New Face 2014: Mira
Mira Azman has been on the national silat team since she was in Primary 3, and practising the martial art has taught her many values.
The 19-year-old said: "I learnt discipline, respect, sportsmanship and punctuality.
"And to gain respect, you must first show respect instead of ego.
"Silat taught me to be a better person. Without it, I don't know what I'd do today and in the future.
"I wasn't keen on doing martial arts because I was the typical 'girly girl'. But when I was nine years old, my mum insisted that I join my brother in taking up the sport, since my family is involved in it."
Her brother, 26, and sister, 24, also made it to the national team, and her parents are team managers at Grasio Sports Silat School's training centre at The Serangoon community club.
"It's quite shocking I made it far in silat, looking at how I didn't have any interest in the sport. But slowly, the passion grew over time," said Mira, who has devoted a lot of time to training over the years, sometimes five times a week.
After graduating from the Singapore Sports School, she pursued a Higher Nitec in Business Studies (Sport Management) at ITE College East.
She has also been a silat coach at The Serangoon since she was 16, teaching students aged four to 14.
Now she helps people lead active lifestyles as a personal trainer.
"It's not just teaching exercises. At the end of the day, I want to help them have a more positive mindset and feel satisfied," she said.
This year marks The New Paper New Face's 22nd anniversary.
The modelling competition has launched the careers of models, actresses and beauty queens. such as actress Jayley Woo, model Vivien Ong and social media star Velda Tan.
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