Violet Sleigh

Violet Maria Bombell (née Sleigh) (born 1935), became Miss Malaya when she was crowned "Miss Max Factor of Malaya" in 1953. She also won the second place in the Miss Malaya 1954 pageant in Singapore.

Early life

Family

Violet Maria Sleigh was born in Singapore in 1935 to a Malay mother, Hannah Elias, and an Australian father, Henry Montague Holland Sleigh.

Sleigh has an older half-sister and a half-brother, 'Bluey' Arthur William Sleigh (b. 1902), from her father's first marriage to Ada McCabe. She also has a younger half brother, Harry Sleigh, from her father's third marriage.

Fall of Singapore

Sleigh's older sisters, Stella, Iris and Grace were killed in 1942 as they fled the imminent Japanese invasion. The women and children were segregated from the men, and were eventually allowed to meet occasionally. Drawings of "Bluey" and "Pop" Sleigh by fellow internee, William Haxworth. The sketches show how they were reduced to skin and bones as a result of their internment.

This is the listing for the Sleigh family as recorded in the Civilian Internees Database Sleigh witnessed Sleigh also competed in the Miss Malaya 1954 pageant held at the Capitol Theatre, Singapore and ended up being the 1st Runner-up while the Miss Singapore herself, Rugayah binti Ibrahim won the third place. The winner, Marjorie Wee of Malaya had the rights to represent Singapore in Miss Universe 1954.

Her prizes included "$1,000 in cash, a brand new wardrobe, a trip to Hollywood and two weeks stay at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Arriving in December, Sleigh had the opportunity to meet many of the major Hollywood stars who were out of the city. Her husband was a half-Australian and a half-Italian.

Sleigh returned to Malaysia twice. She described her first journey home in the 1970s as a "sentimental journey" home. She wanted to find her half-brother, Harry, whom she had lost contact with, and to also find her father's grave. Her father had died in the 1960s in Malaysia. Her second trip to Malaysia in 2015 was a gift from her daughters on the occasion of her 80th birthday.