Malaysia’s most expensive annual social event
No surprises – anything associated with Formula 1 will be among the most expensive, if not the most expensive event of the year.
For social events open to the general public, surely it’s the Grand Prix dinner, this year called the outlandishly long name of Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix Fantasy Gala 2007, held at the KLCC on Friday 6th April.
Every time the organisers will select a different theme, this year it’s “Fantasy”: in previous years “Ice” and “Spring”.
As for glamour, it’s second to none. For starters, check out the guest list:
- The King and Queen
- The Prime Minister
- The Tourism Minister
- F1 principals including Williams CEO Adam Parr, Ferrari CEO Jean Todt and wife Michelle Yeoh
- F1 drivers Felipe Massa & Kimi Raikkonen & Toro Rosso drivers
- a couple of Bollywood stars & Priyanka Chopra (former Miss World) might come
- Siti Nurhaliza
- Sheila Majid
- Ruth Sahanaya (Indon songbird)
As for the entertainment, it would start off 1 hour after the dinner starts with world-famous illusionist Peter May who’s rumoured to make an F1 car appear onstage.
At some point, Siti Nurhaliza and Ruth Sahanaya will perform, accompanied by saxophone virtuoso Greg Lyons.
At close to 11pm, for the first time in Malaysia, multiple Grammy and American Award winner Earth, Wind & Fire will start their performance.
At 12.45am, discreetly after the guests of honour go home, the disco would be started off by DJ Chinois, who’d also be spinning before the concert.
According to the program, everything stops at 2am, and by that time, the F1 drivers really ought to go to sleep, to get ready for another new, rip-roaring day. Come to think of it, they’d see this kind of reception at every F1 venue, year after year. Must’ve grown sick of them by this time?
There are expected to be 600+ guests, hence there’d be about 60 tables around.
Well, how much does one have to pay to earn the right to rub shoulders with high society and all that world-class entertainment, and perhaps world-class “opulent” (=too much) food? The *cheapest* is RM35,000 per table, meaning RM3,500 per person. For the most expensive, one has to pay RM10,000 per person.
Of course it’s all for a good cause -all proceeds from table sales will be donated to Yayasan Tuanku Nur Zahirah.
Want to go? Too late, all tickets have sold out.
But no worries, for the rest of us, there’s the F1 Party at Zouk KL on the same night.
Sources
