SHE had no make-up, her hair was not styled, and she looked like she was casually posing for a photo on a day out with friends. But according to the young woman herself, she is beautiful.

This photograph is Ms Lim May-Ann's entry into the Beauty Redefined photo competition, which was launched on Wednesday by The Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware).

This is a beauty contest with a twist: The organisers are looking for creative interpretations of beauty, not the 'anorexic' sort, as depicted in movies and fashion magazines.

The competition is open to all amateur photographers, and the closing date for entries is 30 Sep.

Come November, the top 12 photos will be exhibited at several of the National Library Board's public libraries. They will also be featured on Zo Cards and in the Aware 2009 calendar.

Ms Lim, 28, an executive at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said she entered this plain photo of herself looking into a mirror because she thought that this was her true self.

'As a photographer, you want to capture the truth, and beauty is truth.

'When I took the photo, I was just in my bedroom, about to brush my teeth and go to bed.'

'It was very impromptu, but I felt very relaxed and at ease with myself.'

This explains the photo's spontaneity and energy.

For Ms Lim, the traditional idea of beauty seen in stick-thin models with long, endless legs is 'just ridiculous'.

'Barbie, with her 36C-cup chest and 19-inch waist, is anatomically impossible. I don't even think 1 per cent of people in the world have that kind of body shape.'

For Ms Lim, beauty is not what is on the surface.

'It's what's within. Some of the most beautiful people I know aren't models, but they always have an air about them that radiates joy and acceptance.'

Children, for instance, are beautiful to her because they are always living in the moment and are always enjoying themselves wholeheartedly.

Ms Lim also feels that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

She said: 'There are different types of beauty. Standards of beauty shift through the years, and in this age where modern society is flatulent with excess, being thin is beauty because it is scarce.

'But in some parts of Africa, being well-fed is a virtue. We must not forget that too.

'The problem is that people keep regarding physical beauty as an indicator of how much they're worth, when everyone has inherent value and everyone is beautiful.'

Health considerations

The Beauty Redefined campaign aims to combat the increasing prevalence of eating disorders, beauty treatments and depression among women because of negative body image.

Aware President Constance Singam said: 'We want Singaporeans to realise that a healthy, natural body is a beautiful body.'

The Singapore Medical Journal reported that one in two Singaporean teens believed she or he was too fat, almost nine in 10 wanted to change the way they looked, and one in five would consider plastic surgery.

Singapore is also fifth in the world for its per-capita consumption of anorexic drugs.

Ms Singam thinks that the problem stems from the images presented in the media. 'Young people are being bombarded every day with digitally-altered photographs and advertising that capitalises on imagined inadequacies.'

It is no wonder that the slogan for the campaign is to get young women and men to 'Stop being defined. Start redefining!'

Ah, how beautiful.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Sep 5, 2008.