The raucous cheers from the crowd coupled with the brilliant stage lights did little to settle Rani Ramathasu’s nerves as she stood before the judges at the Asian Model Icon (AMI) International 2026 grand finale in Kuala Lumpur last month.
In the hushed moments before the winner was announced, the 53-year-old mother of two held her breath in a state of suspended anticipation.
When the announcer called her name, Sarawak-born Rani stood frozen in disbelief. She could hardly believe that she had just triumphed over 18 other contestants – many of them decades younger. (Participants for this year’s pageant ranged between 19 and 70 years).
“I was breathless,” Rani recalls, her voice still carrying the thrill she felt on that momentous night. “The first thought that went through my mind was: ‘I did it! I did it! Thank you, God’.”
Ironically, claiming the title was never her primary objective.
“My goal was to fulfil a lifelong dream of walking the runway; winning was something beyond my wildest imagination,” says the freelance Human Resource (HR) consultant.
She reflects further: “Winning as a woman over 50 proves that our presence on the stage is about more tha
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