Hong Kong-Macao entrepreneur Stanley Ho Hung-sun passed away in Hong Kong on Tuesday afternoon at the age of 98, his family announced.
Ho died at around 1:00 pm local time at Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, his daughter Pansy Ho Chiu-king said at a media briefing outside the hospital.
Born in Hong Kong in November, 1921, Ho served as a member of the Standing Committee of the ninth to 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Stanley Ho retired from his positions as chairman of Macao's gaming operator SJM Holdings in June 2018.
Macao-based tycoon and collector Stanley Ho Hung-sun donates horse-head statue back to Beijing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
A red bronze horse-head statue was donated back by Ho Hung-sun and handed over to the National Cultural Heritage Administration in Beijing in November.
The statue appeared in the National Museum of China and joined a temporary exhibition on cultural relics that have been returned from overseas since 1949.
The newly returned horse-head red bronze statue was one of 12 decorative taps - in the form of 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs - which were set for a foundation in Xiyang Lou area (or Western Mansions), a group of Baroque architecture in the Old Summer Palace.
Ho spent HK$ 69.1 million ($8.8 million) to buy the statue during an auction in September 2007 and decided to donate it back to the mainland on 20th anniversary of Macao's return to China on Dec 20.
The pig-head statue was returned by Stanley Ho Hung-sun in 2003. [Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily]
In 2003, Ho also donated the pig-head statue of the Old Summer Palace to the mainland. It is also being displayed at the National Museum of China at the same exhibition.
