# Miss Grand Malaysia

Miss Grand Malaysia is an annual female beauty pageant in Malaysia, aiming to select the country representative for Miss Grand International, which is an annual international beauty pageant promoting World Peace and against all kinds of conflicts. During 2015 to 2021, the contest was run by Introducing Talent Sdn Bhd, under the leadership of Jude Benjamin Lisa. Since 2022, the franchise has belonged to the Singapore-based start-up HyperLive Entertainment.
Malaysia holds a record of 4 placements at Miss Grand International, which obtained in 2016, 2020, 2021, and 2024. The highest achievement was the top 10 finalists, won in 2020 by Jasebel Robert of Kuala Lumpur.
The current Miss Grand Malaysia is Melisha Lin of Selangor. She represented her country at the Miss Grand International 2024 pageant to held at Bangkok, Thailand and placed Top 20.

## History

The Miss Grand Malaysia beauty contest was founded in 2013 by Penang-based businessperson Anson Chong who ran the inaugural edition at Queensbay Mall in Bayan Lepas, featuring 12 national finalists representing all Malaysia states. Of which, Michelle Madeleine Boey from the host state was announced as the winner and won the prizes worth 10,000 RM During 2014 to 2016, no national pageant held to determine the winner, the country representatives for the international competition were designated by different national directors.
After three years of hiatus, the pageant was brought back in 2017 by a public relation and digital marketing consultant from Sarawak Jude Benjamin Lisa, who served as the national licensee for Miss Grand International in Malaysia during 2015 to 2021. Together with the business partner Josh Oneill, he also set up the event organizer privately held firm Introducing Talent Sdn Bhd to be responsible for managing the affiliated pageant, beginning with the second edition of Miss Grand Malaysia, in which Sanjeda John from Sabah was named the winner at a contest held at Evolve Concept Mall in Selangor on 5 August outclassing 15 other finalists. In the same event, the country representative for Miss Interncontinental 2017 was also crowned. Since then, the pageant has been held annually to select the Malaysian candidates for various international pageants including Miss Grand International until the organization lost the franchise to the Singapore-based start-up company HyperLive Entertainment Pte Ltd in 2022. The national titleholder for Miss Grand International has been determined through the Miss World Malaysia ever since. The event was organized by Fantastic Golden Sdn. Bhd., who was appointed by the Singaporean franchise holder company as its official partner to produce the event in Malaysia.
Since 2017, the organization has been franchising the state competitions to the individual organizers, who would name the state titleholders to compete in the national pageant. Beginning with three state pageants in 2017 including Sabah, Sarawak, and Kuala Lumpur, Melaka became the fourth member in 2018, while Selangor and Johor first joined the contest in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The organizer also planned to held the seventh-state pageant in Penang in 2022, but, unfortunately, lost the franchise to HyperLive Entertainment.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pageant was virtually held for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021. Originally, the organizer planned to conduct the 2020 physical contest at Bangi Avenue Convention Centre in late June, but postponed it twice, first to mid-October, and then to 30 January 2021. However, in early 2021, the situation of the outbreak has not improved, causing the organizer to hold the contest virtually instead, in which Jasebel Robert was chosen to participate at the Miss Grand International 2020 in Thailand, while the remainder of the candidates was qualified to compete at the 2021 national contest automatically.

## Selection of contestants

| State Pageants (6) Local Pageants in Sarawak (8) Local Pageants in Sabah (16) | • Casting event National pageant No Pageant Held |
Since 2017, the national finalists' selection of the Miss Grand Malaysia has been operated via three systems, including (1) the multiplex regional pageant system, in which the state franchisee conducts several local pageants and casting events to determine the state finalists, or franchising the local competition to individual organizers, who would name their representative to compete at the state pageants. (2) a simple regional pageant system, the state pageant is held to select the national finalists with no lower pageants or casting events, and (3) a central direct application through the national licensee, the organization then selects the candidates based on their profiles.
The winner, as well as the 1-2 runners-up of each state pageant, will automatically qualify to the national stage while other runners-up and some finalists candidates will be entered to the wild card round, in which the national organizer will then select the supplementary national candidates based on their discretion.
As of 2020, six states was held the state contest for the Miss Grand Malaysia, including:
| Simple state pageants Johor: held once in 2020. Kuala Lampur: held during 2017 – 2020. Malacca: first held in 2018. Selangor: held in 2019 and 2020. | Multiplex state pageants Sabah: held annually since 2017, the highest number of local pageants is 16 in 2020. Sarawak: held annually since 2017, the highest number of local pageants is 18 in 2018. |
Miss Grand Malaysia National Finalists Selection Procedure (2017 – 2021) :
| Stage/System | Stage/System | Stage/System | Stage/System | Stage/System | Stage/System | | | | | Multiplex Regional (East Malaysia States) | Multiplex Regional (East Malaysia States) | Multiplex Regional (East Malaysia States) | Multiplex Regional (East Malaysia States) | Multiplex Regional (East Malaysia States) | Multiplex Regional (East Malaysia States) | | | | | | | | | Simple Regional (West Malaysia States) | Simple Regional (West Malaysia States) | Simple Regional (West Malaysia States) | Simple Regional (West Malaysia States) | Simple Regional (West Malaysia States) | Simple Regional (West Malaysia States) | Centrally Direct (Organizer Selection) | Centrally Direct (Organizer Selection) | Centrally Direct (Organizer Selection) | Centrally Direct (Organizer Selection) | Centrally Direct (Organizer Selection) | Centrally Direct (Organizer Selection) |
| Stage 1 | Stage 1 | Stage 1 | Stage 1 | Stage 1 | Stage 1 | Local Pageant (s) | Local Pageant (s) | Local Pageant (s) | Local Pageant (s) | Local Pageant (s) | Local Pageant (s) | | | Local Casting (s) | Local Casting (s) | Local Casting (s) | Local Casting (s) | Local Casting (s) | Local Casting (s) | | | | | | | | | | | Profile Screening | Profile Screening | Profile Screening | Profile Screening | Profile Screening | Profile Screening | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | | | | | | | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Others RU & finalists | Others RU & finalists | Others RU & finalists | Others RU & finalists | Others RU & finalists | Others RU & finalists | | | | | | | | | | | | | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | Stage 2 | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | | | | | | | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant | State level Pageant |
| | | | | | | | | | | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | | | | | | | | | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | Winner & RU (2-4 spot/state) | | | | | | | | | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | Winner & RU (1-3 spot/state) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Wild Card Challenge | Wild Card Challenge | Wild Card Challenge | Wild Card Challenge | Wild Card Challenge | Wild Card Challenge | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Stage 3 | Stage 3 | Stage 3 | Stage 3 | Stage 3 | Stage 3 | | | | | | | | | National Pageant | National Pageant | National Pageant | National Pageant | National Pageant | National Pageant | | | | | | |

## Editions
### Location and date

The following list is the edition detail of the Miss Grand Malaysia contest, since its inception in 2013.
| Year | Edition | Date | Final venue | Host State | Entrants |
| 2013 | 1st | 29 September | Ground floor, Central Atrium, Queensbay Mall | Penang | 12 |
| 2017 | 2nd | 5 August | Grand Pacific Ballroom, Evolve Concept Mall, Petaling Jaya | Selangor | 16 |
| 2018 | 3rd | 12 May | Grand Pacific Ballroom, Evolve Concept Mall, Petaling Jaya | Selangor | 24 |
| 2019 | 4th | 28 April | Meritz Hotel, Miri | Sarawak | 24 |
| 2020 | 5th | 28 January 2021 | The pageant was held virtually, due to the spreading of the COVID-19 | The pageant was held virtually, due to the spreading of the COVID-19 | 17 |
| 2021 | 6th | 2 August | The pageant was held virtually, due to the spreading of the COVID-19 | The pageant was held virtually, due to the spreading of the COVID-19 | 23 |
| 2022 | 7th | 27 August | Sabah International Convention Centre, Kota Kinabalu | Sabah | 15 |
| 2023 | 8th | 14 August | The Zodiac Theatre, 7th floor Genting Dream Cruise | — | 11 |
| 2024 | 9th | 22 August 2024 | Galaxy Banque, HGH Convention Centre | Kuala Lumpur | 12 |

### Competition results

| Year | Miss Grand Malaysia | Runners-up | Runners-up | Runners-up | Runners-up | Runners-up | Ref. |
| Year | Miss Grand Malaysia | 1st Runner-up | 2nd Runner-up | 3rd Runner-up | 4th Runner-up | 5th Runner-up | Ref. |
| 2013 | Michelle Boey (Penang) | Malena Yvelisse (Kedah) | Natelynn Tiow (Kuala Lumpur) | — | — | — | |
| 2017 | Sanjeda John (Sabah) | Cass Chen (Putrajaya) | Fiolla Redup (Sarawak) | — | — | — | |
| 2018 | Debra Jeanne Poh (Sabah) | Kate Cantwell (Sabah) | Scarlett Megan Liew (Sabah) | Taanusiya Veerapandian (Kuala Lumpur) | Rachel Chin (Sarawak) | — | |
| 2019 | Mel Dequanne Abar (Sabah) | Saroopdeep Kaur Bath (Perak) | Haaraneei Muthu Kumar (Selangor) | Julie Minele Senele (Sarawak) | Lishallinny Kanaran (Selangor) | — | |
| 2020 | Jasebel Robert (Kuala Lumpur) | No runners-up, the remaining delegates automatically qualified for the 2021 national contest. | No runners-up, the remaining delegates automatically qualified for the 2021 national contest. | No runners-up, the remaining delegates automatically qualified for the 2021 national contest. | No runners-up, the remaining delegates automatically qualified for the 2021 national contest. | No runners-up, the remaining delegates automatically qualified for the 2021 national contest. | |
| 2021 | Lishallinny Kanaran (Selangor) | Malveen Kaur (Johor) | Poorani Rajoo (Kuala Lumpur) | Not Assigned | Not Assigned | Not Assigned | |
| 2022 | Charissa Chong (Selangor) | Vivienna Alfred (Sarawak) | Angela Quah (Johor) | Not Assigned | Not Assigned | Not Assigned | |
| 2023 | Kash Bhullar (Selangor) | Natalie Ang Ai Dee (Putrajaya) | Poorani Rajoo (Kuala Lumpur) | Chai Shu Wen (Sabah) | Sisnitha Thirumaran (Negeri Sembilan) | Angela Quah (Johor) | |
| 2024 | Melisha Lin (Selangor) | Geetha William (Kuala Lumpur) | Lilyannie Christie (Sabah) | Linasni Kusraju (Selangor) | Esther Marius Tito (Sabah) | Kiki Khor (Kuala Lumpur) | |

### Winner gallery

* Melisha Lin (2024)
* Kash Bhullar (2023)
* Charissa Chong (2022)
* Lishalliny Kanaran (2021)

## International competition

The following is a list of Malaysian representatives competed at the Miss Grand International pageant.
| Year | Representative | Original national title | Competition performance | Competition performance | National director | Ref. |
| Year | Representative | Original national title | Placement | Special award | National director | Ref. |
| 2013 | Michelle Boey | Miss Grand Malaysia 2013 | Unplaced | — | Anson Chong | |
| 2014 | Jane Koo Wai Kuan | Appointed | Unplaced | — | Anson Chong | |
| 2015 | Santhawan Boonratana | Miss World Malaysia 2015 finalist | Unplaced | — | Invited | |
| 2016 | Ranmeet Jassal | 1st runner-up of Miss World Malaysia 2016 | Top 20 | — | Jude Benjamin Lisa | |
| 2017 | Sanjeda John | Miss Grand Malaysia 2017 | Unplaced | — | Jude Benjamin Lisa | |
| 2018 | Debra Jeanne Poh | Miss Grand Malaysia 2018 | Unplaced | — | Jude Benjamin Lisa | |
| 2019 | Mel Dequanne Abar | Miss Grand Malaysia 2019 | Unplaced | — | Jude Benjamin Lisa | |
| 2020 | Jasebel Robert | Miss Grand Malaysia 2020 | Top 10 | Miss Popular Vote | Jude Benjamin Lisa | |
| 2021 | Lishallinny Kanaran | Miss Grand Malaysia 2021 | Top 20 | Best National Costume | Jude Benjamin Lisa | |
| 2022 | Charissa Chong | Miss Grand Malaysia 2022 | Unplaced | — | Sean Wong | |
| 2023 | Kash Bhullar | Miss Grand Malaysia 2023 | Unplaced | — | Sean Wong | |
| 2024 | Melisha Lin | Miss Grand Malaysia 2024 | Top 20 | — | Sean Wong | |