Galaxy of rich and famous in final farewell to Lui

Henry Siu

Hundreds of the rich and famous gathered yesterday to attend the vigil for tycoon Lui Che-woo at the Hong Kong Buddhist Cemetery in Cape Collinson on Hong Kong Island.

Lui, founder and chairman of developer K Wah International Holdings and Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group, was honored by former and current government officials, among whom were central government liaison office head Zheng Yanxiong; Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu; former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen; and former financial secretaries Antony Leung Kam-chung and Henry Tang Ying-yen.

Developers included Wheelock boss Douglas Woo Chun-kuen and Wynn Macau chairman Allan Zeman. Centaline founder Shih Wing-ching and Insurance Authority founding chairman Moses Cheng Mo-chi were present as well.

Numerous dignitaries sent wreaths, including the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, Executive Council convener Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, basketball legend Yao Ming, actor Donnie Yen Ji-dan and Cantopop stars Andy Lau Tak-wah and Jacky Cheung Hok-yau.

The commemorative publications featured condolences from the mainland's United Front Work Department, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, as well as both Hong Kong's and Macau's liaison offices and governments to Lui's family.

The publication also listed 10 pallbearers, including former Macau chief executives Edmund Ho Hau-wah and Chui Sai-on, as well as Macau's Secretary for Economy and Finance Lee Wai-nong and Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki.

Donald Tsang and former chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor were also among the pallbearers.

Lui, a prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist, passed away in his sleep at the age of 95 on November 7.

Born in 1929 in Jiangmen, Guangdong, he did not come from wealth; he grew up in modest circumstances.

He began to build his fortune with a mining license for a quarry site on Anderson Road in Kwun Tong.

He expanded into hotel development in the 1980s, ventured into the mainland market in the early 1990s and entered Macau's gaming industry in 2002.