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.