Thuzar Wint Lwin (, also known as Candy Thuzar, is a Burmese activist and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Myanmar 2020. She represented Myanmar at

Miss Universe 2020 Miss Universe 2020 was the 69th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, United States, on 16 May 2021. At the end of the event, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa crowned Andrea Meza of Mexic ...

, where she reached the top 21 and won the Best National Costume award, becoming the first representative of Myanmar to place in the competition.

Pageantry

Miss Universe Myanmar 2020

On 30 December 2020, Thuzar Wint Lwin won Miss Universe Myanmar 2020 representing

Hakha Hakha (, ; formerly rendered Haka) is the capital of Chin State in Myanmar. Hakha is located in the northeast of Chin State, with a total area of about . The city of Hakha is located on a plateau at more than above sea level. Although relative ...

Chin State Chin State (, ) is a state in western Myanmar. Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, the Chattogram Division of Bangladesh to the west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to th ...

, and was crowned by outgoing titleholder Swe Zin Htet. She also won Miss Healthy Skin, Miss Dentiste, and the Best in Evening Gown Awards.

Miss Universe 2020

As Miss Universe Myanmar, Thuzar Wint Lwin received the right to represent Myanmar at Miss Universe 2020. Originally planned for winter 2020, the pageant was moved due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

to spring 2021, and held in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

. Several months before the pageant was held, 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 ...

occurred, which saw a

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

deposing the democratically elected

National League for Democracy The National League for Democracy (, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victo ...

government and its leader

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

. Following this, Thuzar Wint Lwin began advocating for the Burmese pro-democracy movement. After arriving at the competition, Thuzar Wint Lwin's luggage was lost, including all of her outfits and her national costume. An alternate national costume was created within days by members of the

Burmese American Burmese Americans ( ) are Americans of full or partial Burmese ancestry, encompassing individuals of all ethnic backgrounds with ancestry in present-day Myanmar (or Burma), regardless of specific ethnicity. As a subgroup of Asian Americans, Burme ...

community, based on the ethnic costume of the

Chin people The Chin peoples (, ) are collection of ethnic groups native to the Chin State, Myanmar that speak the Kuki-Chin-Mizo languages, which are closely related but mutually unintelligible. The Chin identity, as a pan-ethnic identity, is a modern c ...

. In the national costume contest, Thuzar Wint Lwin held a sign that read "Pray for Myanmar", referring to the coup, this attracted international media attention. She went on to win the Best National Costume award, the second time that Myanmar has won this award. Thuzar Wint Lwin later went on to place in the Top 21 of the competition, becoming the first Burmese representative to place at Miss Universe.

Political activism

Immediately following the coup, Thuzar Wint Lwin became an activist for the Myanmar pro-democracy movement, through participating in rallies and

social media activism Internet activism involves the use of electronic-communication technologies such as social media, e-mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular ...

. Thuzar Wint Lwin also became affiliated with 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, which was launched on social media and saw several Burmese celebrities participating. Following Miss Universe 2020, her arrest warrant was announced by the junta, and she was granted

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

in the United States, settling in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

with the local Burmese American community. In August 2021, she moved to London after signing with a British modeling agency.

References

{{Authority control 1998 births Burmese beauty pageant winners Burmese democracy activists Burmese expatriates in the United Kingdom Burmese female models Burmese women activists Fugitives wanted by Myanmar Living people Miss Universe 2020 contestants Miss Universe Myanmar winners Models from Yangon Political refugees in the United States