Tell-all conference by tycoon one for the ages let alone new year
- Disclosures by Joseph Lau of loves, hates and pet peeves of his life are funnier than most comedies and more salacious than worst tabloids
Tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung has given the local media the best present for the new year. His press conference on Tuesday was truly one for the ages, and what I wouldn’t have given to have been there in person!
It was funnier than most local comedies, and more salacious than the worst tabloids. The 71-year-old billionaire was completely open about his fabled love life.
In fact, he called the meeting with the press precisely because people questioned the veracity of his “clarification” notice released to leading news groups last week, in which he denied he was back with an old flame.
Rather he accused her of being behind the rumour following a photographed incident of the two walking together at a shopping centre owned by Lau.
All in all, Lau has provided a walk down memory lane for many Hong Kong people who have all shared a collective memory about a man never far from the tabloid pages over the decades. Perhaps best of all, he has now denied his widely rumoured predilections for, as he puts it, “spring rolls, ping pongs, tennis balls and rugby balls”. It’s all untrue. This being a family newspaper, I can’t go into details.
Meanwhile, Lau said The ONE in Tsim Sha Tsui, which is the city’s tallest retail complex, was not named after the alleged love of his life who is not his current wife. He said his son from his first wife, Lau Ming-wai, a businessman and former lecturer at Harvard Law School, came up with the name independently.
Just for this and much more, Lau has already given us the best infotainment story unlikely to be beaten for the rest of the year. It’s certainly juicier than anything Harry and Meghan could come up with.
I am glad the old spirit of Hong Kong is back. But it has also developed into a war of words between two of the city’s high-profile personalities.
Lau has slammed Stephen Shiu Yeuk-yuen for the latter’s coverage on his widely followed YouTube channel.
He has promised not to threaten Shiu, 73, with libel lawsuits, even though he said he knew plenty of good lawyers in Taiwan where Shiu – who openly supported the anti-government protests in 2019 – has relocated.
He also said he wouldn’t send “some people to visit him at home”, whatever that meant.
But reporters at the conference were urged to tell Shiu – who is arguably the city’s most influential pro-democracy vlogger – to shut up about Lau’s private life.
Shiu, of course, has since offered his own rebuttal in his channel.
I don’t know about these two elderly people. Some dignity, please. Both have achieved much in life, and if not widely respected, are at least well-known.
To be fair, Lau was the one who put out his press release, so it was right and perfectly legitimate for Shiu to analyse the whole thing, especially given Lau’s high social profile.
On the other hand, Shiu switched the discussion to Lau’s children and the likely lifelong psychological damage they might suffer as a result of his behaviour. That was a blow well below the belt.
One point he kept going on about was how unhealthy it was for the children that Lau bought them some of the world’s most expensive diamonds and sapphires when they were just toddlers.
“The world’s richest people like Elon Musk and Warren Buffett would never do that; only a Chinese like Lau would,” Shiu said.
As for Shiu’s own adult son, who also sometimes features in local tabloids, maybe Shiu Snr is not in the best position to talk.
However, I have met Lau Ming-wai several times and admired him. He is extremely grounded, well-mannered and smart, and is a PhD expert on tort law, having published an authoritative textbook on the arcane subject.
Who has the more grounded children? You be the judge.
