From surviving a brainstem stroke to winning international crowns, 48-year-old single mother Nority Bujeng proves that pageantry is more than beauty — it embodies strength, purpose, and second chances. Today, she uses her journey to empower women, uplift special children, and mentor future queens.
Empowering women through pageantry, life lessons
At 48, Nority Bujeng, with grit within glamour, never imagined that a stage built on poise and beauty would one day become the platform where she rebuilt her life. As a single mother with an autistic son, working at a semiconductor company for over two decades, she first stepped into the world of pageantry in 2019, just nine months after recovering from a brain stem stroke.
“At that time, I wanted to share my experience fighting my battles with stroke and to educate more people about stroke at a young age. Back then, I never knew that pageantry could take me far and empower me further.”
In 2019, she participated in Mrs Sarawak, won the Congeniality Award, and emerged as the competition’s second runner-up among 18 Sarawakian ladies. She then represented the state on the national stage at Mrs Queen of the World International 2020, where she won the Inspiration Award.
Last year, Nority revealed that she joined Miss Business Malaysia Global 2024. The pageant led her to win her first international title in Vietnam, where she was crowned Miss Business Culture Global. This year, she returned to the same competition, not as a participant, but as a mentor to Julie Cristina.
The huge responsibility taught her new lessons as the challenges went beyond herself.
“I had only three weeks to prepare her for the competition in Vietnam. As both of us were busy juggling our own work, the constraints only allowed me to help her with the Q&A segment, advocacy training, and catwalk.”
Despite the constraints, Julie was crowned Miss Business Heritage Global 2025. For Nority, the achievement touched her deeply, and the crowning moment became an emotional milestone — not just for her protégé, but for herself as a mentor.
Journey in pageantry
Nority’s experience in pageantry was not mere participation, but life lessons that she learned to uphold in her workplace. The stage shaped her to be stronger and wiser, with an unbreakable personality, while remaining humble throughout. According to the mother of one, the confidence she gained from competitions also moulded a smoother work life.
“A month after I returned from my pageant competition last year, I started taking over my ex-boss’ role in the morning presentations. That role required me to prepare reports on my own, conduct my own analysis, and speak in front of managers and supervisors. It was challenging initially, but I eventually got better.”
Nority now presents to her board of directors during operations when her engineers are on leave. To her, without the experiences gained from pageantry, she would not have become a good speaker — and, with time, an even better one.
Apart from that, the bittersweet memories from pageantry led her to meet many types of personalities — from the envious to the kindest. Those with negative traits taught her that it is better to stay quiet and not fight back. As someone who upholds good values, she believes that others will see through her actions.
Thus, it is important to remain strong throughout trials and tribulations.
“You will experience many hardships and bitter moments that you have to handle wisely. Nevertheless, there are sweeter days. Pageantry opened doors for me to meet people from across the globe, and I learned about their countries and traditions.
“Pageantry also opens many opportunities, especially in my career and in meeting people in the media. This has allowed me to share my story with the world,” she added.
An advocacy to empower women
As a working single mother, empowerment is important. Hence, in the pageants she joins, she consistently advocates women’s empowerment and support for special children. Through Miss Business Global, which focuses on business, she advocates inspiring women and special children to discover their true talents, believing these can be shaped into business opportunities.
“Even now, while I am working, I teach my autistic son how to cook and make his own outfits. I plan to open a clothing rental business in the future. After retiring, I want to be involved in the DIY and food industries so I can help my son pursue his talent and one day earn business profits.”
Revealing further, Nority said her son is currently learning to make basic clothing. This is important to her as she believes her autistic son can become an independent person who is able to earn a living.
“This is no longer just a pageant advocacy for me, but my life mission.”
Next year, Nority will represent Malaysia in Myanmar at the Face of Universe pageant. The competition, which is open to children, teenagers, and Miss and Mrs categories, emphasises women’s empowerment and children’s rights. It also promotes sustainability and cultural fashion, with Nority planning to showcase local batik on the international stage.
Before ending the interview, she shared advice for aspiring beauty queens: “Remember that pageantry is not just about having a beautiful face or great body, not about glitz and glamour, but about how true and thorough you stay with your purpose. When you do, you will gain respect from people around you, not just locally, but internationally too.”
