Rocked by hallyu wave

BORAK-BORAK

WHEN I was offered a chance to visit South Korea recently, I jumped at the opportunity. After all, it was one of the key countries in Malaysia’s Look East Policy.

And I was looking forward to a chance to savour real kimchi (pickled cabbage), and maybe get my hands on some topend Korean ginseng to fire up my brains to outsmart some computer at a betting shop!

I had gone to Japan (another Look East policy country) countless times, but for some strange reason, South Korea was never on my travel list. This time, I wasn’t going to let the chance slip away.

Indeed, it was a real eye-opener. South Korea had made tremendous strides in economic development, especially in the last 30 years.

I reckoned that the turning point for the country was in 1988, when it hosted the Seoul Olympics. You have to be among the best if you want to host the Olympics.

And in 2002, it co-hosted the World Cup football tournament with Japan.

Another major accomplishment is its automobile industry. As a matter of comparison, South Korea started this industry around the same time as Malaysia.

In 1994, I remember some people in Detroit (known as the ‘Motor City’ of the United States) sniggering about the quality of South Korean cars. They even joked that they were unsure if the cars would still be intact when they travelled far.

Fast-forward to 2009, and I think the Yanks ate humble pie when South Korean carmaker Hyundai rolled out its flagship model, Genesis, which was benchmarked against the Mercedes Benz E class, Infiniti from Nissan, and Lexus from Toyota.

Does Malaysia have an answer to the Genesis? I’m afraid not at the moment.

Competition pushed the South Koreans to innovate to sell their cars all over the world. But years of overprotectionism have made Malaysia somewhat complacent.

I’ve driven a few good Malaysiandesigned cars. But my gripe has always been why we never try hard enough to sell our cars abroad.

I chose to illustrate the Genesis because it’s tangible proof of the sheer tenacity of the South Koreans.

And let’s not forget Samsung, a company that was nearly burnt by a faulty phone battery problem last year, but rebounded with a better model in the competitive world of smartphones. That’s South Korea for you. When I was a boy, I got a taste of South Korea at close range when a man by the name of Choi – an athletic sort who always rode a racing bike – came to the Chinese Recreation Club in Penang to start taekwon-do classes.

Many tree trunks in George Town had suffered terrific knocks from some of his over-zealous students. They often unleashed flying kicks while strutting round town, long before Bruce Lee became a household name!

My second experience of all things Korean was when I learnt that South Korean engineers were responsible for the construction of the Federal Highway between Kuala Lumpur and Klang.

For most Malaysians, that was their first real highway: straight and uncluttered.

Another example to reach my ears was the construction of the much- promised Penang Bridge by the South Koreans in 1985.

And in 1998, a South Korean-led company managed to complete one of the Petronas Twin Towers ahead of a rival Japanese company working on the other tower.

The latest Korean wave is the best. Musically, I can’t forget chubby Psy taking the world by storm with his Gangnam Style, and that silly Psy ‘horse dance’ which mimics something my colleagues did to entertain their superiors some years earlier!

As for me, I’m just pleased that I got to see the actual Gangnam, which is an upmarket precinct in Seoul. I even did it in style, by arriving in a Genesis, without having to mimic a Psy ‘horse dance’!

Gamsa hamnida!

Jeff Yong, after making his mark in the twisty maze of mainstream journalism, has finally decided to enjoy what he does best – observing the unusual and recounting the gleeful. He can be contacted at lifestyle.borak@gmail.com. illness plan to the full, comprehensive 36 critical illness plan if their cholesterol, blood pressure and BMI is back to normal.”

He added this is the company’s way to reward those who try and seek changes to their health.

When asked what would the coverage be if the 3Hs a person is suffering from are related to other conditions such as autoimmune disease, Yeoh said the company would be looking at each case individually.

In addition, diabetes is not covered by this plan but Gross said it is something they are looking into. – S. Indra Sathiabalan