely physical beauty to one directly linked with humanitarian purpose, talent, and social awareness.
The Key Changes
Here are the key ways she has changed Miss World:
- Establishing “Beauty With a Purpose”: Founded in 1972, this initiative became the centrepiece of her leadership. Every contestant is required to engage in humanitarian work. As a result, it has raised about $1 billion to support hospitals, schools, disadvantaged communities, sick children, and charities worldwide.
- Eliminating the Swimsuit Segment: In 2014, Morley made the landmark decision to remove the traditional swimsuit segment, stating that it “doesn’t do anything for the woman” and does not reflect the values of the pageant.
- Creating Fast Track Events: She restructured the competition to make it more dynamic, introducing events that reward talent, sportsmanship, intelligence, and creativity rather than beauty alone. These include Talent, Sports, Dances of the World, Top Model, Multimedia, and Head-to-Head Challenges.
Fast Track Competitions Transformed Miss World
The inclusion of Fast Track competitions has added an extra layer of excitement, challenge, and depth to the Miss World journey.
These events take the pageant beyond the metaphorical “runway,” expanding it beyond traditional beauty standards. By emphasizing philanthropy, talent, athleticism, media savvy, style, elegance, confidence, grace, and cultural awareness, these competitions celebrate the holistic, multifaceted nature of Miss World contestants.
- Shifting Focus to Holistic Evaluation: Morley emphasizes finding a “diplomat” who can represent the organisation’s philanthropic mission, rather than merely a model. Contestants are encouraged to demonstrate intelligence, compassion, and commitment to their communities.
- Focusing on Global Inclusivity: Under her leadership, the competition has expanded to include contestants from over 120 nations, promoting equality among countries and emphasizing sisterhood over rivalry.
