Background

Melissa Ann Tan was born in Melaka on 13 July 1981. She is of Dutch, Portuguese and Chinese descent. She graduated from Australia’s Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology with a degree in Economics and Finance.

Miss Malaysia Universe 2006

She won the title of Miss Malaysia Universe in 2006. She then represented Malaysia in the Miss Universe 2006

Miss Universe 2006

Miss Universe 2006, the 55th Miss Universe pageant, took place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, USA. Unlike past events, it was broadcast live on NBC on a Sunday, July 23, 2006, almost two months later than usual....

 pageant which was televised live internationally from the Shrine Auditorium

Shrine Auditorium

The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue, in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners.-History:...

 in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 on July 23, 2006. In that year Zuleyka Rivera from Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

placed first.