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July 12, 2009
Clash over will
<a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090712/tonychan-ap.jpg"><img src="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090712/tonychan-ap.jpg"></a>
The document that the dead tycoon's lover, Mr Tony Chan Chun Chuen (centre), says leaves him all the money is actually a 'fengshui will' designed to prolong her life. -- PHOTO: AP
HONG KONG - TWO fengshui masters have crossed swords over the validity of tycoon Nina Wang's will in the continuing court battle over her estimated US$4.2 billion (S$6.1 billion) estate.
The document that the dead tycoon's lover, Mr Tony Chan Chun Chuen, says leaves him all the money is actually a 'fengshui will' designed to prolong her life, said one expert.
Fengshui master Szeto Shek Chuen, better known as Szeto Fa Ching, said this when called to the stand on Friday by Chinachem Charitable Foundation, which is contesting Mr Chan's claim.
But another fengshui practitioner, Mr Joseph Yu, who testified for Mr Chan, later told reporters outside the court that he had never heard of such a thing as a 'fengshui will'.
Mrs Wang died of ovarian cancer in April 2007 at age 69. Mr Chan claims that she wrote a will in 2006 leaving her entire estate to him, after a 15-year affair that began in 1992 when Mrs Wang was 55 and he was 32.
The foundation insists that the rightful will is an earlier one that she drew up in 2002 that leaves the fortune to the charity. Its lawyers have argued that Mr Chan took advantage of Mrs Wang's declining health and seduced her with promises that he could use fengshui to make her well.
Mr Szeto told the court that drafting a fengshui will would be apt when a person was facing the possibility of death and rebirth. Each ritual normally lasts for 49 days, he said. Clients ask for God's help, not necessarily in the will, but with chanting or silent readings by fengshui masters.
Mr Szeto said that he believed the 2006 document to be a fengshui will because it contains the expression 'God's help', which is common in such wills.
But Mr Szeto's credentials came in for questioning by Mr Edward Chan, counsel for Mr Chan. He asked if parts of his professional report were plagiarised from the Internet, including a website from a Taiwanese monastery.Mr Szeto did admit that he copied contents from websites which he felt were accurate, the Ming Pao Daily News reported.
Mr Tony Chan himself has told the court he is not a fengshui master, although he has been described as one and had run a fengshui school.
Additional information from AFP, China Daily/Asia News Network
Read the full story in the Sunday Times.
July 12, 2009
Clash over will
<a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090712/tonychan-ap.jpg"><img src="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090712/tonychan-ap.jpg"></a>
The document that the dead tycoon's lover, Mr Tony Chan Chun Chuen (centre), says leaves him all the money is actually a 'fengshui will' designed to prolong her life. -- PHOTO: AP
HONG KONG - TWO fengshui masters have crossed swords over the validity of tycoon Nina Wang's will in the continuing court battle over her estimated US$4.2 billion (S$6.1 billion) estate.
The document that the dead tycoon's lover, Mr Tony Chan Chun Chuen, says leaves him all the money is actually a 'fengshui will' designed to prolong her life, said one expert.
Fengshui master Szeto Shek Chuen, better known as Szeto Fa Ching, said this when called to the stand on Friday by Chinachem Charitable Foundation, which is contesting Mr Chan's claim.
But another fengshui practitioner, Mr Joseph Yu, who testified for Mr Chan, later told reporters outside the court that he had never heard of such a thing as a 'fengshui will'.
Mrs Wang died of ovarian cancer in April 2007 at age 69. Mr Chan claims that she wrote a will in 2006 leaving her entire estate to him, after a 15-year affair that began in 1992 when Mrs Wang was 55 and he was 32.
The foundation insists that the rightful will is an earlier one that she drew up in 2002 that leaves the fortune to the charity. Its lawyers have argued that Mr Chan took advantage of Mrs Wang's declining health and seduced her with promises that he could use fengshui to make her well.
Mr Szeto told the court that drafting a fengshui will would be apt when a person was facing the possibility of death and rebirth. Each ritual normally lasts for 49 days, he said. Clients ask for God's help, not necessarily in the will, but with chanting or silent readings by fengshui masters.
Mr Szeto said that he believed the 2006 document to be a fengshui will because it contains the expression 'God's help', which is common in such wills.
But Mr Szeto's credentials came in for questioning by Mr Edward Chan, counsel for Mr Chan. He asked if parts of his professional report were plagiarised from the Internet, including a website from a Taiwanese monastery.Mr Szeto did admit that he copied contents from websites which he felt were accurate, the Ming Pao Daily News reported.
Mr Tony Chan himself has told the court he is not a fengshui master, although he has been described as one and had run a fengshui school.
Additional information from AFP, China Daily/Asia News Network
Read the full story in the Sunday Times.
