Miss Universe Cambodia organizer, Men Nimul Roat, took to his official social media yesterday and explained the reason of changing the National Costume of Sarita Reth who is preparing for her stint at the upcoming Miss Universe to be held in USA.

In an interview with the local news, Roat explained, “We have decided to change the national representative dress from "Khmer Puppet Theater" comes as a set of "Unified Tep" for sure. The reason for the change is that during the official photo shoot, the "Khmer Puppet Theater" scene had some issues and shortcomings that required further design. However, due to the close of the competition day, Mr. Bora, the designer of the "Khmer Puppet Theater" series, was worried that he could not keep up with the competition.”

“Therefore, after a detailed discussion between the organizers of Miss Universe Cambodia, together with Mr. Bora and Mr. Meak Kuon, we decided to take the "United Unity" set designed by Mr. Meak Kuon to compete in Miss Universe 2020 In the United States, because the "Unite" is the Best National Costume Miss Universe Cambodia. At the same time, Mr. Meak Kuon will design more to make this set more prominent on the international stage, with the participation of Mr. Bora”, he added.

The National Costume is called “Tep Rubroum” which represents Lord Harihara, the combination of two Supreme Lords from the Hindu Tradition - Lord Visnu (Hari on the Left) and Lord Shiva (Hara on the Right) which was one of the Khmer Empire’s Official Religions. This unique ensemble also represents Solidarity, Harmony and Peace. The art style of this costume was originally conceptualized from the Sculptures and Bas-Relief of Khmer Ancient Temples.

Sarita has graduated from Vanda student with a BA in English and is currently pursuing her Master in International Relations at the Royal University of Law and Economics. She works as an actress, model, Tv and film host. Fluent in speaking English, Sarita is all set to bring the first Miss Universe crown home for her country.