Children, wife of late opera star to slug it out in court next month

Children of late Cantonese opera king Tang Wing-cheung will take their mother to court next month in a dispute over family assets.

In a pre-trial review yesterday, Court of First Instance Judge William Waung Sik-ying set March 13 as the date for the hearing of Angela Tang Chui-yuk and Tang Siu-wing and their mother Hung Jin-mui.

The children are taking the legal action as executors of their father's estate.

Tang died in April 1997 at 81, with a fortune worth nearly $1 billion. His assets included the 13-storey Wing Cheung Building in Wan Chai, apartments in Parkview, Kennedy Road and Mid-Levels, about $100 million worth of antiques and jewellery, and businesses including a record company and a restaurant.

The dispute involves ownership of the estate's shares and interests in Acegrowth Development Limited. Anson Wong, for the children, said he would invite three witnesses, including a reporter, to give evidence about a 'meeting' over Madam Hung's holdings in Acegrowth.

Asked by the judge why a reporter would be invited to give evidence in the family dispute, Mr Wong explained: 'Mr Tang [the father] was a celebrity and had a very close relationship with reporters. The reporter was invited [to that meeting].'