Nina Wang's family faces eviction: From luxury mansion to cramped Villa Cecil Amid Estate controversy

The younger brother of late tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum was relocated to Villa Cecil by Cheuk Nang Holdings’ founder after being ousted from the Chinachem Group’s “luxury employee dorm” at Vista Mount Davis.

East Week uncovered, following months of investigation, that Kung Yan-sum, along with his sister Molly Gong and wife Liu Yuan-chun, transitioned from a lavish 2,000-square-foot seaside mansion to a cramped “cell-like” 700-square-foot unit, with assistance from Cecil Chao Sze-Tsung.

Nina Wang, once Asia’s richest woman and the former chairwoman of Chinachem Group, passed away from ovarian cancer at the age of 69 in April 2007.

The HK$141 billion estate case of the late chairwoman was resolved on January 6, with former Legislative Council president Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, former Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, and former Baptist University council chairman Cheng Yan-kee appointed by Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok to oversee the estate.

This follows a court ruling declaring the Chinachem Charitable Foundation, led by Kung and other family members, ineligible to manage Wang’s estate.

"My sister’s wish is to donate the entire estate to the country,” Kung said: “It is now managed by the Hong Kong government, which represents Beijing. In Buddhist terms, this is a ‘positive outcome’ that honors my sister.”

Regarding the appointed overseers, he said: “I’m not familiar with these three persons. I only know their names but we don’t know each other. Since they are appointed by the government, I believe their views align with the country, so how they operate Chinachem does not matter to me.”

In stark contrast to the mansion provided by Chinachem Group, Kung’s new home in Pok Fu Lam occupies a lower floor, with all windows facing the foundation of a building across a narrow alley, offering no view and creating a claustrophobic atmosphere.

While Kung acknowledged that the current unit “is affordable in terms of rent,” he declined to disclose the exact amount.

East Week found that similar units at Villa Cecil rent for about HK$27,000. “The people at Chinachem are incredibly heartless.

We are all over eighty years old and don’t want the hassle of moving,” he said.

“We’ve lived at [Vista Mount Davis] for so long that we asked if we could continue living there by renting at market rates, but they firmly refused and demanded we move out within two months.”

After being dismissed by Chinachem in 2019, Kung, along with his wife and two sisters, lost their employee benefits and were compelled to vacate the company’s “luxury employee dorm” at Vista Mount Davis.

The family’s efforts to reclaim their units and parking spaces were unsuccessful, leading to their eviction in November 2024 by a Lands Tribunal order.

Kung revealed that his sister Molly is more familiar with Cecil Chao, who initially arranged for them to stay at Villa Cecil. Molly noted the longstanding friendship between the Kung and Chao families, which originated from her elder sister Nina Wang and her husband Teddy Wang Teh-huei.

(Cheng Wong)