HONG KONG – Dozens of government officials, politicians, celebrities and business tycoons bid their final farewell to the late Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung Sun today at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point.

The pallbearers included Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, former Macau chief executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah and Central People’s Government Liaison Office in Hong Kong  Luo Huining. Edmund Ho attended the funeral in his capacity as a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Former Hong Kong chief executives Leung Chun-ying and Donald Tsang Yam-kuen were also among those who attended the funeral. 

 A number of current and former national leaders also sent funeral wreaths, including President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, Vice Premier Han Zheng, former prime ministers Zhu Rongji and Wen Jiabao,and Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) Director Xia Baolong.

 In his eulogy, Tung praised Ho as an entrepreneur and philanthropist who "loved the country, Hong Kong and Macau", and thanked him for the contributions he had made over the years.

A former vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, Tsui Lap-chee, also expressed his gratitude to the casino magnate for his commitment to improving the quality of Hong Kong’s universities.

One of Ho's sons, Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, thanked everybody who attended the funeral, saying his father would be dearly missed.

Ho died on May 26 in Hong Kong at the age of 98. He will be buried at a private cemetery on Mount Davis.

- RTHK, MPD