Taanusiya Chetty turns personal loss into message of change

Malaysian beauty queen Taanusiya Chetty is using her Miss World 2026 title to promote her community work and message of positive change. Representing Malaysia at the 73rd Miss World pageant in Vietnam, Chetty delivered her message through the Head-to-Head Challenge in three languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. She emphasized the importance of being an agent of change rather than waiting for change to happen, sharing, "Don't wait for the world to change, be the change."

Chetty's personal loss of her mother in a road accident at the age of 14 while the family was traveling to a funeral has deeply influenced her outlook on life. The support of her stepmother later helped her develop compassion, resilience, and a desire to help others. These experiences led her to establish Be The Change Malaysia in 2022, a community initiative that has since reached around 8,000 children and raised RM60,000 through various community outreach programs.

Throughout her journey, Chetty has actively participated in various programs such as art workshops for autistic youth and visits to paediatric leukaemia patients. Despite the attention brought by the Miss World pageant, she remains focused on lighting up the candles of hope for every individual. In the future, she hopes to expand Be The Change beyond Malaysia, initiating similar programs in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Chetty also aspires to collaborate with the Miss World Organisation by 2028 to further expand the platform's global reach. This ambition complements her broader message that titles and platforms are most meaningful when they create opportunities for others. It is worth noting that Malaysia has never won Miss World, with Lina Teoh's third-place finish in 1998 being the country's best result.