Sabrina Ho

SABRINA HO'S BIG PLANS

The eldest daughter of Stanley Ho and Angela Leong tells us
how she balances business, philanthropy and culture at the
tender age of 26.

Sabrina Ho. Photo: Dino Busch

Sabrina Ho is sipping a hot chocolate at Mercedes Me, which sits at
the base of a building her mother owns. Teetering in high heels,
dressed in the latest ensemble from Céline, she looks nothing like the
profile picture sent to us by Bellissima Italia, the Italian festival held in
Hong Kong and Macau, which she co-chairs. The booklet sent to us by
the organisers details the upcoming events and festivities, and reveals
a portrait and passage by Sabrina Ho. In that image, she looks gravely
sombre in a business suit with her hair pulled back. Very ladylike and
proper.

Even before we meet, I know of the young lady thanks to her famed
family. Her father is casino mogul Stanley Ho, and her mother Angela
Leong is one of the members of the Legislative Council and the
director of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, who also heads various
businesses. Sabrina, the couple’s eldest daughter, has a Bachelor of
Arts degree from the University of Hong Kong and is currently a
project manager for two upcoming hotels that are to be built in Macau
– the Palazzo Versace and the first property under Karl Lagerfeld
Hotels & Resorts. In the meantime, she also manages two boutique
hotels in Hong Kong and Macau, and she’s partnered with a Hong
Kong listed company, Poly Auction (Hong Kong). The auction house
specialises in high-end jewellery and paintings, and revenues hover
around the HK$200 million mark. She established Poly Auction
Macau in 2015, holding the position of director and CEO, and earlier
this year she established Chiu Yeng Culture Limited. Phew. And we
haven’t even covered the roster of awards and charities and several
boards of which she’s a part. Did we mention she’s just 26?

Within minutes of our meeting, she puts us all at ease, nothing like the
image portrayed in the pamphlet – or by the paparazzi. Her elfin smile
and valley-girl intonations are a constant reminder throughout the
chat of how painfully young she still is, especially for someone whose
CV is already a few pages long. But she won’t let inexperience stand in
her way: “I don’t do just one thing, I am involved with multiple
projects, titles, roles and responsibilities. I always want to do
something that hasn’t been done before.”

Let’s start with her first chat with Prestige.

Your long curriculum vitae states so very many titles.
How do you see yourself?

I established Chiu Yeng Culture in 2016. I am the managing director,
and Chiu Yeng Culture is one of the main sponsors of the charity
premiere of Inferno with Tom Hanks, a major event on Bellissima
Italia’s calendar this year. But that’s not all I do – I see myself as a
multi-tasker. I’m part of a group in Macau where I offer my
suggestions and recommendations on how to develop culture and
business. So in future, if people want to develop a project or get
government funding, or if you are an entrepreneur and you want
money from the government, our group decides which direction we
should go in. We think about what kind of policies we have to
encourage younger entrepreneurs. We don’t want it to be a one-way
thing, we want to see the long term – are there consumers for this
project, will they be able to sustain it, keep the business going? Those
are the issues we discuss.

What are you working on currently?

For the past few months I’ve been working a lot in Macau, so I’m
constantly jetting to and fro, since my office is in Central and I mostly
live here. In Hong Kong, I’ve been working on real-estate projects. We
have a lot of hotels coming up, especially a big one in the centre of Lan
Kwai Fong – that’s a huge project. The Karl Lagerfeld Hotel and
Palazzo Versace in Macau are in development. Everyone is all too
familiar with my father’s business, but my mother’s side – we are into
developing real estate and that’s what my future is aimed at.

Where is home for you?

I go back and forth from Hong Kong and Macau weekly. All my family
is linked to Macau; we have that Portuguese gene in us. I grew up in
Hong Kong and went to boarding school in London, but home is Hong
Kong and Macau.

Sabrina Ho speaking at the "Y Show" opening ceremony

What do you like to do for fun?

I love fashion. I was a debutante in Europe, and Chopard made me my
own tiara named after me – I was the first Asian ever to be given my
own namesake tiara!

How did you get involved with Bellissima Italia?

They chose me. I’ve been to Italy several times of course and I really
love everything about it; the arts, culture, architecture – it’s all very
unique and historical. And of course, the fashion. The brands I wear all
stem back to Italy, be it Gucci, Prada, Armani, Loro Piana. And the
food – I mean, come on.

Why did they want to work with you?

Originally, I think they found me because of the Versace hotel project
that I’ve been working on. And my art background and my cultural
development background. When I was first asked to be co-vice chair, it
was an easy yes because I already like so many aspects of Italy. One of
the projects I’m excited about is bringing amazing art from Italy to
Hong Kong and Macau so that everyone can see it. Great art should be
seen by all, not just a few.

Bellisima Italia is also a celebration of the Italian lifestyle,
which they say is very traditional on one hand, and yet
modern on the other. How do you see yourself in
that aspect?

I’m a mix of both. I live with my family; my family is very important to
me. I’m very traditional in that aspect. I am very respectful to my
elders. I get up and greet them. I am never disrespectful, like I’ll never
be casual and drink with them or misbehave or use bad language. I
wasn’t brought up that way. On the other hand, I am in charge of a lot
of projects, I travel constantly for work by myself, I just go for it, I’m
ambitious – that’s all very modern.

Who would you say you are closest to in the family?

Apart from my mom, my sister Alice is my favourite person. She’s
super cute. She just came back from studying abroad and we are
together a lot. We got these knitted blankets in the shape of a mermaid
tail, and we were lying around watching movies over the weekend.
Family is important to me. You know when you have a big family, your
favourite person changes – so at the moment, it’s Alice!

What’s been a great piece of advice you got from your father,
Stanley Ho?

Do not be afraid to help other people even though you know it’s a
scam. Let me explain. Imagine the scammer – they are scamming
because they need the money, they are desperate too. So if you do
charity and 80 percent goes to real people who genuinely need help
and 20 percent is a scam, then write it off. You’re still helping people. I
do a lot of charity work, I’m involved with Hong Kong Academy for
Performing Arts, Unicef ... I love animal charities – I have two of the
cutest dogs in the world. Sometimes when I give money my friends ask
me, what if it’s a fake charity? But if it isn’t, I’m helping people. Why
deprive the majority of the good for some of the bad?

How do you deal with the tabloids?

At the moment, I feel invincible. When the papers attack you – well,
when you’re younger it upsets you a lot more. When you grow up, you
don’t actually give a ... well, let me put it this way. You are focusing on
work. You don’t actually have time to care about what is being said

about you by people who don’t know you. Now, I don’t care what they
write, I’m busy focused on work.

Who is your role model?

Angelina Jolie. She has done so much good work, I don’t know where
to begin. She’s been a teacher, she works with the United Nations. I
admire people who are committed to their work but then also do so
much more. They don’t have to – but they do. They go beyond the
comfort zone. I admire those people.