Maria Luisa Leitao: Stanley Ho was a caring man
27 May – TV personality Maria Luisa Leitao recently expressed her sadness over the passing of billionaire Stanley Ho, known as the father of China's modern gambling.
As reported on Mingpao, the "Telling Maria" host who spoke about the news of his death, stated that she used to be quite close to the Ho family due to the fact that the casino tycoon married her aunt, Clementina Leitao.
"When I was a child, I would go to the Ho family mansion every Christmas and New Year's Day to celebrate with them. I even called him Uncle Stanley. But after my aunt died, there was less opportunity to meet and contact each other, though I still cared about his well-being," she said.
Maria admitted that the billionaire really took good care of her family, and even helped her find work when her own father died to ensure that the family is settled.
"He is very considerate towards us," she added.
Although they lost contact for a while, Maria said that she was given the chance to meet Ho while she worked as a reporter for "Focus On Focus".
"I was asked to interview him once. I told him I was [my father's] daughter because we haven't seen each other for a while. He was surprised and told me, 'You're a big girl now!'," she said.
Stanley Ho, founder of current Macau operator SJM Holdings Ltd, passed away on 26 May at the age of 98. He is survived by 14 children from four wives.
(Photo Source: ST Headline)
