Ex-ATV boss Deacon Chiu wanted to fork out cash for staff, son says
Deacon Chiu Te-ken's son tells father's funeral that industry veteran felt for unpaid workers
Former ATV owner Deacon Chiu Te-ken considered making a personal donation to staff of the beleaguered broadcaster who went without pay at Christmas, the late tycoon's son said at his funeral yesterday.
Chiu, who died on March 17 at the age of 90, chose not to make the donation because of legal and publicity concerns, his son David told reporters.
"But this is what my father was like, always very generous and passionate about Hong Kong's affairs and his former colleagues," David said.
Chiu, an entertainment industry veteran who founded the Far East Group, died at Yan Chai Hospital in Tsuen Wan after being found unconscious at his villa in Ting Kau.
Tycoons, artists and political heavyweights gathered at a North Point funeral parlour to say farewell to a man hailed as a "Hong Kong legend". They included former chief executives Tung Chee-hwa and Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.
In a speech, Tung lauded Chiu as a prime example of the city's entrepreneurial spirit, building his business from the bottom up after arriving alone from Shanghai in 1950.