Ho laid to rest on good feng shui day

Gambling tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun was buried yesterday, 12 months after he died.

His remains had been kept at the Tung Wah Coffin Home in Pok Fu Lam until there was a date of good feng shui for the ritual after his funeral last July 10.

He was buried at Chiu Yuen Cemetery on Mount Davis on Hong Kong Island.

It is understood the date was selected by feng shui expert Choi Hing-wah, the daughter of late feng shui master Choi Park-lai.

It was at 10.30am that eight pallbearers moved Ho's coffin from the home to the hearse, with over 100 security guards as escorts.

It is understood Ho's HK$8 million coffin was heavier than any ordinary one as it was made of rare Phoebe zhennan - a large species of tree, up to 30 meters tall and native to Guizhou, Hubei and Sichuan provinces.

His four sons - Arnaldo Ho Yau-heng, Mario Ho Yau-kwan, Orlando Ho Yau-kai and Lawrence Ho Yau-lung - followed the coffin. Lawrence carried the portrait of the late casino king.

A cemetery ritual started after the hearse arrived at 10.45am.

Two of Ho's daughters, Pansy Ho Chiu-king and Daisy Ho Chiu-fung, plus her daughter, went to the cemetery to prepare at 10am, and Ho's fourth wife, Angela Leong On-kei, arrived 30 minutes later. Ho's second wife, Lucina Laam King-ying, and third wife Ina Chan Un-chan and eight other daughters and sons-in-law also attended the ritual.

Several Ho Tung family members are buried at Chiu Yuen Cemetery, where Ho was laid to rest next to his father, Ho Sai-kwong.

Ho's family members started leaving the cemetery at about 11.50am.

Daisy Ho said to media as she left: "Thank you. Everything was smooth."

Ho died at the age of 98 at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on May 26 last year from organ failure following a fall previously.

He was Macau's richest man with a net worth of HK$70 billion and was the only casino operator there for decades before other companies were granted gambling licenses in 2002.

At his peak, Ho had a dozen casinos and paid tax amounting to half of the Macau government's annual income.

sophie.hui@singtaonewscorp.com