IT seemed Dr Ilisapeci Kubuabola already had it in her from the start. A graduate from the Otago University in New Zealand with high hopes of making a difference in her research field to now manning one of the important institutions in the country.
Dr Kubuabola is the director of C-Pond or Pacific Research Centre for the Prevention of Obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases as well as the MBBS (bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery) training interns co-ordinator.
But back in 1993, the director was a fresh faced 21-year-old who had the world at her feet after scooping the famous Miss Hibiscus crown.
On page three of The Fiji Times dated January 29, 1993, an ecstatic Ilisapeci was pictured receiving her main prize from Air New Zealand after being crowned Miss Hibiscuss in 1992.
She won two tickets to Los Angeles and $500 spending money. Ilisapeci told The Fiji Times she intended to take her mother, Miriama Kubuabola, with her.
Although it took a year later to receive the prize, the then student seemed over the moon by the looks of her wide smile. Days after the announcement of her win, The Fiji Times reported the phone at the family residence kept ringing nonstop.
Ilisapeci had represented the Reserve Bank of Fiji. The first runner-up for the 1992 Miss Hibiscus was Miss Fiji National Provident Fund, Salote Kaimacuata and Miss Colonial Mutual Life, Sanya Gain who was second runner-up.
