When the Miss Universe pageant was held in Manila in 1994, I was 9 years old going on 10, impressionable and easily dazzled by the spectacle of glittery gowns and megawatt smiles. I wanted to be Miss Universe.

To this day, I can still remember the ABS-CBN specials held just for the pageant: the girls riding a jeep with Ogie Alcasid, the girls singing “Mabuhay,” the “You Are My Star” serenade, “High tide or low tide?” and the endless reruns of clips of the Miss U pageants where Gloria Diaz and Margie Moran won (Is it just me, or was the “If the man on the moon were to land in your hometown, what would you do to entertain him?” question idiotic?)

The "You Are My Star" serenade; that woman in the middle looks a little constipated; also, even then, I already thought that Miss USA looked fat

"High tide or low tide?" I know it all!

Miss Belgium was a crowd favorite but didn't make it. Check out the '90s bikini, photo background and hairdo.

Back then, I didn’t understand the question on the essence of being a woman. When I think of it now, Sushmita Sen gave a pretty canned answer, and an old-fashioned one at that: “Just being a woman is God’s gift. The origin of a child is a mother, a woman. She shows a man what sharing, caring, and loving is all about. That is the essence of a woman.” But hey, she answered it a lot better than the others, which makes you wonder about the women who actually join pageants (I got over it when I was 11 years old).

Still, like everyone in the Philippines at that time, I was obsessed with the pageant. So even at that age, I knew the controversies that came along with the show, and the ones after. Like Dayanara Torres getting together with Aga Mulach, and Michelle van Eimeren marrying Ogie Alcasid.

Oh there's Dayanara Torres in the back

The Miss Universe contestants sure liked the Philippines, because some of them stayed. And it wasn’t just them; 1993 Miss World contestant/Miss Mauritius Viveka Babajee lingered long enough to be a presenter at the 1994 Metro Manila Filmfest scandal. Need a refresher? Ruffa Gutierrez supposedly won Best Actress, much to the shock of co-presenter Gretchen Barretto (those two women really don’t like each other much, do they?)

All this came rushing back when I read the news that Babajee, 37, died after hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her home in Mumbai. It was purportedly due to depression because her boyfriend broke up with her. Reports say that she was a successful model and events organizer, although to be honest, it had been years since I last heard about her (there are some claims that she was “one of the most-sought after faces nationally and internationally in the fashion world,” but that may be stretching it a bit).

Rest in peace, Viveka Babajee. Head to a place where you’ll never hear “Take it, take it” from Filipinos again.