Miss Grand Myanmar 2020 Han Lay who was given an opportunity at the finale of Miss Grand International 2020 held on 27th March 2021 in Thailand to raise her voice about the worsening situation in her country is going to stay in Thailand for the next two months until the situation in her country soothes down and is safe for her to travel.
Han took the stage and drew everyone’s attention with her impactful speech; "When I stand on this stage, more than 100 people have died. I suffer from that loss. Burmese people flocked to the streets to I want to see democracy in my homeland. Please help Myanmar. We need international help right now.” Han Lay ended his speech by singing a piece of Michael Jackson's Heal the World song. The organization of Miss Grand International has been praised for giving the beauty queen a chance to put her voice out in public and bring everyone’s attention to the injustice happening in her country.
Miss Grand International president Mr. Nawat Itsaragrisil has offered to help the beauty queen and take care of the expenses from food, housing, and everything from his own pocket. The generous people of Thailand have also offered to help the beauty queen with donations but the diva has refused to take any donation and mentioned that she will model and work in ads for Itsaragrisil's beauty products to make money to live here.
Han is 23-years-old and stands 168 cm tall. She graduated in Economics from Yangon University, is fluent in English, Chinese, is studying Korean and Spanish. She performed exceptionally well at the competition but unfortunately couldn’t make it to the win after being selected in the Top 20. She was appreciated for her courage and dedication towards both the competition and the love for her country for which she has been a constant voice along with Miss Universe Myanmar 2020 Thuzar Wint Lwin.
Myanmar is currently experiencing a crisis of democracy, after the military took control of the country on 1st February 2021, detaining elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the National League for Democracy. Since then, the country's citizens have taken to the streets to protest the military takeover, with nearly 400 losing their lives since the coup. It is not the first time that the beauty queen has raised awareness on the violence in Myanmar as in her previous social media posts, she shared a fundraiser for Myanmar's Civil Disobedience Movement, which leads non-violent protests military rule. She also shared a tribute to those who have been killed, and posted information on the arrests of protesters, including some of her fellow students at Yangon University.
The gesture by Miss Grand International organization has come out as a huge respect and love for the divas who have been a part of the journey. Pageant fanatics across the world have applauded the decision of Mr. Nawat being there for Han Lay and offering her to help until it’s safe for the beauty queen to fly back to Myanmar.