EDDIE'S BACK

LAST YEAR WHEN FORMER FORMULA 1 RACER EDDIE JORDAN VISITED Penang, I was one of the media members invited to attend a dinner held at the Rasa Sayang's Feringgi Grill to welcome him.

Last night he was back again, but this time as the draw for a charity dinner held at Traders Hotel's enormous ballroom; performing with his band The Robbers doing some well-known covers for about thirty minutes. They were good but the acoustics were not brilliant so it was a bit of an ear-bash.

The dinner was to raise funds for Penang's Lighthouse Programme, a community service for the poor. A short film was played to tell everyone present about the charity, which provides valuable services for the poor and elderly. It was very moving, and to me, it was so incredibly sad that there are so many people out there who, having gone through life, find themselves suddenly without money, food or shelter.

Shangri-La's three properties in town (Traders, Rasa Sayang and Golden Sands) take turns to sponsor daily dinners every month for a year as part of their CSR programmes (Corporate Social Responsibility). Apparently every day at least 120 people come in to shower before their dinner, which is served by volunteers and schools. The hotels also donate used clothes, linen and towels. It's a very noble gesture, and I do hope that they continue to do so.

The dinner was launched by the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who gave a short speech, commending the hotels for their great efforts. I stopped by his table to have a quick chat, and asked him if he would write the foreword for the next edition of my restaurant guide and he said, "Consider it done!" which was nice of him.

There were various performances from local artistes, some dressed in very elaborate outfits.

I found myself thinking about my father, who at 87 is looked after by a full-time maid, his every need seen to. My brother, who is a businessman, still makes sure he has dinner with Dad every week, despite his hectic business commitments. I try and go to KL to see him regularly, and he comes up here too (this weekend in fact, for our annual Cheng Beng trip to Taiping). He's a very lucky man, and I hope that one day my own children will look after me like that! (If I live that long that is).

Well done to Shangri-La for taking their Corporate Social Responsibilities so seriously, and for choosing such a worthwhile charity. They make such a difference to those people.

BTW hope you survive the morning - it's April Fool's Day of course!

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

One hotel which appears to be taking its corporate and social responsibilities seriously is Traders in Penang, to the extent that they are holding a two-day fair which will be opened by Dato' Kee Phaik Cheen today.

As we were there for the first of The Brasserie's Wine Dinners (they are planning to do this once a week only but more of that next time) we were afforded a sneak preview of one of the exhibitions: Royal Terengganu Songket, the cloth with gold or silver threads handwoven into it which only royalty could wear previously.

There will also be other things on display: art, books and get this - a Penang Hokkien Dictionary written by, of all things, a Dutchman Luc de Gijzel. That should be interesting. After all, even as a native Hokkien speaker I have difficulty thinking up words in the dialect. Like can you imagine the word for "the bit at the top of your mouth between the lip and the nose" - I can't even think what it is in ENGLISH let alone Hokkien!! And I wonder how he will get on with the intonations. I am told Hokkien has at least SEVEN if not EIGHT, and even I struggle with some and get them wrong.

Khoo Salma Nasution, our eminent historian, will also be launching her new book "Heritage Houses of Penang". I look forward to that too, as she is an admirable writer who is passionate about preserving everything about this island and state.

Anyway back to the songket: patronised by HM The Queen of Malaysia, there will be a magnificent display of the cloths and products made using it. According to Roslan Wilkinson, who's in charge of the project, they are trying to revive the industry, once solely an East Coast female occupation which earned them pittance, and striving to bring it up to date and the patterns now reflect the times. Get the gorgeous peacock dress in the pix. You'll see it there in pride of place.