Francisca Luhong James (born 14 October 1995) is a Malaysian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Universe Malaysia 2020 Miss Universe Malaysia 2020, the 54th edition of the Miss Universe Malaysia, was held on 5 September 2020 at Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Francisca Luhong James of Sarawak was crowned by the outgoing titleholder, Shweta Sekhon of K ...

. She represents her country 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 May 16, 2021. At the end of the event, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa crowned Andrea Meza of Mexico ...

, where she ended up did not make it into the Top 21 semi-finalist, thus her journey was marked in the “50 years of unplacement” for

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

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

history since

Josephine Lena Wong Datin Josephine Wong Jaw Leng Fonseka (born 1 January 1952) is a Malaysian Chinese former model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Malaysia Universe 1970. She represented her country at the 19th Miss Universe in Florida, Unit ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

Early life and career

James was born in Kuching,

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

, is a mixed of Kayan,

Kenyah The Kenyah people are an indigenous, Austronesian-speaking people of Borneo, living in the remote Baram Lio Matoh, Long Selaan, Long Moh, Long Anap, Long Mekaba, Long Jeeh, Long Belaong, Long San, Long Silat, Long Tungan, Data Kakus ...

, and

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture The Ibans or Sea Dayaks are a branch of the Dayak people, Dayak people on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is believed that the ...

with her native roots of Dayak. She is the eldest of 3 siblings and the only daughter of James Mering Bungan and Pauline Japok. She also holds a Degree in Mass Communication majoring in

Public Relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

Pageantry

Miss Cultural Harvest Festival 2015

At 19, James participated in Miss Cultural Harvest Festival 2015, an ethnic beauty pageant held annually during the Sarawak Harvest and Folklore Festival. She was placed as the second runner-up of the competition.

Miss World Malaysia

Miss World Malaysia 2016

In 2016, James was one of the finalists in the Miss World Malaysia 2016 pageant. She also won 3 of the 12 subsidiaries awards which were Miss Talent, Miss Natural Beauty, and Miss Elegant. At the end of the pageant, she ended up in the Top 5 finalist.

Miss World Malaysia 2018

Two years later, James tried her luck for the second time in Miss World Malaysia pageant, She won 2 of 6 subsidiaries awards which were the People's Choice Award and Top Model Award. During Miss World Malaysia 2018, she was one of the Top 5 finalists.

Miss Universe Malaysia 2020

In 2020, James participated in the

pageant and eventually won the pageant. As the winner, she earned the rights to represent Malaysia in

pageant, the finale competition of the 56th Miss Universe Malaysia was held on 5 September 2020 at Damansara,

Petaling Jaya ) , website = , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''From top, left to right:Skyline of Petaling Jaya, the 1 Utama Mall integrated with Bandar Utama Station, the Kota Darul Ehsan arch, the Petaling J ...

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

. James was the eighth Miss Universe Malaysia from

and also the first Dayak woman.

Miss Universe 2020

James represented

competition which was held in Hollywood,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on 16 May 2021. Although she was considered to be the drought-breaker for Malaysia in

, she did not make it into the semi-finals. Her journey was marked in the history of Miss Universe Malaysia pageant for 50 years of unplacement in

pageant history.

Scandal

During her reign as

, James was exposed to a viral scandal, she was accused of having a past history of being a ''"nude model"'' on ''"adult websites"'', which she ultimately denied the allegations. But some pageant fans forced her to relinquish her crown as

Miss Universe Malaysia Miss Universe Malaysia is an annual national beauty pageant that selects Malaysia's representative to the annual Miss Universe contest. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age or any other reason), a runner-up is sent. Histo ...

for James's dishonorable actions.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Francisca Luhong 1995 births Living people Malaysian female models Malaysian socialites Malaysian beauty pageant winners Miss Universe Malaysia People from Kuching People from Sarawak Miss Universe 2020 contestants