With many distinguished guests in attendance
On the occasion of the 68th Royal Birthday of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Ambassador Dato Paduka Haji Harun Ismail and Datin Siti Aishah Abdullah hosted a luncheon reception at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Aug. 21, 2014.
There was presentation of the National Anthems of the Republic of Korea and Brunei Darussalam, and they were followed by cutting of the birthday celebration cake for the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
There were not much formalities as the reception was obviously intended for the guests to have a good time enjoying the nice food and beverage as well as the good company.
The party was all the more enjoyable thanks to the conspicuous absence of uninvited guests who on some occasions at some other parties ruin the otherwise enjoyable atmosphere for their lack of manners and other acts unbecoming a guest at a diplomatic function.
The diplomatic functions used to be a comfortable social meeting for the civic leaders as well as for the diplomats, government representatives and business leaders. However, from some time ago, they have become somewhat different due to some ‘guests’ who came without invitation. One or two of such ‘guests’ even go onto the stage when only the government representatives and ambassadors are asked to come for a memorial photograph?and join the photos to the obvious astonishment of the host.
Among the Korean guests were former Minister of Foreign Affairs Yu Myung-hwan (president of Daeyang Educational Foundation), Mrs. Im Wha-kong (founder chairperson of Seoul Garden Club), Mrs. Park Jae-Kyu (wife of the president of Kyungnam University), Chairman & CEO Seungpil Yu of Yuyu Pharma Inc. (dean of the Korean Honorary Consuls and Consuls General for the Embassies), Chairman Cho Hai-Hyung of Nara Holdings (former dean of the Korean Honorary Consuls), Chairman Kwang-Yong Lee of Sampoong Company and Gilsung Estate Co., Ltd. (Korean Honorary Consul General for Malta), Chairman Young-Il Kim of UC Solution Co., Ltd. (Korean Honorary Consul General for Pakistan), Chairman Hanyoung Kim of MES Corporation (Honorary Consul General of Bhutan), Director Kim Woong-nam of Korea Coal Corporation (former Korean ambassador to Brunei Darussalam) and Publisher-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post.
From the Diplomatic Corps came many mission chiefs who included Ambassadors Konstantin V. Vnukov of Russia, Khalil Ismai Abdul Sahib Al-Mosawi of Iraq, Raul S. Hernandez of the Philippines, Bessho Koro of Japan, Peter Tan Hai Chuan of Singapore, Hakan Okcal of Turkey, Zahid Nasrulah Khan of Pakistan, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi of Kuwait, Tissa Wijeratne of Sri Lanka, Khamla Xayachack of Lao Republic, Bill Veri of Papua New Guinea, Ceferino Adrian Valdez Peralta of Paraguay, Mohammed Chraibi of Morocco, Mohamed Salim Alharthy of Oman, Ramzi Teymurov of Azerbaijan, Dato Rohana binti Ramli of Malaysia, Mohammed Bin Abdalla Obaid Al-Dohaimi of Qatar, Dulat Bakishev of Kazakhstan and Hany Moawad Selim Labib of Egypt.
