THERE was no other option but to cancel the pageant, said Mr Martin Lin, 35.

He runs Strange Fruit, a creative consultancy firm that had been appointed by Anglo Associates (AA), a business management firm, to manage the pageant.

AA, in turn, had obtained the franchise rights from Exclusive Resources Marketing (ERM) - which also organises pageants like Miss Singapore World, Miss Singapore Chinatown and Mr World Singapore - to hold the event this year.

Mr Lin showed us the letter which stated that AA had obtained the rights from ERM, but this could not be verified independently.

During an interview yesterday with The New Paper at Northpoint in Yishun, Mr Lin claimed the decision to cancel the event was reached after a meeting on Friday night with AA.

There were two main factors, said Mr Lin, who declined to be photographed.

First, he claimed that two of the 16 finalists had pulled out because their parents objected to them taking part in the contest because of the swimwear segment.

Mr Lin said the format stipulates that a minimum of 16 contestants must be fielded in the finals.

He also claimed that the finalists had signed an agreement which mentioned the swimwear segment.

He claimed that a new agreement - with the inclusion of a $5,000 penalty - was later given to the finalists, should they quit the event.

Mr Lin, however, claimed that he would not be taking any legal action against the two who pulled out.

Second, Mr Lin said, some sponsors backed out.

He declined to name the two contestants and the sponsors, nor put us in touch with them.

But couldn't he have replaced the two finalists with the next two highest-scoring contestants?

Mr Lin said: 'It may sound simple, but it was already a headache for me to confirm the 16 finalists in the first place.'

FEWER THAN 16 GOT VOTES

From 15 Apr to 18 May, supporters could vote online at the official pageant website to determine the finalists.

'In total, fewer than 16 of the contestants got votes at all,' Mr Lin claimed.

'In the end, I had to pick the rest, based on their looks, height and other factors.'

On the demands from Miss Gan and Miss Wang for an apology, Mr Lin said: 'I had already apologised to them over the phone when I informed them about the cancellation.

'I also promised that I would soon be giving them a written apology, either through e-mail or letter.'

Mr Lin claimed his agency, which was set up in 2000, had handled other commercial events but had no experience in beauty pageants.

He believed that he could incur losses of up to $20,000 for expenses for advertising, photography and make-up artists.