Did Miss Hong Kong 2023 finalists take a dig at winner Hilary Chong with clever wordplay?

Wikipedia is useful for the purposes of gathering information and falling down random rabbit holes at 3am, but can it also predict the future?

Last month, leaks on the Miss Hong Kong 2023 Wikipedia page showed that contestant Hilary Chong would win, and last Sunday (Aug 27), she was indeed crowned.

But it appears not everyone is happy about the IU-lookalike being Miss Hong Kong, including some of her fellow finalists.

In a now-deleted Instagram post, contestant Hanna Hu appeared to take a dig at Hilary, 21, with some clever wordplay.

The photo she uploaded showed a plastic bag hovering over a hand with a caption in simplified Chinese that, on first glance, reads as: "The bag can contain a lot of things, just like you."

However, the Chinese characters could also be read as: "So pretentious, just like you."

Who could Hanna, 18, be taking shots at?

When asked by netizens if she was referring to first runner-up Lynn Wong, who discussed recycling bags during the Miss Hong Kong question-and-answer segment, Hanna reportedly responded: "It's definitely not Lynn!"

"Zhuang", the character for "contain" and "pretentious", is also a homonym for Hilary's surname in Mandarin, so that was the other conclusion netizens came to.

What's more, fellow contestant Jenny Jiang — who won Miss Friendship — responded with four relieved face emojis, the one that shows closed eyes and a smile.

Hilary was previously accused of being two-faced, with netizens claiming that she was trying to curry favour with TVB staff.

She responded after her victory: "I've been given an opportunity to learn to deal with negativity, and not everyone has such a chance. I got to learn about it in advance to build a strong heart."

Netizens were also dissatisfied with the results, especially as they had allegedly been leaked "as early as 20 days ago", and claimed that public opinion favoured Hera Chan.

Another contestant Zora Chen reportedly even liked a comment from a netizen that said the results were known in advance.

The 26-year-old wrote on her Instagram Story about the allegedly sour expression she had on stage: "I didn't have a 'black face' during the competition because I didn't make it to the top 10. I knew from early on that I wouldn't make it.

"If you give me another chance, my facial expression would be even darker."

Previously having gotten into hot water for arguing with netizens, Zora added: "Now it's my own Instagram, I'm no longer Miss Hong Kong contestant #14. Don't mess with me."

She also commented elsewhere that she was unsatisfied with the results.

Meanwhile, Singapore PR and pageant veteran Michelle Poa placed in the top 10.

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drimac@asiaone.com

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