Representing Pakistan, Hassan Bhatti competed in the inaugural edition of Mister Ocean. His experience during the competition is a testimony to the fact that language barrier is not really a barrier when it comes to building friendship.
Bhatti is the first Mister Pakistan to ever compete on an international level. In November 2017, he and 48 other Mister Ocean 2017 candidates from various countries and territories participated in several activities in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
During the two-week competition, the Pakistani representative was close to many of his fellow candidates but he particularly became very close to one of the Latino candidates. There were 13 Latino candidates during the competition, including Mister USA Alex Fernando Cardin, and they were a tight-knit group.
The one Bhatti considered his closest friend was Mister Brazil Igor Costa Alves and the former found it funny that they managed to forge a friendship even if the latter could not speak English. In a statement exclusively obtained by Conan Daily, Bhatti said, “Sometimes, you don’t need words to understand each other.”
Having represented Pakistan at Mister Ocean 2017 is a proud moment not only for Bhatti but also for his country, he said. For him, competing against world-class models from other countries was a big challenge.
Despite the challenge, Bhatti made it to the Top 17. It made him feel proud and he attributed this accomplishment to his ability to stay positive and believe in himself.
“My most memorable experience was the pre-judging round,” Bhatti recalled. “I had fever and cold that night but I wanted to give my best.”
“I was so happy when one of the judges said, ‘That was a pretty amazing reply,’” Bhatti continued. “For me, that was enough to take away from that trip.”
As Bhatti testified, Mister Ocean 2017 did not only promote marine environment protection through a male beauty pageant. It also fostered international friendship and understanding.
CONAN Daily 