By Amily Soh
When you think the K-pop scene has gone all silent, we are here to prove you wrong!
20th August 2011, Saturday proved to be a significant milestone for K-Generation (K-Gen) Club of Taylor’s University. Not only have they just turned a year old, but they had managed to finally have their anticipated biggest event of the year, right here in Taylor’s University’s Lakeside Campus Multi Purpose Hall.
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| Wow! Look at the crowd! |
With an expected pax of 400 attendees from all walks of life as well as from other states, the event has attracted a huge following from their Facebook event page 3 weeks before the actual event day that spans to double the expected amount. Although the actual attendance came to be slightly above 300 people, K-Gen is proud to have at least managed to create an awareness of the event.
Based on previous small scaled success of Hallyu Festival 2010, this year’s Hallyu Festival (Korean Wave Festival) improved tremendously in terms of sponsorships, venue, target audience, activities and also promotion. The pioneer project last year managed to gauge the level of interest and expectations of the Malaysian Korean pop (K-Pop) fans, and this helps K-Gen to excel for this year’s festival.
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| G.I Locket giving a sexy and powerful performance! |
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| "Tonight...tonight..." |
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| BlackEyedCrew doing their thing! |
This year K-Gen is proud to have the full support of Student Development Hub (SDH) of Taylor’s University, Etude House, B- Station Restaurant, Korea Plaza, Red Box, E-pop, and blogshops Kart World, Koreanophile and Korean Pavillion. All sponsors were very generous in contributing items like non-woven bags, subscriptions, discount vouchers, food and even some CDs. We had also fantastically choreographed performances by some of Malaysia’s best K-pop dance covers crews like , JSY, Dawn’s Arch, Soulerz, 20 cents, U-Scream, G.I Locket, BlackEyedCrew, and 10 Minute Crew. These seasoned performers certainly knew how to drive the crowd wild. Not only were their routines flawless, but they had also paid attention to details like their costumes, facial expressions and crowd interaction. They certainly are well-rounded performers!
Although the event day was delayed by an hour, the attendees were quick to forget about it as they were then rewarded by a jam-packed schedule. Besides the 9 performances, there was also a talent show competition. Here, participants can dance (maximum of 2 people) or sing to their favourite K-pop tunes. There were 10 talented participants who belted their hearts or danced the night away…literally. 1 performance that received a standing ovation was a solo dance by Lee Chee Keong who danced to a whole mix of Girl’s Generation’s songs! Naturally, he won the competition (and the hearts of the crowd), and consented to a resounding encore. The 2nd place winners went to MTS2, for their soulful rendition of “You Don’t Even Answer My Calls” by 2AM while the 3rd place winners went to team Shirley and Joyce whom sang You Only Love and One by TVXQ. The prizes were sponsored generously by Etude House, Korean Pavillion, Koreanophile, and E-pop.
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| MTS2 even donned matching outfits like 2AM! |
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| The winner of talent show competition got a standing ovation! |
Another main highlight for the event was an 11-piece band performance by KODI (Korean Diaspora) which consists of Koreans staying in Malaysia. This is the first time KODI is performing in an event such as this Hallyu Festival, therefore, they are equally excited to get to know all the K-pop enthusiasts here in Malaysia. The crowd responded enthusiastically towards their powerful vocals and band ensemble, as KODI belted out 10 original soundtracks (OST) from hit Korean drama series like Full House, City Hunter, and Princess Hours among others.
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| KODI showcasing their powerful vocals. |
The attendees were also treated to some mini games held by 8 fan clubs which had set up their booths around the hall. Another great feature was that the fan clubs have an opportunity to showcase their favourite band’s official merchandises and collector’s items that were sourced from Korea . The items range from shoes, limited edition CDs, calendars, photos and even socks! Many envious glances and admiration exclamations were heard from those who visited the booths. |
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| A full set of SNSD endorsed drink. |
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| One of the participating fan clubs having a field day with the attendees. |
In addition to that, each fan club produced a short video clip about their biases history and progress through the K-pop industry. Although it was just a compilation of videos, the diehard fans screamed and sang along as if a real concert. TVXQ’s sad video about the previous 5 members who had since parted their own ways, even drew tears to some fans.
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| Everyone is into the fan made videos! |
There were also some booths from Koreanophile selling K-pop merchandises as well as Etude House selling facial products at a promotional price. B Station also generously sponsored 200 free kimbaps (Korean sushi roll) to the first 200 attendees and free Korean tea to all. A festival would not be complete without face painting and balloons sculpting, which were provided complimentarily by the Korean community in Malaysia.
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| An attendee getting her hand painted. |
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| Free food! |
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| Etude House attracted the attendees with pictures of Sandara Park! |
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| Koreanophile with their huge array of K-pop merchandise! |
The day finally came to an end at 4.30pm. Before leaving, the attendees were teased with a Flashmob consisting of some dance crews as well as some of K-Gen crews and admins. A short photography session took place and everyone left the hall with excited chatter and laughter, but best of all, a new friendship.
Overall, the event has successfully cemented the strong relationship that Malaysia K-pop fans have with each other. We are proud to be the pioneer of this K-pop wave in Malaysia and pride ourselves in managing to create a healthy platform for youths today in enjoying sharing their passion towards K-pop.
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| Some of the performers and crews that made Hallyu Festival 2011 a success! See you next year! |
K-Gen is a non-profit club set up in Taylors University, Lakeside Campus, aiming at providing a platform for youths in Malaysia to gather and share their interest in Korean culture and entertainment. They can be contacted through Facebook at K- Generation(K-Gen) @Taylor’s University, or email kgen.tlc@gmail.com. Our sponsors for this event includes SDH, Etude House, B Station, Kart World, E-pop, Red Box, Koreanophile, Korean Pavillion and Korea Plaza. We are on Facebook! Like us at K-Generation (K-Gen) @ Taylor’s University or follow us on twitter @kgentaylors!
