Blazing tower turns spotlight on infamous history featuring Sai Kung and “Little Sweetie”

_{Photo: Internet}

The ChinaChemTower fire in Central is a reminder that Sai Kung has a ChinaChem history. The main buildings in town were built by CC scion Teddy Wang Teh-huei, who’s been missing for 35 years. Teddy constructed hundreds of multi-storey buildings, but often neglected to pay the contractors. He was kidnapped in 1983 and chained to a bed for eight days until his wife, Nina, paid a ransom of $33 million. Seven years later Teddy was abducted again. The kidnappers demanded $60 million. Nina paid an installment of $34 million, but her husband was never seen again. Police nabbed several of the abductors who said Teddy was thrown into the sea from a sampan. His body was never found and he was declared legally dead in 1999.

^{Teddy Wang}

The six main buildings with 264 residences in Sai Kung’s town centre were built by ChinaChem starting in 1987 – Sai Kung Town Centre is one of them. In recent years the group has also been responsible for Whitesands Cove, a luxury residential project in Hebe Haven as well as a low-density housing project in Ho Chung, approved for construction in 2021.

^{Whitesands Cove, Sai Kung Photo: ChinaChem}

Nina Wang was so tight with money she refused to eat anything other than McDonald’s. At the time of her death her net worth was estimated at US$4.2 billion; she was Asia’s richest woman. A court battle over Teddy and Nina’s assets went on for decades after their deaths. Three wills were in circulation, the first splitting assets between Nina and Teddy’s father Wang Din-shin. A second will, allegedly made after Teddy discovered Nina was having an affair gave all the assets, to his father. A third will, witnessed by the family butler, ceded the entire estate to Nina. A High Court judge later declared this a forgery. Nina appealed but lost. She was charged with forgery and released on bail. in 2002 the Court of Final Appeal gave control of the multi-billion ChinaChem Group back to Nina.

^{Nina Wang, Asia’s richest woman}

Shipping tycoon Cecil Chao paid tribute to Nina, “In Little Sweetie (Nina’s nickname) you just could not feel the arrogance at all of a billionaire, she did not like to be overly in the spotlight, she was a very humble person, very low key and also very astute.”

The court battle over Nina’s assets was interminable. Her fengshui consultant and alleged lover, Tony Chan Chun-chuen, produced a will but a court threw out saying it was forged. Finally, the court awarded Nina’s entire estate to the ChinaChem Charitable Foundation.

^{Sai Kung Town Centre was built by ChinaChem in late 1980s Photo: Google Maps}

Today ChinaChem is back in the headlines after the Central fire. Who now is in charge? Board of directors: Peter Brien, chairman and independent non-executive director, Andy Cheung CEO, Wong Hung Han COO, Ricky Tsang CFO and non-executive directors Alvin Wong, Victor Jong and Ted Osborn.