30 plastic crowns at HK$3,000 a pop: Hong Kong media tycoon Ricky Wong recalls time at ATV in libel hearing
Media tycoon Ricky Wong Wai-kay told a court this morning that his 12 days running ATV in 2008 included dealing with an order for 30 plastic crowns costing HK$3,000 each for the Miss Asia beauty contest, and spending HK$10,000 to hire a snake for a show.
Media tycoon Ricky Wong Wai-kay told a court this morning that his 12 days running ATV in 2008 included dealing with an order for 30 plastic crowns costing HK$3,000 each for the Miss Asia beauty contest, and spending HK$10,000 to hire a snake for a show.
Wong was testifying in a libel case he brought against ATV and its former executive director James Shing Pan-yu for claiming he stole financial information during his time there.
The Hong Kong Television Network chief was recalling some of the documents he handled during his brief tenure.
READ MORE: Hong Kong entrepreneur Ricky Wong says ATV and former executive defamed him by claiming he stole information ahead of licence bid
“I remember I asked all production to stop at that time as I found a claim for 30 plastic crowns at HK$3,000 each for the Miss Asia Beauty Contest, and HK$10,000 for a snake,” Wong told the High Court. “Those accounts were very unreasonable.”
“Those plastic crowns with beads were just like toys in Ap Liu Street. They were only worth a few dollars each,” he recalled. “But they were claimed for HK$3,000 each. It was very unreasonable, so I still remember it.”
He was also told to review the accounts in the news department.
“At that time the station was losing HK$1 million a day. I was the CEO of the station and I had to report to the chairman. I had to find ways to stop the station from losing money,” Wong said.