Larissa Ping Liew (born 18 March 1999) is a Malaysian model, fashion blogger and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned Miss World Malaysia 2018. She represented

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Miss World 2018 Miss World 2018 was the 68th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Sanya City Arena in Sanya, China, on 8 December 2018. Manushi Chhillar of India crowned Vanessa Ponce of Mexico as her successor at the end of the event. It is the ...

pageant, where she placed in the Top 30.

Personal life

Larissa was born and raised in

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

. Her father is

Malaysian Chinese Malaysian Chinese, Chinese Malaysians, or Sino-Malaysians are Malaysians, Malaysian citizens of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Malaysian Malays, Malay majority, and , const ...

and a native of the state capital city while her mother is an ethnic Kenyah from

Miri Miri () is a coastal city in north-eastern Sarawak, Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei, on the island of Borneo. The city covers an area of , located northeast of Kuching and southwest of Kota Kinabalu. Miri is the second largest ...

, an indigenous tribe belonging to the

Orang Ulu Orang Ulu ("people of the interior" in Malay) is an ethnic designation politically coined to group together roughly 27 very small but ethnically diverse tribal groups in northeastern Sarawak, Malaysia with populations ranging from less than 30 ...

designation. She is both fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

as well as the national

Malaysian language Malaysian Malay () or Malaysian ()endonymically known as Standard Malay () or simply Malay (, abbreviated to BM)is a standardized form of the Malay language used in Malaysia and also used in Singapore and Brunei (as opposed to the variety u ...

(particularly the Sarawakian dialect). She studied at the St. Joseph's Private School, Kuching during her secondary school years and scored straight A's in her SPM. She finished her foundation in arts at

HELP University HELP University (; formerly known as HELP Institute) is a private university in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. HELP is an acronym for Higher Education Learning Philosophy. It was founded on 1 April 1986, by the first and current Chancellor of the scho ...

. She was awarded 100% School Achiever Scholarship Award (SASA) totaling RM 20,000 for her foundation programme which she completed in 2018, scoring 8 High Distinctions and 5 Distinctions. In 2023, Larissa graduated from the

University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...

with

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Pageantry

Keligit Orang Ulu Miri 2018

Larissa was crowned the winner of ''Keligit Orang Ulu'' for

Miri Division Miri Division is one of the twelve administrative divisions of Sarawak, Malaysia. Geography It has a total area of 26,777.1 square kilometres, and is the second largest division after Kapit Division. The seat of this division is the city of M ...

in May 2018. The pageant is held annually in conjunction with the

Gawai Dayak ''Gawai Dayak'', ''Ari Gawai'' or ''Andu Gawai'' is a form of harvest festival celebrated on 1 and 2 June annually in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is observed annually on the month of June b ...

festival.

Miss World Malaysia 2018

Larissa was crowned as Miss World Malaysia 2018 pageant as well as winning the Miss Talent and Miss Photogenic awards at the

Borneo Convention Centre Kuching The Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) is a convention centre located in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is the first dedicated Convention center, convention and Trade fair, exhibition centre in Borneo and the second-largest convention centre ...

on 8 September 2018. She succeeded outgoing Miss World Malaysia 2016,

Shweta Sekhon Shweta Sekhon (born Shwetajeet Kaur Sekhon, 6 November 1997), is a Malaysian model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned as Miss World Malaysia 2016 and Miss Universe Malaysia 2019. She represented Malaysia at the Miss Universe 2019 ...

Miss World 2018

After a year of absence, Larissa represented

at the

pageant held in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

on 8 December 2018. She was placed in the Top 30. Other than being in the quarter-finalist, she was placed in some of the events that occurred during the pageant week: * Winner Head to Head challenge in Round 1 and 2 * Fourth runner-up in Miss World Talent, * Top 5 in Best Designer Award, * Top 12 in Beauty with a Purpose, * Top 10 in Multimedia Award, * Top 30 in Swimsuit music video, * Top 32 in Miss World Top Model.

Filmography

Music videos

Humanitarian works

Larissa is an avid advocate for children's education, spends her free time teaching Myanmar refugee children at Zomi Education Centre in Malaysia. In 2018, she spearheaded the "Indigenous Digital Outreach Programme", together with Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) and The Champions Kuching at SK Long Seridan,

Marudi, Sarawak Marudi is a town in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Sarawak, and is a part of the division of Miri Division, Miri. It is the seat of Marudi District, and is located on the banks of Baram River, about upstream ...

. The project facilitated the setup of a computer lab, restocking the school library and replacing some of the ceiling fans and lights.

Awards

* Herald Global's Most Admired Leaders Of Asia - Beauty Pageant (2019) * The 4th World Excellence Entrepreneur Brand Celebrity Awards - Malaysia Excellence Celebrity Award (2023)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ping, Larissa 1999 births Living people Miss World 2018 delegates People from Miri People from Sarawak Malaysian female models People from Kuching Malaysian beauty pageant winners Malaysian people of Chinese descent Kenyah people