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A New Era of Leadership

Meet Our 1999
Queen and Court

Miss Asian America Pageant 1999
Rowena Rodriguez – Miss Congeniality
Noel Yi – Miss Scholastic Achievement
Shelene Atanacio – Miss Asian Second Princess
Amy Truong – Miss Asian America
Ha Thai – Miss Asian Third Princess
Amrapali Ambegaokar – Miss Asian First Princess & Miss Talent
Nancy Bui – Miss Community Service

Amy Truong

About the Reign

Amy Truong, 18, crowned Miss Asian America

The 18 contestants in this year’s 15th Annual Miss Asian America Pageant held Aug. 14 at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts displayed diversity, beauty, poise and grace.

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The climax of the four-hour pageant came when judges awarded the crown to 18-year-old Oakland resident Amy Truong. She is the second Vietnamese American named Miss Asian America. (The first was last year’s winner, Quyen H. Tran.)

Represented at this year’s event were contestants of East Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and Thai descent, all between 18 to 27 years old. They were judged based on ethnic costume, swimsuit, evening gowns, poise, personality and platform.

Truong, a pre-med student at UC Santa Cruz, ran on the platform of “Self Respect and Integrity.” She said she believes “that as human beings, we all need self respect and integrity in order to be independent, self reliant and in order to build character.”

Amrapali Ambegaobar, a 21-year-old fine arts major at UCLA, was named first runner-up. She also picked up the title of Miss Talent by performing a Northern Indian Kathak dance, which combines quick, intricate footwork and animated facial expressions to story telling. Other winners include Second Princess Shalene Atanacio, 24, a recent graduate of UC Berkeley, and Third Princess Ha Thai, who at 22 was recently promoted to assistant vice president of Bank of America.

Coquico Rodriquez, an aspiring fashion designer, was crowned Miss Congeniality by the other contestants and Noel Mika Yi, a freshman at Cornell University studying international marketing, won the Miss Scholastic Achievement title.

Over the next year, Truong and her court are scheduled to appear at some 40 events, including fundraising dinners and parades. Proceeds from the pageant will benefit Asian Perinatal Advocates, a child abuse prevention program.

Amy Truong

Miss Asian America

  • Amrapali Ambegaokar – Miss Asian First Princess & Miss Talent
  • Shelene Atanacio – Miss Asian Second Princess
  • Ha Thai – Miss Asian Third Princess
  • Noel Yi – Miss Scholastic Achievement
  • Rowena Rodriguez – Miss Congeniality
  • Nancy Bui – Miss Community Service
Pageant Night and Activities

Treasured Memories

Photos by House Mother Penny Wong Belleza

Each Delegate has a Story to Share

Meet the Delegates

Legacy Keepsake

Commemorate Pageant Night

Saturday, August 14, 1999
Palace of Fine Arts
San Francisco, CA

Amrapali Ambegaokar
Walnut, CA · Age: 21 · East Indian

Tiffany Mei Lan Asing
Honolulu, HI · Age: 26 · Chinese, English, Irish, Russian, French, & Hawaiian

Christal Grace Asuncion
American Canyon, CA · Age: 18 · Filipino

Shelene Atanacio
Daly City, CA · Age: 24 · Filipino

Nancy Nhan Bui
Sunnyvale, CA · Age: 20 · Vietnamese

Margaret T. Chen
Los Altos, CA · Age: 25 · Taiwanese

Tarinee Hefter
Yellow Springs, OH · Age: 22 · Thai

Mai Oanh Ho
San Diego, CA · Ago: 22 · Vietnamese

Tiffany Hung
Palo Alto, CA · Age: 20 · Taiwanese

Amy Kang
San Francisco, CA · Age: 19 · Korean

Loreen Lee
San Mateo, CA · Age: 27 · Chinese

Michele Lee
San Francisco, CA · Age: 24 · Chinese

Betty Ng
San Franc:isco, CA · Age: 20 · Chinese-American

Rowena Coquico Rodriguez
San Francisco, CA · Age: 24 · Filipino

Ha Thai
San Francisco, CA · Age: 22 · Chinese & Vietnamese American

Karen Ly-Huong Tran
Pleasant Hill, CA · Age: 23 · Vietnamese

Amy Truong
Oakland, CA · Age: 18 · Vietnamese

Noel Mika Yi
Ithaca, NY · Age: 18 · Korean & Japanese

Natalie D. Wang
Los Angeles, CA · Age: 20 · Chinese

Shavalee Savanapridi
San Francisco, CA · Age: 19 · Thai

Our Legacy

A Look Back at Our Past Queens & Delegates