Gourmet for a Good Cause Fine dining and philanthropy are an excellent pairing if the annual MIGF Chefs’ Charity Auction is any indication. Some of the finest chefs in the world resident in Malaysia and the restaurants that employ them offered up their skills, giving winning bidders in the MIGF Chefs’ Charity Auction an exclusive night of fine dining for their family, friends and business associates. Just shy of RM200,000 was raised for MERCY Malaysia, the worthy charity chosen as beneficiary of the MIGF Chefs’ Charity Auction 2006. In addition to the more than a dozen chefs that were on the auction block at the Grand Finale Dinner of Malaysia’s foremost annual showcase of fine dining in the country, some special lots and even surprise celebrity chefs and hosts helped to drive bidding up. A gorgeous time-piece, the Prominente Dualtime Model 1112-1c donated by WatchShoppe and presented in a humidor, along with 25 limited edition cigars from Trinidad got bidders excited while limited edition Martell cognac donated by Pernod Ricard Malaysia likewise helped to drive bidding up. Just as bidders thought the Chefs’ Charity Auction was coming to another successful close, Dato’ Steve Day, Organising Chairman of MIGF and the events that surround it, announced one of two special surprise lots not listed on the evening’s bidding manifest. Celebrity songbird Anita Sarawak took the stage to get the bidding started for a special dinner for 10 in the Genting Highlands, cooked and hosted by the diva. Another surprise lot, a fabulous night of fine dining with hosts Tunku Naquiyuddin, Royal Patron of MIGF and Tunku Nurul Hayati got bidders’ pulses pounding. Bidding kept going up as Eurocopter Malaysia Sdn Bhd offered luxury transport for guests on one of its deluxe helicopters. As bidding began to level out, Dato’ Steve Day took to the stage, offering to fly the helicopter for the lucky winner. Bids kept rising until it hit RM26,000, the winning bid submitted by Dato’ Haji Ramli Kalam.