An afternoon of Malaysian fashion and pink afternoon tea at Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown raised over RM16,000 for PPUM’s B40 Diagnostic Fund for Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer awareness, as Puan Azrida Azhari Wasi of Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya put it, has to continue beyond screening, because the moment that tests the system most comes when a woman is told she needs further investigation and must find her way to a diagnosis. Screening looks for signs in women who have no symptoms, while diagnostic services, such as further imaging or tissue tests, investigate a specific concern once one has been found, and for women from B40 communities, Malaysia’s bottom 40 per cent of households by income, that second step can carry barriers of its own. PPUM’s B40 Diagnostic Fund for Breast Cancer exists to help reduce some of them by supporting access to diagnostic services.

On the afternoon of 10 October, guests dressed in pink gathered at Midtown Brasserie for A Celebration of Pink fundraiser at Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown made up of a pink afternoon tea, a runway of Malaysian fashion and a charity auction. The campaign raised over RM16,000 for the fund.

A Tea in Pink

The tea was created by Executive Chef Jonas Juchli and Executive Pastry Chef Jason De Oca, and it carried the colour through fresh flowers, pink balloons and pastries in every shade between blush and ruby. The savoury selection runs from a tomato, crab and chive tartlet and a cured salmon sandwich with beetroot, cream cheese and dill to cheese croquettes with beef bresaola and a prawn roll layered with brioche and tobiko, alongside raspberry rose brioche and cranberry scones served with clotted cream, strawberry jam and mandarin marmalade. The sweet finale included a cherry pistachio choux, a jasmine cheesecake with peach compote, a raspberry tart with almond frangipane, a strawberry panna cotta with kaffir lime, and honey and ruby chocolate madeleines.

Style With a Cause

Fourteen models took to the runway in pink designs by Malaysian designer Yani Bakhtiar, accompanied by a song and musical arrangement composed in her honour, in a show that celebrated creations that have recently travelled to Paris and New York. The runway gave way to a charity auction of five sets of her designs, alongside two timepieces contributed by DFS Duty Free—an Omega and a TAG Heuer Formula 1, which turned an afternoon of watching into one of giving.

A hotel afternoon tea is an easy thing to attach a cause to, since guests are already arriving for the pastries and the setting, and what distinguishes this one is that the cause stayed in the room from the first course to the last. The speakers at the lectern, the runway and the auction all pointed at the same fund, so that the pleasure of the tea and the purpose behind it were never separate stories.

The Voices in the Room

Puan Azrida said the campaign hoped to help reduce some of the barriers faced by women from B40 communities. For Till Martin, General Manager of Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown, the campaign reflected the hotel’s purpose of caring for people so they can be their best. That care, he said, extends to colleagues as much as guests, and with so many women among the hotel’s workforce, supporting their wellbeing and making space for conversations about health are part of the commitment.

The most personal voice belonged to Puan Sri Maniseh Adam, a special guest and former Patron of the Pink Ribbon Wellness (L) Foundation and a breast cancer survivor, who was diagnosed in 2010 and has since championed education, early detection and evidence-based treatment. A diagnosis, she said, can leave a woman feeling lost, and education, sound medical advice and support can help her take the next step.

The campaign’s practical message to women was to seek medical advice on noticing a new lump or thickening, a change in breast size or shape, skin dimpling or distortion, nipple inversion or unusual nipple discharge. These changes do not necessarily indicate cancer but should be assessed by a healthcare professional, and screening advice varies according to age and personal risk.

The campaign thanked its partners, among them YBhg Datin Seri Norizan Othman, Nikki Lee, Head of Marketing at AEON Mall, Professor See Mee Hoong, Head of the Breast Cancer Resource Centre at Universiti Malaya, Yani Bakhtiar and the Pink ESG Wellness organising team, and their collaboration helped bring the afternoon together in support of breast cancer awareness and diagnostic care, with every guest leaving with a bouquet to take home.

The hotel’s pink afternoon tea continues every weekend in October at Midtown Lounge at RM128 per person, though purchases there do not go to the fund, and reservations can be made on +603 3093 1234 or at KULRK-FB.Reservation@hyatt.com.

hyatt.com | @hyattregencyklmidtown

Images courtesy of Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown and Chef Jason de Oca.

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