AN OPEN LETTER FOR KIM HYUN JOONG [07-08-11]

m'Patria B. Ragasa is the one wearing red, and m'Maru Ragasa is the one sitting in a wheelchair.

An open letter from the daughter of m’ Patria B. Ragasa  for Kim Hyun Joong, K-pop Express team are hoping that Kim Hyun Joong can read these letter.

Dear Mr. Kim Hyun Joong,

I don’t want to sound formal but you may think I have no respect for your stature. In the course of this letter, I may sound familiar, you will have to forgive me. It feels like I have known you all my life. I don’t look upon you in a romantic way, but more like a young brother. But truthfully, if I were much younger and more attractive, who knows what I would feel?

But enough of me. I write this letter because you made my 73 year old mom cry. Yes, you did. If there’s anything in this world that brings me near to despair is to see my mother cry. She cried because I told her that you were scheduled to do promotions in the Philippines for Polyeast for your Break Down album, for the Faceshop, and for GMA’s Playful Kiss. You’re scheduled trip to my country was announced and plastered all over the internet.

So why did you make my mom cry? She cried because getting to meet you was going to be a near impossibility for people like us, with no connections or friends to facilitate meeting you. We already encountered your cordon sanitaire in Korea, and were it not for the kindhearted Jae Ho Choi, we would not have seen you in VIP seats at MBC’s Music Core. I have frantically scrambled and texted people who can help me get you to meet my mom. She must have seen the frustration etched across my face. As she sat listening to you sing “Never Again,” she broke into tears. Then she told me, she was leaving it all up to God, if she would get the chance to meet you. While she never admitted to me, I knew, your people’s refusal for even a short meet with you that time in Korea broke her heart. Of course, it wasn’t your fault, and yes, your people were just trying to keep you safe. But this time, you just can’t let my mom down.She loves you so much.

August 26 is her birthday and if I have to wrap and put ribbons on you, I will! If I have to shout into the wilderness of cyberspace to call your attention over a 73 year old ajumma’s desire to meet you in person, I will. I have no pride. My mom has been taking care of me since I suffered a debilitating stroke three years ago. If I say, I would do anything for her, I mean it. You will soon be reading this letter through a translator because I know I will touch the hearts of the people who will read this. They will repost this letter until it gets to your attention. Wouldn’t you do it for your mom? I don’t want to wait for Mother’s Day. The minute she meets you, it’s Mother’s Day.

It bothers me that she has resigned herself that she won’t meet you. Trying to lift her spirit, I told her that you will look for her. I know how much you love your mother and ajummas. I will be looking out for you, or more realistically, the people who love their own moms will understand what I feel. I’m not going to beg because my mom deserves the highest honor and not crumbs of your attention. But I will do everything humanly possible, with the utmost dignity, to make a wish. I wish my mother gets to meet Kim Hyun Joong.

Leader, can you make this happen?

I am,

MARIA ROSARIO B. RAGASA

maru_ragasa@yahoo.com