Jockey Club chief rejects murder house
The first Chinese chief executive of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club has refused to take up his predecessor's residence, the scene of a murder 18 years ago.
Lawrence Wong Chih-kang, who took up the post this month, is staying in a hotel while the club has put the three-storey house at Lynx Hill, Deep Water Bay, up for rent at $325,000 a month. He says he is abandoning colonial tradition.
Mr Wong's predecessor, Major-General Guy Watkins, lived for 10 years in the house where Margaret Boycott, wife of the then clerk of the course for the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, was found murdered in 1978.
Mrs Boycott was alone at home on February 3 that year when she took a walk in the garden. When she went back into the house she was met by two knife-wielding robbers who stabbed her to death.
The two recent arrivals from China had seen the club flag flying outside as they travelled to work every day and decided to burgle the home. They were convicted of murder.
Fujian-born Mr Wong ran Ford Lio Ho Motor Co in Taipei before returning to the territory, where his mother lives.
The property, which overlooks Royal Hong Kong Golf Club and Deep Water Bay, is split into two apartments, but it can easily be converted into a single detached house.
The 2,635 square foot top floor apartment is on offer at $100,000 a month, while the 5,772 square foot duplex on the bottom two floors is up for rent at $225,000 a month.
The grounds include a swimming pool, private garden with sea views and a separate servants' house.
Neither the Jockey Club nor the agents Chesterton Petty were prepared to comment yesterday.
