Pageant News
Bay Area pageant star delays her victory trip
By Daniel Lavoie
Apr 24, 2003, 13:47

UNION CITY -- When Cassey Ho won the Bay Area Miss Teen Chinatown pageant, she took home a crown, a sash and something perhaps a little less desirable -- a trip to Hong Kong.

But with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome plaguing Asia, Cassey said she's not so keen on taking her victory trip -- at least not immediately.

"I don't intend to go right now because of SARS and everything," she said.

Black-tie crowd

Still, Cassey said she'll always remember the black-tie crowd inside the swanky San Francisco hotel cheering wildly as the jeweled crown was placed atop her head Saturday.

But the James Logan High School sophomore's victory earned her more than an ovation and a trip to a SARS-ravaged city.

Along with Cassey's prestigious win comes a $2,000 college scholarship and $1,000 for Logan.

The victory was the biggest in Cassey's short history of pageant competitions.

"It was truly exciting and I had a great experience," she said Monday.

Cassey edged 24 Chinese-American competitors from throughout the Bay Area to win the 37th annual Miss Teen Chinatown Charity Gala.

Despite Cassey's flowing hair and vibrant smile, the pageant is far from just another beauty festival.

Winners are chosen for their charm, intelligence, community involvement -- and their beauty.

Cassey always has made it a priority to enter pageants that look at her whole life, not just her pretty face.

Honors student

And she's got a lot to offer: She's an honors student with a 4.33 grade-point average, a talented debater and, to represent her mother's Vietnamese heritage, the president of Logan's Vietnamese Club.

Before Cassey even was admitted into the Miss Teen Chinatown competition, judges looked at her school transcripts, SAT scores and community service record.

But Cassey said it may have been her dance routine to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" that tipped the scales in her favor.

Cassey isn't the first Tri-City area teen to win the Miss Teen Chinatown crown.

Mission San Jose High School student Louise Wu took home the title two years ago.

Cultural history

And like Wu in 2001, Cassey sees one of the best parts of the pageant as the chance she gets to connect with her cultural history.

Her family is planning to join her on her trip to Hong Kong -- once the SARS scare quiets down.

Only her father ever has been to Hong Kong -- and that was when he was just a boy.

"It'll be something new for me," she said. "It'll be a new trip for all of us."

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