Managing Director of KTO KL
Dear Mr Yun,
Thank you so much for being such a generous host for the Inspiring Korea Night 2010 event held at the Royale Chulan Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on the 2nd of December, 2010. It was a real treat to attend the function alongside the other 350 or so guests which included the press, travel agents and some of the more active members of the Saranghaeyo Korea Club ( SKC) in Malaysia.
The Board of Directors of Saranghaeyo Club, Malaysia with Mr Yun Jae Jin
I didn’t expect it to be such a big thing – I thought it was just going to be a modest affair with about a hundred or so people but forgot it was the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between our two countries so the occasion called for something a little more grand. It was a good idea to get people to buy raffle tickets to raise funds for the Special Children Society of Ampang and I’m looking forward to a posting on the SKC website on how much was raised and how it will be used to help the beneficiaries.
Perhaps next year, some of the children who may also be Hallyu fans can be invited to attend the gathering and who knows, even perform a number inspired by K-pop or K dramas. Or SKC members could organize more fund-raising events for local causes – I’ve read that fan clubs in Korea often make donations to charity as a gesture of support for their favourite K-pop idol(s) so it would be interesting to see which fan clubs can raise the most – would it be supporters of Beast or Girls’ Generation or Super Junior?
I didn’t also expect the event to be a proper sit-down affair to a full eight-course Chinese dinner; I’d expected a buffet spread featuring Korean cuisine. After all, the pre-dinner cocktails served had included crunchy apples flown in from Korea, small balls of tteok coated in cinnamon powder and pumpkin soup together with sikhye and bokbunja ( thanks to the unknown sponsor who generously brought in bottles of the lovely wine for the night!)
So it was a little strange to have familiar Korean favourites included in the mainly Chinese menu – the samgyetang was introduced after the first course of “Oriental Four Seasons Combination” and the “Stir-Fried Chicken In Yam Basket”. It seemed a pity that the bibimbap, bulgogi and kimchi were served almost towards the end; by that time most of us were already stuffed with steamed seabass and fresh prawns with oatmeal flakes that there was barely any space left to appreciate the kind contributions courtesy of Little Korea Restaurant.
May I make a suggestion? You could have people still seated around the tables of ten and at the same time serve an all-Korean menu, buffet-style so that more people could be introduced to ‘less familiar’ Korean dishes such as kimchi tchigae, namul, pajeon, gujeolpan and patjuk. Perhaps the different Korean restaurants around KL could be persuaded to sponsor different dishes – great way for them to advertise their business and for locals to learn about other Korean dishes. By the way, getting the guests of honour to kick off the night’s activities by stirring the “giant bibimbap” was a quaint idea –just a small pity giant bowls weren’t available for the occasion!
As for the dance performances, I can’t comment on Epsilon and Ruff Neck as I’ve never seen the MVs featuring the Hallyu stars they were imitating but it was nice to see Wakaka Crew’s varied line-up doing their own thing. Would’ve liked to hear the MCs interviewing Wakaka about their experience in the B-boy competition i.e. the R16 Southeast Asia Finals 2010 (15 May 2010) but then again, it wasn’t the right place for long QnAs or speeches.
That much was clear when, judging by the noise levels in the hall, few people were paying attention to one blogger describing his recent familiarisation trip to Korea. It would've easier if he had provided some photos of his trip and his website address on powerpoint but as it was, the MC interviewing him could barely be heard above the chatter around the tables.
By the way, the demographics at my table revealed an interesting challenge for KTO and the SKC BoD- how to cater to the varied interests of distinct groups? First you have the ajummas who first fell in love with Bae Yong-joon and who probably can't tell the difference between 2 A.M. and 2 P.M. And then there's the younger generation whose excited screams and passionate support for the latest Kpop singers had the ajummas raising their eyebrows in bafflement. And then there are others like yours truly who are more interested in other aspects of Korean culture and travel.
Anyway, I think most people would’ve left on a pretty high note – and I don’t just mean the recently appointed Board of Directors for the SKC and the lucky draw prize winners ( FOUR from one particularly lucky table including the grand prize winner who won round-tickets to Korea ). It was a nice touch to let us choose our door gifts – either a large hanging calendar or a desk calendar – at the end as we made our exit and said our goodbyes.
So once again, thank you very much for your generous hospitality, thanks too to all the sponsors especially the contributor of the delicious bokbunja and apples and the staff of the KTO and volunteers for all their hard work behind the scenes. I hope I’m fortunate enough to get an invitation again to your party in 2011.
Have a great year ahead!
Warmest regards,
ajumma
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