Miss Indonesia Qory Sandioriva who has come under fire from Muslim clerics for not wearing a headscarf, says she won't be wearing a bikini in the 2010 Miss Universe pageant.

"No, I will wear a one-piece swimsuit."

"This is the rule from the Indonesian board and I think I don’t have to show too much skin to be able to achieve something in the pageant, just like Artika Sari Devi (Miss Indonesia 2004)," she told the Jakarta Globe in an interview.

On her headscarf controversy, Qory who was born to a Sundanese father and an Acehnese mother but raised in Jakarta, said it was a mistake.

"I said I took off my headscarf, when in fact I don’t wear a headscarf on a daily basis. Standing there on the stage, I was so nervous."

"I never imagined I would win the contest. I kept thinking, would the board choose me, an Aceh representative, with the controversy?

"So I was very groggy that night. I meant to say I got permission to join the pageant, not that I got permission to take off the headscarf."




During the pageant earlier this month Qory was quoted as saying: "I don’t wear a headscarf because I think hair is part of a woman’s beauty."

The beauty queen who beat 37 other contestants, won several prizes, including a new car, an apartment and Rp 10 million, (RM3,565) which she donated to victims of the earthquake in West Sumatra.

Qory, a French literature student at the University of Indonesia plans to spend her year absorbed in promotional activities and charity work, while preparing for next year’s Miss Universe pageant.

She was good at pencak silat (a traditional martial art) and a champion in high school.

She wanted to be an Armed Forces general but now wants to be a diplomat.

Asked about her bad habits, she said she falls asleep easily.

"Many people call me Ms. Pillow"
- Jakarta Globe