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While the rest of Singapore was celebrating Chinese New Year in January 2023, a 47-year-old Singaporean woman travelled to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to compete in a unique beauty pageant, Grandma Universe, and brought home the tiara.

The winner, Laura Lee, was able to claim the title after showcasing her physique and talents at the pageant, which attracted a total of nine contestants from all over the world.

However, "Winner of Grandma Universe 2023" is not the only accolade that Lee has won over the years.

In 2019, she was also crowned "Mrs Global Tourism" in Thailand.

Reasons for joining the pageant

Speaking to Mothership, Lee shared that one key reason she participated in the beauty pageant was to inspire her three children as well as six grandchildren:

"[I wanted to] show them that, at any point of age, [you] can still do whatever things that [you] want to do."

Lee's family is also very supportive of her decision to participate in beauty pageants.

In fact, all of them flew to Thailand in 2019 and witnessed first-hand Lee bringing the "Mrs Global Tourism" title home.

Additionally, the 47-year-old also hoped her victories could give women from all walks of life a confidence boost.

"No matter how old we are, we can still look good and live the best of our lives,"Lee shared.

Secret to repeated victories

To maintain her best physique, Lee shared that she has to put herself under a strict weight management regime.

In addition to maintaining a balanced diet and doing workouts three times per week, the two-time pageant winner never embarked on "cheat days" to treat herself.

While this strict self-discipline may sound challenging for many, Lee is motivated by the fact that being able to look good makes her a more confident person.

Also a successful businesswoman & regular volunteer

Beauty pageants, however, only constitute one part of Lee's life.

Outside the spotlight, the 47-year-old also runs five businesses spanning various industries, including logistics and frozen food production.

On weekends before the pandemic, Lee would visit old folks' homes together with other beauty pageant contestants and kept the elderly company, including chatting with them or taking them out for lunch.

To the 47-year-old, devoting oneself to charity work would allow one to build a strong character, which, in turn, would help one succeed later in life:

"As a woman, we have to be very hardworking, and we have to be resilient. Additionally, no matter what we do, we have to be confident. Finally, we need to be strong in our character so that we have a lot of people around us who trust in us. From there, we will become successful along the way."

Top images courtesy of Laura Lee; Some quotes have been edited for clarity