Violet Sleigh , became the first Miss Malaya when she was crowned "Miss Max Factor of Malaya" in 1953.
Early life
Family Violet Maria Sleigh was born in Singapore in 1935 to a Malay mother, Hannah Elias, and an Australian father, 'Harry' Henry Montague Holland Sleigh. Harry Sleigh was a well-known horse trainer in Malaya, before and after the Second World War. He and Hannah Elias had five daughters: Stella, Iris, Grace, Violet and Joyce. After her parents divorced, Sleigh's mother married Indonesian actor and band leader, Mohammad Yatim, later known as 'Maroeti'. Sleigh has an older half-sister and a half-brother, 'Bluey' Arthur William Sleigh, 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. Fearing for the safety of his daughters, Harry Sleigh bought four tickets to put his daughters on the evacuation ship, , that was bound for Australia. The three girls are presumed to have died around the sinking of the ship after it was hit by Japanese bombers off Pom Pong Island. Sleigh was also to board the 'S.S. Kuala' with her older sisters but "clung to her father in tears and terror and refused to leave". A jockey's girlfriend who was with them, Jessie Lee, took Sleigh's place after she offered to care for the girls. 'Harry' Sleigh thought his three daughters were safe in Australia and did not learn of the sinking of the 'S.S. Kuala' until after the war. Sleigh recalled during a 2016 radio interview that her parents walked to the Raffles Hotel to see the list of the survivors. When they did not see the names of their daughters, her parents sat and cried. Internment at Changi Prison Camp After the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, Sleigh's mother took her younger sister Joyce with her to Kuala Lumpur, whilst Violet remained with her father in Singapore. The Sleigh family were considered by the Japanese to be enemy civilians because of their Australian nationality. Sleigh was interned at the infamous Changi Civilian internment Camp along with her father, older half-brother and step-mother. Sleigh's younger half-brother, Harry, was born at the camp on 26 July 1942. 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'' maintained by the Changi Museum.
Surname
First Name
Nationality
Date of birth
Gender
Profession
Camp
ID
1
Sleigh
Arthur William
Australian
1902
M
Horse Trainer
Changi
4646
2
Sleigh
Harry
Australian
26.07.42
M
Infant
Changi
4647
3
Sleigh
Henry
Australian
1880
M
Horse Trainer
Changi
4649
4
Sleigh
Helen
Australian
1922
F
Housewife
Changi
4648
5
Sleigh
Violet
Australian
1936
F
Child
Changi
4650
Sleigh said of her time at Changi: The Japanese surrender was officially announced on 15 August 1945, but it was another two weeks before the internees saw Allied planes. Sleigh witnessed the drop of six British soldiers by parachute into the camp on 30 August 2015. After the Liberation of Singapore After the war, Sleigh's father moved to Kuala Lumpur. Sleigh's mother wanted her to remain in Singapore and live with her. She and her sister, Joyce, would entertain the troops by doing the hula dance while their step-father played music. Sleigh attended the Holy Infant Jesus Convent School in Singapore until she was fourteen years old, when she chose to move to Kuala Lumpur to live with her father. Sleigh says she did not feel much difference in living Kuala Lumpur because her mother "brought them up in the Malay way"
Miss Malaya
Sleigh became the first Miss Malaya when she won the Miss 'Max Factor' Malaya title in 1953, beating 200 other contestants and ten finalists. A scout for the beauty pageant approached Sleigh at Robinson's Department Store in Singapore where she worked as a dressmaker and occasional model. Her prizes included "$1,000 in cash, a new wardrobe, a trip to Hollywood and two weeks stay at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Arriving in December, Bombell missed meeting many of the major Hollywood stars who were out of the city. She did have the opportunity to meet Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Max Factor. About her meeting of Zsa Zsa Gabor said, "Oh she was a right… Not a nice person, really." Whilst in Hollywood, Bombell did a reading at Columbia Pictures. It was also reported that film director, Michael Curtiz, approached her to take a screen for The Egyptian.
Personal life
Sleigh married Australian advertising executive, Cecil Fay Bombell in 1957 and moved to Australia, where she had four daughters. Her husband was half-Australian and 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 passed away 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.
