Friday, November 1, 2013

PART 2; MIGF MAGNIFICENT DINNER AT PUTRAJAYA MARRIOTT WAS AN EPIC CULINARY EXPERIENCE!

KEE@FSWMAG.COM
OUR LAST MIGF DINNER AT PUTRAJAYA MARRIOTT HOTEL'S MIDORI JAPANESE RESTAURANT AND TUSCANY ITALIAN RESTAURANT AND 2 SPECIAL VENUES WAS AN EPIC CULINARY ADVENTURE THAT WAS APTLY DESCRIBED BY DATO STEVE DAY AS 'ONE TO REMEMBER FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES'! 
Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng, Kee Hua Chee and Dato Steve Day
 Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng sang for us! What a great honour!
 Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng sang the famous Mandarin song 'The Moon Represents My Heart' 
 Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng sang for what must have been his smallest and most exclusive audience of 20 guests and his staff!
 I am told Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng can sing Tamil love songs too as he speaks Tamil fluently from growing up in a rubber estate and befriending Tamil tappers
Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Yee shows a red rose he was given by 2 appreciative lady guests!


Definitely a night to remember and more so when a man currently worth RM 13.4 billion and RM 24 billion in January 2014 when he relists IOI Properties actually sang for us! For free! Usually he charges RM 300,000 per song with every sen going to charity! 

That is tycoon and do-gooder Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng for you!

Not only did he astound us by gracing the occasion and being with us from 7.30pm till 12.30 am, he was so humble and friendly. Hailing from a poor family, he knows the importance of education and his Yayasan Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng scholarships award up to RM 200,000 of tuition fees.

At first most of Dato Steve Day's guests who did not know Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng personally were rather shy to ask if they could take photos with him. However, Tan Sri Lee mingled with the 20 guests, making them feel at ease in the presence of the 6th richest man in Malaysia and the world's 276th richest man!

This is valid only for now. He is now worth RM 13.4 billion but when Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng relists his IOI Properties in January or during the first quarter of 2014, he will leapfrog to be the 3rd richest man, after Robert Kuok and Ananda Krishnan and overtaking Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay of Genting and Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow of Public Bank! By then he should be worth a staggering RM 24 billion! 

We listened intently as Dato Steve Day read Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng's biodata. Said Dato Steve Day, "Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng comes from a very poor background, growing up in a rubber plantation where his father ran a small food shop. They were so poor he left school at 11 to help augment his family's income by selling icecream on a bicycle for 4 years before returning to finish high school.

"At 22 he applied for a job with Dunlop Estate but was rejected due to his lack of English. Tan Sri says his biggest achievement was in 1989 when he bought Dunlop Estate! That was such sweet 'revenge'! 

"As a result of growing up in a rubber plantation with Indian tappers, Tan Sri is fluent in Tamil."

I asked Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng if this was true. 

He grinned, "My Tamil is better than my English! If you close your eyes and hear me speak Tamil, you will never realise a Chinese is talking!"

Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng also left his guests astounded and speechless when he thanked Dato Steve Day for inviting his hotel to participate in MIGF. "Please excuse me as my English is poor because I am not educated like you. Please forgive me if I speak broken English."

Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng, your English is fine and with your stature and wealth, you can speak in any language and we all understand you as you speak the universal language of generosity with Yayasan Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng!

Dato Steve Day then requested if Tan Sri Lee would sing a song as the ultimate grand finale. 

We held our breath. After all, most folks like him tend not to bother...

Beamed Tan Sri Dato Lee Shin Cheng, "To thank all of you for coming tonight, I am happy to sing one song for you."

He went to the elevated platform where the musicians had performed all evening and sang the Mandarin hit song 'The Moon Represents My Heart' made famous by the late Teresa Teng.

The last MIGF dinner in Kuala Lumpur ended as it started---stupendously! 

Truly the best for the last.

The only thing missing was a firework display with 'MIGF' and 'Putrajaya Marriott' emblazoned on the night sky!

Today, 2 November will be MIGF's FINAL dinner at The Westin Langkawi island! 

 in
OUR MAGNIFICENT TABLE SETTING AT TUSCANY RESTAURANT




CHEF ARIS FADILLAH EXPLAINING EACH COURSE




A TOAST TO THE HOSTS WITH MOST!



LOIN OF LAMB UNDER HERB CRUST AND RED CURRANT JUS

OUR DESSERT WAS LITERALLY MADE BEFORE OUR EYES BY THE DANCING STAFF OF TUSCANY!








TO OUR AMAZEMENT AND APPRECIATION, THE 2 FESTIVAL CHEFS CHEF FAUZI OF MIDORI AND CHEF ARIS FADILLAH OF TUSCANY STEPPED ON STAGE AND DONNED LONG WIGS REPLETE WITH HEAD SCARVES!
DONNING SUNGLASSES, THEY DANCED AND PRANCED
THEY STIRRED MIXTURES INSIDE THEIR BOWLS
MUCH APPRECIATED!
SHOWMANSHIP!
WHAT A ROCK & ROLL FINALE!

CHEF FAUZI SHOWS HIS CONCOCTION


OUR DESSERTS GETTING THEIR TOPPINGS







ZABAGLIONE AND POACHED PEAR WITH CAPPUCINO MASCARPONE
A WARM GLASS OF COGNAC WAS THE EXTRAVAGANT FINALE!
THANK YOU!
KUDOS!


GENERAL MANAGER OF PUTRAJAYA MARRIOTT APPLAUDING HIS TEAM!
WELL DONE!
DATO STEVE DAY THANKING TAN SRI DATO LEE SHIN CHENG

TG NASARIAH, TAN SRI LEE SHIN CHENG, KEY, DATO STEVE DAY AND DATO NELSON KWOK
KEY SOON YUE HAS KNOWN TAN SRI DATO LEE SHIN CHENG FOR 25 YEARS
AND TAN SRI LEE HAS NOT CHANGED! STILL HUMBLE AND FRIENDLY!
DATO NELSON KWOK AT RIGHT WITH DATO STEVE DAY LOOK ON
KEY NARRATES HOW TAN SRI SOLD ICE CREAM FROM A BICYCLE AGED 11 TO 15
TAN SRI SEEMS SHY...
YOU ARE A GREAT MAN AND VISIONARY, TAN SRI LEE OF IOI!
WHAT A GREAT EVENING!
NICK LOUGH THANKS PUTRAJAYA MARRIOTT ON BEHALF OF US GUESTS
NICK LOUGH POINTS TO THE CULINARY TEAM AND SERVICE STAFF
BRAVO!!!

IS DATIN MICHELLE WONG SHEDDING A TEAR OR WHAT
YOU ARE THE BEST!
DATO STEVE DAY THEN HINTS AT THE POSSIBILITY OF TAN SRI DATO LEE SHIN CHENG SINGING A SONG
DATO STEVE DAY THANKS TAN SRI LEE
MAGNIFICENT EVENING
THE KITCHEN AND SERVICE STAFF CLAPPING
WELL DONE GUYS
 TAN SRI DATO LEE SHIN CHENG THANKS DATO STEVE DAY AND ASKS TO BE EXCUSED IF HE SPOKE BROKEN ENGLISH! WHAT A HUMBLE MAN! HIS ENGLISH IS FINE!
 DATO STEVE DAY BANTERS WITH TAN SRI LEE SHIN CHENG
 "OK I WILL SING A SONG" SMILES TAN SRI DATO LEE SHIN CHENG
 TAN SRI DATO LEE SHIN CHENG  SINGS 'THE MOON REPRESENTS MY HEART'
 TAN SRI DATO LEE SHIN CHENG IS AN ACCOMPLISHED SINGER!
 BRAVO!
 WHAT AN HONOUR TO HAVE MALAYSIA'S 6TH RICHEST MAN SING FOR US! BY JANUARY 2014 HE WILL BE MALAYSIA'S 3RD RICHEST MAN!
 WE ARE ENTHRALLED
 THANK YOU, TAN SRI!
 ENCORE!
 TAN SRI DATO LEE SHIN CHENG IS 74 BUT LOOKS 50!



 HE IS GIVEN A ROSE BY 2 LADY FANS
 DATIN SU DAY GIVES 2 MORE!
 TAN SRI DATO LEE SHIN CHENG, KEE HUA CHEE AND DATO STEVE DAY
 DATO SIMON WONG TAKES TO THE STAGE!

NICK LOUGH SINGS TOO
 HENRY KOK DOES HIS THING

YVONNE YIP AND HENRY KOK DO THE TANGO TO END AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENING!

THE END




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