Nuraliza Osman is a Singaporean lawyer and beauty queen who represented her country at the Miss Universe 2002 pageant in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Known affectionately as "Nura", she is of Dutch, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian descent.
Biography
Nuraliza Osman grew up in Singapore and was a top student and scholar at the where she won many accolades and excelled academically. She then attended Victoria Junior College where she studied pre-medicine classes and French. She studied French briefly prior to attending university. She can count in Dutch. She is described by her peers as a funny, lovely, independent and determined person who was well-loved. At Methodist Girls School and Victoria Junior College, she was known for her frank, honest and tomboyish image. Many were surprised at how feminine she became for the Miss Universe competition. Osman studied Law at the National University of Singapore and in the United States. After graduation, Osman worked as a civil litigator for the leading law firm of Rajah and Tann. She was nominated Young Lawyer of the Year by the Law Society of Singapore and has remained a successful lawyer to date. Osman joined the Miss Singapore Universe 2002 pageant and won the title and the right to represent Singapore at the Miss Universe 2002 pageant in Puerto Rico. She is the only Malay delegate who represented Singapore in recent times. After her reign as Miss Singapore Universe, she continued her law studies at University of Aberdeen and returned to Singapore thereafter to pursue her career in law in one of the top law firms in Singapore. She has remained active in her community through participation in Malay television in Singapore as a host for info-education programs, as a judge or panel participant in debates and as an actress. In 2004, Osman was awarded the Best Newcomer prize for her role in a psychological thriller. In 2014, Osman acted as chief judge on a television series to select the next female personality of the Suria Malay channel alongside 4 other judges, including her former co-host, Aaron Aziz and fashion designer, Jovian Mandagie. Osman is known for her intellectual image and for her charitable contributions with children in the Make A Wish Foundation. She is also noted for her continued role in championing oceanmarine conservation. She acted as a pro-bono legal advisor to Ocean Geographic which promotes conservation. In 2012, she represented Singapore as an athlete in freediving where she set a record for her country in a depth discipline. Osman was then awarded and named "Ocean Ambassador" at the Asian Dive Expo in 2013 to promote the message of conservation and protection of the ocean. In her role as an ambassador, Osman has worked on conservation campaigns with various environmental organisations, including Shark Savers Asia to stop the consumption and offering of shark fins in restaurants and retail outlets in Asia. She is presently the author of a series of children's books on marine wildlife and the importance of conservation. She speaks English, Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, French and Dutch, a German.
