A fundraising dinner for Tabung Harapan Malaysia was held on Sunday, July 22 by YMCA Ipoh at its main hall featuring Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker, Nga Kor Ming, Perak Legislative Assembly Speaker, Dato’ Ngeh Koo Ham and Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor, Wong Kah Woh as guests of honour.
Attended by over 260, one highlight of the lively evening was the pre-launch of SeeFoon’s “The Foodie’s Guide to Ipoh’s Best Eats 2” where one-third of the pre-order proceeds on the list price of RM30 per book was channelled towards the cause.
“Today we are here to promote food. On behalf of the state government, I would like to thank SeeFoon because people like her help boost Perak tourism. I hope there are more people like her, not only promoting food but all the good things of Perak,” Dato’ Ngeh Koo Ham stated.
“We are fully touched by YMCA’s graciousness and kindness for organising such a meaningful event tonight. YMCA is always in need of funds yet at this time it steps forward to donate to Tabung Harapan Malaysia,” Nga Kor Ming highlighted.
“In Perak, I must say a big thank you to SeeFoon, you have done a wonderful job. Recently, Booking.com has listed Ipoh as the top 10 destinations to taste local food and Ipoh is number one in the world. Using my own money, I’d like to book 50 copies of the book. I plan to put the book in my deputy speaker office so that whenever there are high commissioners and ambassadors visiting this will be the souvenir that I will give,” Nga enthused.
Present were Dato’ Daniel Tay, President of YMCA Ipoh, SeeFoon Chan-Koppen, author of “The Foodie’s Guide to Ipoh’s Best Eats 2”, Vicky Law, organising chairperson of the fundraising dinner and Rueben Nagarajan, Master of Ceremonies.
“I’ve always been a foodie. My taste buds have been honed from living and eating around the world. Today Ipoh, for me, is home. What was special about Ipoh and why I’m settled in Ipoh? Number one, the warm people. Number two, the food is the absolute best and I want to tell the whole world about it,” SeeFoon explained.
At the end of the seven-course dinner, a total of RM100,290 was raised while a sum of RM1660 was contributed from pre-orders of the book.
SeeFoon Chan-Koppen has been writing a food column called Musings on Food in the Ipoh Echo since 2009. It is widely read both in print as well as online which receives more than 1 million hits a month. Her forte is in communications, having honed her skills after graduating from the University of Singapore where she worked for the Straits Times Group and was a food critic for the New Nation. Her knowledge of food and cooking come from more than 30 years in the hotel industry based in Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and subsequently Kuala Lumpur. During this time, she has travelled all over the world and eaten at the best and worst restaurants.
Priced at RM30 and set to be released in September, readers can find out more about the much-awaited, second edition of the book by calling the Ipoh Echo office at 05 543 9726.
Mei Kuan
