Standing room only for listing showdown
The press pack was in a feeding frenzy yesterday morning as lawyers for Winnie Ho Yuen-ki, the estranged sister of SJM Holdings chairman Stanley Ho Hung-sun, made their way to the High Court to argue their case for a judicial review against the casino firm's listing.
Ms Ho's legal team showed up carrying two cardboard boxes and three shopping bags full of documents related to their case, delivering them to a bewigged Martin Lee Chu-ming as he prepared himself at his counsel's podium before a standing-room-only courtroom.
One of the key points of objection to the listing presented by Mr Lee was that, because SJM is a casino operator, its listing would be 'contrary to the public interest' as gambling is illegal in Hong Kong (unless it is run by the Jockey Club).
That prompted Mr Justice Anselmo Reyes to ask: 'Are you saying that Galaxy is against the public interest?' Then he added: 'It is the judge who determines what is in the public interest.'
Discussion during the hour-long hearing ran from the finer points of English translations of Portuguese judgments from the courts of Macau ('We are not here to decide Macanese law,' said the judge) to more light-hearted banter and a few casino metaphors. Mr Justice Reyes at one point asked Mr Lee if he wanted to 'gamble' on a point of legal assertion, to which he replied: 'No, we shouldn't gamble ... it's against the public interest.'