Her mother, Madam Angela Lee, is her role model.
The older woman was first runner-up of Miss Universe Singapore (MUS) 1994 and won Miss World Singapore 1994.
When her older sister, Miss Loo May Tia, made it to the top eight of MUS in 2018, Miss Cate Lin Loo could not wait for her turn.
Miss Loo, now 19 and one of the finalists of MUS 2021, told The New Paper: "I saw how competing in MUS transformed my sister into the beautiful, determined and empowered woman she is today.
"Now that I am of age, I feel like this is the time for me to continue the family tradition."
The MUS 2021 finals will be live-streamed on Sept 17 at 9pm, as part of virtual fashion festival The Front Row, via thefrontrow.style, and the winner will represent Singapore on the event's global stage in December in Eilat, Israel.
Miss Loo is on a gap year for her beauty pageant journey and will be studying medicine in Australia as the next chapter of her life.
Before that, she hopes to use the MUS platform to advocate for equal access to healthcare.
When Miss Loo was nine, her mother was diagnosed with a genetic disorder called protein C deficiency and suffered a near-fatal pulmonary embolism, which is when a blood clot travels to a lung artery and blocks blood flow.
Miss Loo said: "From a young age, I saw the power of medicine and healthcare and how it was able to save my mother's life.
"From then on, I wanted to be that beacon of light for others."
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Also a finalist in MUS 2021 is Miss Lila Tan, an 18-year-old student at Hillside World Academy, who is also a football player and model.
Raised in Shanghai, China, from the age of two, she picked up football when she was 12 and joined the Singapore national team when she returned to Singapore last year.
Describing her body as "fit and muscular", Miss Tan initially found it difficult to settle into the "traditional model look".
Balancing being an athlete and a model was "the biggest dilemma", and she managed to pull herself out of the mental struggle through "self-love and healthy eating".
Said Miss Tan: "I think modelling has progressed to be more than just looks. I see the industry slowly becoming more inclusive of different body shapes and types, and I want to advocate for that further."
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Signing up for MUS was a "surreal" experience.
She said: "Previously, I could not envision myself in a beauty pageant, but now I know it is so much more than just being pretty.
"It is about unifying and empowering women across the world and inspiring young girls to be confident of themselves to do whatever they set their minds on."
This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.
