3rd Annual Light of the Orient Celebration
I attended the 3rd Annual Light of the Orient celebration this past Sunday, 1/13/08, also known as Korean American Day. The party was held this time at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.
Was a pretty solid crowd, numbering about 450 - 500 people. All the VIPs of the local Korean community were there. This year, the honorees were Dr. Kwan Jay Cho, Superintendent Pat Hamamoto, Kathryn Whang Inouye, and Chief Justice Ronald Moon. Former KHNL anchor and current Executive Assistant to the Director of the Dept of Transportation Joann Shin was MC.
The food served was Chinese...which I thought was kind of odd for a Korean themed party but at least it tasted good. And although the table I sat at was far from the main stage, it was closest to the bar. But at $7 a pop for a Heineken, my trips to the bar were limited! LOL
Overall, it was an entertaining program and I said hello to a few familiar faces as well as met several new ones.
The biggest surprise of the night was when they announced that Sony Open champion KJ Choi would be attending! That really got the crowd in a frenzy. And indeed, he showed up at around 7:30pm, just as promised!
Can I just say how amazing this guy is? He comes from some rural island in Korea, a real country boy, and yet here he is, making his mark on the PGA tour. He's ranked in the Top 10 in the World rankings and has now won a PGA tournament in each of the last 4 years, never giving up a 54 hole lead while doing so. But that's not it. He's quite the philanthropist. Not only does he automatically give 10% of his earnings to his church, but after winning the Sony Open, he's already donated a third of his winnings from the Sony to the efforts to clean up the recent major oil spill in South Korea. That's more than $300,000! I really admire this guy.
EDIT: Oops...I had the wrong information. KJ Choi actually donated the money to the families of victims of a fire tragedy in Icheon.
So when I heard he was attending the Light of the Orient dinner, I was pretty stoked. I mean, the man had a 10pm flight departing Honolulu for the mainland that night and by no means had any obligation to stop by on his way to the airport. You'd figure after winning, he'd just want to relax and get on the plane. But when he was told about the dinner party and its purpose in celebrating both the honorees as well as the anniversary of Korean immigration to HAwaii, he elected to attend and say a few words. Wow. You don't see too many people as generous with both their money and time as him.
Was a pretty solid crowd, numbering about 450 - 500 people. All the VIPs of the local Korean community were there. This year, the honorees were Dr. Kwan Jay Cho, Superintendent Pat Hamamoto, Kathryn Whang Inouye, and Chief Justice Ronald Moon. Former KHNL anchor and current Executive Assistant to the Director of the Dept of Transportation Joann Shin was MC.
The food served was Chinese...which I thought was kind of odd for a Korean themed party but at least it tasted good. And although the table I sat at was far from the main stage, it was closest to the bar. But at $7 a pop for a Heineken, my trips to the bar were limited! LOL
Overall, it was an entertaining program and I said hello to a few familiar faces as well as met several new ones.
The biggest surprise of the night was when they announced that Sony Open champion KJ Choi would be attending! That really got the crowd in a frenzy. And indeed, he showed up at around 7:30pm, just as promised!
Can I just say how amazing this guy is? He comes from some rural island in Korea, a real country boy, and yet here he is, making his mark on the PGA tour. He's ranked in the Top 10 in the World rankings and has now won a PGA tournament in each of the last 4 years, never giving up a 54 hole lead while doing so. But that's not it. He's quite the philanthropist. Not only does he automatically give 10% of his earnings to his church, but after winning the Sony Open, he's already donated a third of his winnings from the Sony to the efforts to clean up the recent major oil spill in South Korea. That's more than $300,000! I really admire this guy.
EDIT: Oops...I had the wrong information. KJ Choi actually donated the money to the families of victims of a fire tragedy in Icheon.
So when I heard he was attending the Light of the Orient dinner, I was pretty stoked. I mean, the man had a 10pm flight departing Honolulu for the mainland that night and by no means had any obligation to stop by on his way to the airport. You'd figure after winning, he'd just want to relax and get on the plane. But when he was told about the dinner party and its purpose in celebrating both the honorees as well as the anniversary of Korean immigration to HAwaii, he elected to attend and say a few words. Wow. You don't see too many people as generous with both their money and time as him.
posted by Myong Choi at 4:08 PM
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