Hnin Thway Yu Aung (; born 24 August 1996) is a Burmese model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the 5th edition of

Miss Universe Myanmar Miss Universe Myanmar () is an annual national beauty pageant that selects Myanmar's representative to the annual Miss Universe contest. The reigning Miss Universe Myanmar is Myat Yadanar Soe of Pyin Oo Lwin, who was crowned on 27 June 2025 at ...

in 2018. She represented her country

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

in the

Miss Universe 2018 Miss Universe 2018 was the 67th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Impact, Muang Thong Thani, Impact Arena in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi, Thailand, on 17 December 2018. At the conclusion of the event, Demi-Leigh Tebow, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of Sout ...

Early life

Hnin Thway Yu Aung, was born on 24 August 1996 in

Meiktila Meiktila (; ) is a city in central Burma on the banks of Meiktila Lake in the Mandalay Region at the junctions of the Bagan- Taunggyi, Yangon- Mandalay and Meiktila-Myingyan highways. Because of its strategic position, Meiktila is home to Myanm ...

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

as where her parents met and established an optic shop in the downtown area of Tachileik. She received her high school Diploma from Basic Education High School (1) - Tachileik, she graduated from Kyaing Tung University with a bachelor's degree in English. She can speak Burmese, English, Thai and Shan.

Pageantry

Miss Universe Myanmar

On October 1, 2017, Hnin Thway Yu Aung was crowned as Miss Universe Myanmar 2018 by previous titleholder

Zun Than Sin Zun Than Sin (; born 26 June 1995) is a Burmese model, musician, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Myanmar 2017 and represented Myanmar at the Miss Universe 2017 pageant. Early life Zun was born and raised in Yang ...

. She will be Myanmar's next representative to

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

Miss Universe 2018

She represented her country in the

where

Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters Demi-Leigh Tebow ( ; née Nel-Peters; born 28 June 1995) is a South African model and beauty queen best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2017. She was crowned Miss South Africa 2017, and the second Miss Universe winner from South ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

crowned her successor

Catriona Gray Catriona Elisa Magnayon Gray ( ; ; born January 6, 1994) is a Filipino beauty queen and media personality best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2018. The fourth Filipina to win Miss Universe, Gray was previously crowned Miss Worl ...

of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

at the end of the event.

Filmography

Hhnin Thway Yu Aung played the role of Zin Zin / Consort Mala, Consort of King Bodawpaya in

From Chao Phraya to Irrawaddy From may refer to: People *Isak From (born 1967), Swedish politician *Martin Severin From (1825–1895), Danish chess master * Sigfred From (1925–1998), Danish chess master Media * ''From'' (TV series), a sci-fi-horror series that debuted ...

(ကျောက်ဖရားမှဧရာဝတီသို့) (2022) which increased attention and popularity with this role.

Political activities

Following the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when Elections in Myanmar, democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar's milita ...

, Hnin Thway Yu Aung was active in the anti-coup movement through social media. She has been in Thailand since December for the filming of ''

''. She spoke to Thai media about the current situation in Myanmar. She joined the "We Want Justice"

three-finger salute Three-finger salute may refer to: *Three-finger salute (Serbian), a salute used by Serbs * Three-finger salute (Sicilian), a salute used by Sicilian nationalists and separatists * Three-finger salute (pro-democracy), a gesture originally from the H ...

movement. The movement was launched on social media, and many celebrities have joined the movement. She sold her crown for 45 lakh Burmese Kyats to donate to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Representative Committee (CRPH) fund. On 3 April 2021, warrants for her arrest were issued under section 505 (a) of the penal code by the

State Administration Council The State Administration Council (; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, February 2021 c ...

for speaking out against the military coup. Along with several other celebrities, she was charged with calling for participation in the

Civil Disobedience Movement Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". ...

(CDM) and damaging the state's ability to govern, with supporting the

Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (; abbreviated CRPH) is a Burmese legislative body in exile, representing a group of National League for Democracy lawmakers and members of parliament ousted in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. T ...

, and with generally inciting the people to disturb the peace and stability of the nation.

References

External links

Miss Universe Myanmar
1996 births Living people Miss Universe 2018 contestants People from Shan State Miss Universe Myanmar winners University of Yangon alumni Burmese beauty pageant winners Burmese Shan people {{Myanmar-bio-stub