In the Hongkong Standard newspaper:
Nina’s $10m for Chan a `trivial sum’
Adele Wong
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Chinachem sales manager Ng Shung-mo said yesterday that late tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum had told him not to worry about a “partial will” he had signed in 2006, leaving HK$10 million to a person surnamed Chan.
Ng also told the Court of First Instance on day seven of the probate hearing between rivals Chinachem Foundation and fung shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen, that Wang’s brother apparently knew of the will and had described the HK$10 million as a “trivial sum.”
According to Ng, about a week or two after he had signed a “partial will” for Wang in October 2006, he went to visit her at her home after she had been discharged from hospital.
Wang had been admitted to hospital on the same day she had asked solicitor Winfield Wong Wing-cheung and Ng to witness a document, which both contend was a “partial will” containing a specific gift of about HK$10 million.
“On that day I was to report to her [about the business situation at Chinachem] and I was concerned about [her health],” Ng said, under cross-examination by barrister Ian Mill.
He said he had asked Wang about her health, and why she needed to make a partial will, to which Wang replied, “Don’t worry so much [about it],” and asked him instead to concentrate on Chinachem’s business.
He said a visit to Wang’s brother, Dr Kung Yan-sum, after the signing had also generated a lighthearted response. “I asked [Dr Kung] `What is happening to Mrs Wang? Not long ago, she asked me to sign a partial will to give HK$10 million to someone named Chan,”‘ Ng said.
“Dr Kung said, `There is nothing wrong with her, nothing to worry about. HK$10 million is only a trivial sum.”‘
Ng admitted he did not not read the document he signed.
“When Wang asks me to sign documents, I sign without asking why,” Ng said.
“Also, a partial will is sensitive in nature, so after I signed [the document], I [merely] asked whether there was anything else for me to do there [before leaving].” It was revealed in court that in one of Ng’s draft statements prepared by Chinachem’s lawyers, and which was never officially endorsed, Ng had allegedly said he was “very surprised and shocked when I learned about [the contents of Chan's will].”
In the statement read in court, it was claimed Ng found it beyond his imagination that Wang would leave her entire Chinachem empire – her “baby” – to a fung shui master who had never played a role in her business philosophy and network, and that such a decision was “completely out of character.”
Ng had also given evidence that was contradictory to that of Wong regarding details of the signing that both men witnessed. Ng had said the document he signed in October 2006 had already been signed by Wang when he first saw it.
Wong had earlier testified that he had seen Wang sign it while Ng was present.
Ng said he had approached Wong the day after the signing to ascertain what he had signed.
“I thought about the incident [afterwards]. I was worried, and didn’t know if I had any legal responsibilities,” Ng testified.
He said Wong had assured him he had no legal responsibility.
The hearing continues today.