KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- For the first time in Malaysia, the Mister International 2007 will be held in Kuching, capital city of eastern Sarawak state, local media reported on Tuesday.

    Twenty participants from Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, Greece, Guam, Guatemala, India, Italy, South Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, China's Taiwan, the United States and Venezuela will join the contest on Dec. 31.

    They will also participate in several tourism-related activities.

    The inaugural pageant was held in Singapore last year.

    Wissam Hanna of Lebanon who was the pageant's first winner will be here to crown his successor.

    The founder of the pageant is Alan Sim, Mister Young Singapore (1996) and first runner-up of Mister Young International (1997).

    Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the 35-year-old Singaporean said he established the event out of frustration.

    "The frustration lies in the fact that winners of national pageants have nowhere to proceed to after clinching the title in their respective countries," the New Straits Times quoted Sim as saying.

    Amr Samaha of Egypt is excited about his first international competition.

    The 19-year-old model said being in this international pageant has widened his knowledge and understanding of the cultures of other countries.

    Samaha added that his fellow contestants were not here to compete to see who was the best.

    "We are here to make new friends, establish contacts and experience new cultures," he said.