GETTING THE DAUGHTERS of a handful of Hong Kong’s
business elite together for a photo shoot was an idea easier
in the conception than in the execution. But after months of
e-mails and phone calls, amid the juggling of job, travel and
family commitments, the date arrived in early June at one of
city’s most chic cafes in the up-and-coming Western district.
Then came the last-minute schedule changes: One
rushed from a construction site in China, then dashed off
early to deliver a speech; another had to leave ahead of
schedule for an urgent meeting; and a third was due back in
the offi ce by 5 p.m., even though it was Friday. These are not
ladies of leisure.
But over dessert and later champagne, amid oohs and ahs
at jewelry and clothes, the women swapped stories about
their lives and work, which run from services (Winnie Chiu
heads Dorsett Hospitality, part of father David Chiu’s Far
East Consortium International; Sabrina Ho, daughter of
casino magnate Stanley Ho, is involved in the family’s hotel
business while also holding down the CEO job at Poly Auc-
tion Macau) to property (Gigi Chao is vice chairman at the
family’s Cheuk Nang Holdings) and from shipping (Sabrina
Chao chairs family-owned Wah Kwong Maritime Trans-
port) to tippling (Lili Ma, daughter of Ping An Insurance
Chairman and CEO Peter Ma, is director of Mayfair Fine
Wines). Yen Kuok, youngest off spring of Malaysian-Chinese
tycoon Robert Kuok, has online site Guiltless, which sells
secondhand luxury goods.
As is often the case among Asia’s prominent commercial
clans, a web of ties connects the group: Chiu, 36, and Sabrina
Chao, 42, are sisters-in-law; Gigi Chao, 37, and Sabrina Chao
are cousins; Sabrina Ho Chiu Yeng, 25, is besties with Chiu’s
youngest sister and has known Yen Kuok, 26, since child-
hood; and Ma, 34, is friends with another of Chiu’s sisters.
But despite the close links, the women agreed that given
their busy careers and frenetic travel schedules, getting to-
gether was a rare treat. —Mary E. ScottWhat’s On
Their Plates
36 | FORBES ASIA JULY 2016
PHOTOGRAPHED IN HONG KONG BY VIRGILE SIMON BERTRAND
AT COBO HOUSE BY 2AM:DESSERTBAR
STYLIST: RUTH DU CANN; HAIR AND MAKEUP: GLOOMY KWOK, HOBE WONG, GARY CHUNG