View source for Thuzar Wint Lwin

{{Short description|Burmese model and beauty queen}}
{{Family name hatnote|Thuzar Wint Lwin|lang=Burmese}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox pageant titleholder
| name                = Thuzar Wint Lwin
| image               =
| native_name         = {{lang|my|သူဇာဝင့်လွင်}}
| alias               = Candy Thuzar
| birth_date          = <!-- Source required per [[WP:BLPPRIVACY]] -->
| birth_place         = [[Yangon]], Myanmar
| occupation          = {{hlist|Model|activist}}
| height              = 5ft 7in{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}
| alma_mater          = [[East Yangon University]]
| title               = [[Miss Universe Myanmar 2020]]
| nationalcompetition = {{ubl|Miss Universe Hakha 2019 (winner)|Miss Universe Myanmar 2020 (winner)|[[Miss Universe 2020]] (Top 21)(Best National Costume)}}
| agency              = <!-- Discouraged in most cases, specifically when promotional, and requiring a reliable source. -->
}}
'''Thuzar Wint Lwin''' ({{langx|my|သူဇာဝင့်လွင်}}, also known as '''Candy Thuzar''', is a Burmese<!-- only what they are notable for per [[MOS:ROLEBIO]] --> activist and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned [[Miss Universe Myanmar 2020]]. She represented Myanmar at [[Miss Universe 2020]], where she reached the top 21 and won the Best National Costume award, becoming the first representative of Myanmar to place in the competition.
==Pageantry==
===Miss Universe Myanmar 2020===
On 30 December 2020, Thuzar Wint Lwin won [[Miss Universe Myanmar 2020]] representing [[Hakha]], [[Chin State]], and was crowned by outgoing titleholder [[Swe Zin Htet]]. She also won Miss Healthy Skin, Miss Dentiste, and the Best in Evening Gown Awards.<ref name="s"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Hakha beauty receives 8th Miss Universe Myanmar crown |url=https://www.mmtimes.com/news/hakha-beauty-receives-8th-miss-universe-myanmar-crown.html |work=The Myanmar Times |date=5 January 2021 |access-date=17 May 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517040702/https://www.mmtimes.com/news/hakha-beauty-receives-8th-miss-universe-myanmar-crown.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Miss Universe 2020===
{{main|Miss Universe 2020}}
As Miss Universe Myanmar, Thuzar Wint Lwin received the right to represent Myanmar at Miss Universe 2020. Originally planned for winter 2020, the pageant was moved due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] to spring 2021, and held in [[Hollywood, Florida]].<ref name="AP">{{Cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/miss-universe-air-live-florida-may-d6441947f6c7ff8d9d430155ab975b8b |title=Miss Universe competition to air live from Florida in May |work=[[Associated Press]] |date=3 March 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210304043804/https://apnews.com/article/miss-universe-air-live-florida-may-d6441947f6c7ff8d9d430155ab975b8b |archive-date=4 March 2021}}</ref> Several months before the pageant was held, the [[2021 Myanmar coup d'état]] occurred, which saw a [[military junta]] deposing the democratically elected [[National League for Democracy]] government and its leader [[Aung Sang Suu Kyi]]. Following this, Thuzar Wint Lwin began advocating for the Burmese pro-democracy movement.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web |last1=Chappell |first1=Bill |last2=Diaz |first2=Jaclyn |title=Myanmar Coup: With Aung San Suu Kyi Detained, Military Takes Over Government |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/02/01/962758188/myanmar-coup-military-detains-aung-san-suu-kyi-plans-new-election-in-2022 |website=NPR |access-date=8 February 2021 |date=1 February 2021 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208000452/https://www.npr.org/2021/02/01/962758188/myanmar-coup-military-detains-aung-san-suu-kyi-plans-new-election-in-2022 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="The Diplomat">{{cite web |last1=Strangio |first1=Sebastian |title=Protests, Anger Spreading Rapidly in the Wake of Myanmar Coup |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/protests-anger-spreading-rapidly-in-the-wake-of-myanmar-coup/ |website=The Diplomat |access-date=8 February 2021 |date=8 February 2021 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208065928/https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/protests-anger-spreading-rapidly-in-the-wake-of-myanmar-coup/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Thuzar Wint Lwin speaks up on Myanmar crisis at Miss Universe 2020 |url=https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/pageants/thuzar-wint-lwin-calls-attention-myanmar-crisis-miss-universe-2020-finals |work=Rappler |date=17 May 2021 |language=en |access-date=17 May 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517032326/https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/pageants/thuzar-wint-lwin-calls-attention-myanmar-crisis-miss-universe-2020-finals |url-status=live }}</ref>
After arriving at the competition, Thuzar Wint Lwin's luggage was lost, including all of her outfits and her national costume. An alternate national costume was created within days by members of the [[Burmese American]] community, based on the ethnic costume of the [[Chin people]]. In the national costume contest, Thuzar Wint Lwin held a sign that read "Pray for Myanmar", referring to the coup, this attracted international media attention.<ref>{{cite news |title=Miss Myanmar won the Miss Universe national costume contest with a powerful political statement |url=https://news.yahoo.com/news/miss-myanmar-won-miss-universe-023102580.html |work=Yahoo News |date=17 May 2021 |access-date=17 May 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517065521/https://news.yahoo.com/news/miss-myanmar-won-miss-universe-023102580.html |url-status=live }}</ref> She went on to win the Best National Costume award, the second time that Myanmar has won this award.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Konstantinides|first1=Anneta |title=Miss Myanmar wins Miss Universe national costume contest |url=https://www.insider.com/miss-myanmar-wins-miss-universe-national-costume-contest-2021-5?amp |work=Insider |date=17 May 2021}}</ref> Thuzar Wint Lwin later went on to place in the Top 21 of the competition, becoming the first Burmese representative to place at Miss Universe.<ref name="s">{{cite web|url=http://burmese.dvb.no/archives/431743|title=ဟားခါးအလှမယ် သူဇာဝင့်လွင် မယ်စကြဝဠာမြန်မာသရဖူ ဆွတ်ခူးရရှိ|work=DVB|date=31 December 2020|language=my|access-date=17 May 2021|archive-date=14 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114101551/http://burmese.dvb.no/archives/431743|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.duwun.com.mm/entertainment/local-celebrity/p-id46916|title=Miss Universe Myanmar 2020 Winner ဆုကြီးကို ရရှိပိုင်ဆိုင်သွားတဲ့ သူဇာဝင့်လွင်|work=Duwun|date=20 December 2020|access-date=17 May 2021|archive-date=20 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920120547/https://www.duwun.com.mm/entertainment/local-celebrity/p-id46916|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://7day.news/detail?id=300467&iutm=191776&c=trending|title=မယ်ယ်စကြဝဠာမြန်မာ ၂၀၂၀ဆုကို အလှမယ် သူဇာဝင့်လွင် ဆွတ်ခူ|work=7Day News|language=my}}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Miss Myanmar wins Miss Universe 2020 National Costume |url=https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/fashion-and-beauty/2021/05/17/2098848/miss-myanmar-wins-miss-universe-2020-national-costume/amp/ |work=Philstar |date=17 May 2021 |access-date=17 May 2021 |archive-date=10 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410073507/https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/fashion-and-beauty/2021/05/17/2098848/miss-myanmar-wins-miss-universe-2020-national-costume/amp/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Political activism==
Immediately following the coup, Thuzar Wint Lwin became an activist for the [[National League for Democracy|Myanmar pro-democracy movement]], through participating in rallies and [[social media activism]].<ref name="ny"/><ref name="a">{{cite news |title=At Miss Universe pageant, Myanmar's contestant pleads: 'Our people are dying' |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/myanmar-miss-universe-contestant-thuzar-wint-lwin-14825656 |work=CNA |date=17 May 2021 |language=en |access-date=17 May 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517070213/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/myanmar-miss-universe-contestant-thuzar-wint-lwin-14825656 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Thuzar Wint Lwin also became affiliated with the We Want Justice [[Three-finger salute (pro-democracy)|three-finger salute]] movement, which was launched on social media and saw several Burmese celebrities participating.<ref>{{cite news |title=တရားမျှတမှု We Want Justice ကန်ပိန်းတွင် အနုပညာရှင်များပါဝင် ဆန္ဒထုတ်ဖော် (ဓာတ်ပုံ) |url=https://burmese.dvb.no/archives/439052 |work=DVB |date=4 February 2021 |language=my |access-date=17 May 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517031606/https://burmese.dvb.no/archives/439052 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=ရုပ်ရှင်၊ ဂီတ၊ စာပေ၊ သဘင်အနုပညာရှင်များက We Want Justice လက်သုံးချောင်းထောင်ပြီး လှုပ်ရှားမှုတွင်ပါဝင် |url=https://news-eleven.com/article/204128 |work=Eleven Media Group |date=6 February 2021 |language=my |access-date=17 May 2021 |archive-date=6 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206052550/https://news-eleven.com/article/204128 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Following Miss Universe 2020, her arrest warrant was announced by the junta,<ref name="ny">{{cite news |last1=Paddock |first1=Richard C. |title=Miss Universe Myanmar Arrives in Florida With a Message for the Junta |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/world/asia/myanmar-coup-miss-universe.html |work=The New York Times |date=14 May 2021 |access-date=17 May 2021 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404112007/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/world/asia/myanmar-coup-miss-universe.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="msn">{{Cite web |title=Protect her at all cost! Myanmar issues warrant of arrest for their representative Ma Thuzar Wint Lwin |url=https://www.msn.com/en-ph/entertainment/entertainmentnews/protect-her-at-all-cost-myanmar-issues-warrant-of-arrest-for-their-representative-ma-thuzar-wint-lwin/ar-BB1gQ4eZ?ocid=PanCafe&li=BB15QWvV |access-date=18 May 2021 |website=www.msn.com |archive-date=18 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518114518/https://www.msn.com/en-ph/entertainment/entertainmentnews/protect-her-at-all-cost-myanmar-issues-warrant-of-arrest-for-their-representative-ma-thuzar-wint-lwin/ar-BB1gQ4eZ?ocid=PanCafe&li=BB15QWvV |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="pep">{{Cite web |title=Miss Myanmar, tumakas lang sa kanilang bansa para makasali sa Miss Universe 2020 |url=https://www.pep.ph/pepalerts/cabinet-files/158396/miss-myanmar-miss-universe-2020-a734-20210517 |access-date=2021-05-18 |website=PEP.ph |language=fil |archive-date=18 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518114520/https://www.pep.ph/pepalerts/cabinet-files/158396/miss-myanmar-miss-universe-2020-a734-20210517 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ichimura">{{Cite web |last=Ichimura |first=Anri |title=Miss Myanmar Stood Up to the Military During the Miss Universe Pageant. Now Prison Might Await Her Back Home |url=https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/miss-myanmar-universe-military-a00304-20210518 |access-date=18 May 2021 |website=Esquiremag.ph |archive-date=18 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518104440/https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/miss-myanmar-universe-military-a00304-20210518 |url-status=live }}</ref> and she was granted [[right of asylum|asylum]] in the United States, settling in [[Indianapolis|Indianapolis, Indiana]] with the local Burmese American community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/entertainment/showbiznews/news/77173/miss-myanmar-thuzar-wint-lwin-finds-refuge-in-the-us/story|title=Miss Myanmar Thuzar Wint Lwin finds refuge in the US|work=GMA Network|date=25 May 2021|last=Quieta|first=Racquel|access-date=1 October 2021|archive-date=1 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001120846/https://www.gmanetwork.com/entertainment/showbiznews/news/77173/miss-myanmar-thuzar-wint-lwin-finds-refuge-in-the-us/story|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2021, she moved to London after signing with a British modeling agency.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mizzima.com/article/miss-universe-myanmar-signs-london-agency|title=Miss Universe Myanmar signs with London agency|work=Mizzima|date=16 August 2021|access-date=1 October 2021|archive-date=1 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001072429/https://mizzima.com/article/miss-universe-myanmar-signs-london-agency|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
<!-- [[MOS:NOSOCIAL]] -->
{{S-start}}
{{S-ach}}
{{S-bef|before={{flagicon|Philippines}} [[Gazini Ganados]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Miss Universe]] Best National Costume
|years=[[Miss Universe 2020|2020]]}}
{{S-aft|after={{flagicon|Nigeria}} Maristella Okpala}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Swe Zin Htet]] Kayin State}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Miss Universe Myanmar]]
|years=[[Miss Universe Myanmar 2020|2020]]}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Zar Li Moe]] Kayin State}}
{{S-end}}
{{Miss Universe 2020 delegates}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1998 births]]
[[Category:Burmese beauty pageant winners]]
[[Category:Burmese democracy activists]]
[[Category:Burmese expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Burmese female models]]
[[Category:Burmese women activists]]
[[Category:Fugitives wanted by Myanmar]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Miss Universe 2020 contestants]]
[[Category:Miss Universe Myanmar winners]]
[[Category:Models from Yangon]]
[[Category:Political refugees in the United States]]