Meeting a Young Lad Named Ke Huy Quan

Paul with Academy Award Winer Ky Huy Quan.

My career with Shangri-La Hotel Singapore was successful and most rewarding. There were many accomplishments and many learning experiences, but most of all, the rewards were the many people that I met and served.

One other fond memory to share was meeting a humble young lad named Ke Huy Quan, who starred as the young side kick, Short Round, to Harrison Ford in the block buster movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Traveling with his mother, he was in Singapore to promote the movie at the time. It was such a pleasure to have Ke as a guest at the Shangri-La.

While he was already a Hollywood headliner at a tender age, Ke was humble and polite. He was courteous, without expectations nor demands, and genuinely appreciative of his life so far. His mother told me that they were lucky to leave their home in war-torn Vietnam to Hong Kong as refugees before finally settling down in America. I invited him to dinner and his reply was, "Yes, but nothing fancy or expensive please." He cared about others. The movie world of Hollywood was not originally in his plans, but Ke stumbled into an audition for the movie and a star was born.

Young Ke Huy Quan was a natural in front of the camera.

He had a very successful screen test and was very well-liked by Harrision Ford and Director Steven Spielberg. As a matter of fact, we learned that his screen test involved a scene where he and Harrison Ford were playing poker. In the scene, Ke accuses Harrison Ford of cheating with an extra card up his sleeve. As the story goes, Steven Spielberg was so impressed with the screen test that he decided to include this scene in the movie.

Throughout his stay, he constantly wore his baseball cap which was part of his wardrobe from the movie. He treasured that cap. I learned a lot about life from this young boy, especially about being humble and caring for others. We became friends during his stay at the Shangri-La. Today, Ke resides in Los Angeles and continues to work in Hollywood. Ke is one of two actors of Asian descent to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the other being Haing S. Ngor in 1985, and is the first Vietnam-born actor to win an Academy Award.