Wong to use resources to build new empire
IN THE fashion of his own indomitable comic-strip heroes, the former chairman of Jademan Holdings, Mr Tony Wong Chun-loong is back in the thick of the action again.
Having been released from Stanley Prison last Wednesday, after serving 18 months of a two-and-a-half-year sentence, a noticeably slimmer Mr Wong plans to focus on the remnants of his business empire.
According to close friends, Mr Wong will set up a new firm rather than stay with Jademan ''To set up a comic production company may not cost too much; it depends on the size,'' said one confidant.
He added that Mr Wong's financial resources were more than enough to build another comic production house, apart from his existing shareholdings in Jademan. ''We will help him at all costs,'' he said.
Friends of Mr Wong said that, during his time in jail, he found time to work on his cartoon characters, drawing in colour for the first time. He spent much of his time reading, but prison rules prohibited comic books.
He held about 39 per cent stake in Jademan Holdings - the newspaper and publishing group he founded 20 years ago - before he was jailed for conspiracy to defraud the company. However, his shares are under mortgage and in the hands of Sing Tao Holdings chairman Ms Sally Aw Sian.
About 20 to 30 staff - maybe more in future - from the comic section of Jademan Holdings are to leave the company, probably to rejoin Mr Wong.
Jademan's chief comic writer, Mr Hui King-sum, and production controllers Mr Allan Wan and Mr Liu Shui-yin are leaving at the end of this month.
As one-third of the staff will leave the company, Jademan has deployed a strategic plan to get rid of Mr Wong's influence over the company.
One of the steps is a change in the firm's name to Cultural Communications in May.
Since the beginning of this month, the Jademan management has asked senior comic production staff to state whether they are willing to stay.
Despite his jailing, Mr Wong, 43, is still seen as a hero by young people in the territory. Drawing under the pen-name Jademan, he created the character of Siu Lau Man (Little Hooligan), a street gangster with a heart of gold.
