By Deby Jo Ferguson
Staff Writer
Koo Lim, 51, was born in Cambodia in 1972. He came to the United States in 1979 with his family as sponsored refugees from the Vietnam War.
“Myself, parents and siblings were in a concentration camp four years and one year in a refugee camp until we were sponsored through Philadelphia where we went to live,” Koo said.
He grew up in Philadelphia where he got his education. “I, along with my family, became American citizens in 1985. It was the proudest day of my life,” he said.
After finishing his education it was time to test the waters and find out just where he wanted to be in life.
“I traveled around the East Coast staying in various areas, then headed south and stayed in Waynesville, N.C. with my sister. I traveled to Blue Ridge, Ga. and fell in love with the whole area, but for some reason I was just drawn to Hiawassee. Something just called me there and I knew some day that was where I wanted to be,” Koo said.
Koo met his wife, Noi when he was living with his sister in Waynesville. They started dating in 1996. “Noi moved to Murphy and as I worked with my brother at the New Happy Gardens there we were still dating and got married in 1999.”
We always talked about opening a business of our own in Towns County because she loved it there, too.”
They rented the building in the mini mall where Mary’s Southern Grill is now at the corner intersection of GA 17.
“It was called Imperial Palace. That’s where we started our life working together,” Koo said.
Koo and Noi had their son, Alex in 2002 while still running the business, then his daughter Mar was born in 2004. “Around that time we were presented the opportunity to buy the location we are at now,” he said. “This was the old Burger King building which only stayed open about a year. We bought the location in 2004 and opened up Jan. 20, 2005. We were so proud and put our life savings into it,” Koo said.
“Once again this year we’re going to invest our life savings into remodeling the location we’ve been in 19 years at Asiano. We are going to update the building and we feel great about it,” he added.
The restaurant will be closed April 6-16, then will reopen the 17th. The remodel will include the closing of the hibachi table and will instead have a casual cocktail lounge which will open May 1.
“We raised our children at the restaurant and looking back we wouldn’t change anything — we loved it. We worked hard, but we had a lot of family time together. We raised our kids here and I had a lot of time with them and my wife. You got to work somewhere, you can make it anywhere, but family is the best. We love the community, the people and our family. Our kids are here with us and they are what we live for,” Koo said.
“Sometimes people don’t know how much it means to have family with you but after growing up in the concentration camp you learn to cherish life and family a lot more,” he added.
Some talk about how our younger generation doesn’t appreciate what they have.
“The younger generation probably don’t appreciate the things they have in America, but it’s not their fault, it’s our fault as parents. We like to spoil our kids with things because we don’t want them to go through the hard times we went through. My wife and I blame ourselves for spoiling our kids with things but we spoiled them with love too and that’s how we as parents need to spoil our kids is with love.”
“My family and I love America and are proud to be citizens of this country. We honor our heritage, but America is our home. It’s the place where we live, love and cherish,” Koo added.
Koo lived the trauma of the concentration experience first-hand when his uncle was murdered there for stealing food to feed his family.
“Hardships can be anything. I learned this in concentration camp with my family. I didn’t have clothes to wear until I was 7 or 8 years old. We went to sleep hungry and woke up hungry. No food, just survival. Families got killed there just trying to get food to eat and I still have family that we have no idea if they made it or not,” he said.
“Our country’s not perfect, but God made us all and he made us different. All this racial tension is just crazy,” he said. “America was made by the hard work of people from many nations and all races had a hand in building it.”
“At the end of the day we all have one color — red. It’s the blood in our body and it’s color is all the same. I lived it, I saw it and there’s not bad cultures but there are bad people. I have learned that God made all the cultures and God don’t make mistakes,” Koo concluded.
“We live in the greatest place on earth and no money can buy what our forefathers made for us. No, our country’s not perfect, but God made us all and he made us different. All this racial tension is just crazy. The only way to stop it is to stop talking about it. America was made by the hard work of all nations, the slaves, blacks, Asians, Polish, etc. All races had a hand in building this great nation so we should honor every race. I taught my son to be color blind and love everyone,” Koo said.
“You go through life in a concentration camp and you appreciate life. At the end of the day we all have one color — red. It’s the blood in our body and it’s color is all the same. I lived it, I saw it and there’s not bad cultures, but there’s bad people. I have learned from the cultures, not the people. God made all the cultures and God don’t make mistakes,” Koo said.
“My family has been blessed and the American dream is not dead. It’s the land of opportunity. We’ve worked hard and we are proud of earning it. The dream is there so don’t stop. Keep on the right path it will happen so don’t lose your dream,” Koo concluded.