'IT'S kind of a shallow reason,' said Valentane Huang when asked why she joined beauty pageants.

It was - you guessed it - because of a boyfriend.

This one used to boast about dating models, pageant winners, actresses and Valentane said she was the only one who wasn't 'famous' in this area.

One day, as a joke, she told him maybe she might win a pageant someday too.

'So go ahead and prove it to me,' she recalled him saying.

So she went and took part in Miss Singapore Chinatown last November and got into the final five.

The 1.7m-tall Valentane, who has modelled part-time since she was 14, decided to join the bigger Miss Singapore World in March.

Miss Singapore Chinatown didn't give her a great sense of accomplishment as it was only competing among the Chinese, she said, while Miss Singapore World is multiracial.

What does her father think of her participation?

'Not encouraging but not discouraging either,' she said.

She didn't even tell him - or colleagues, friends and other family members - that she was taking part.

He got wind of it only when Lianhe Wanbao ran a story on her and he only brought it up briefly, she said.

She recalled how, during the preview shows, the parents and friends of other contestants would shout their support, but when she went on stage it was very quiet.

The Miss Singapore World 2008 grand final will take place at the Raffles Ballroom, Swissotel TheStamford, at 7pm on 16 Aug.