A real estate tycoon in Hong Kong has offered a $63-million (500 million Hong Kong dollars) “marriage bounty” to any man who can convince the magnate’s lesbian daughter to marry him.
Cecil Chao Sze-tsung, 76, announced the reward after reports surfaced his 33-year-old daughter, Gigi, married her same-sex partner earlier this year.
Chao tells the South China Morning Post Wednesday that reports about his daughter's marriage are "false." He said he is eager for his daughter to marry any man who is able to win her heart.
"I don't mind whether he is rich or poor. The important thing is that he is generous and kind-hearted," he told the paper.
Chao, who owns a property development company called Cheuk Nang and reportedly lives an extravagant playboy lifestyle, said he hoped to help the successful husband launch his own business. He said the prize money would be "an inducement to attract someone who has the talent but not the capital to start his own business".
But it seems unlikely Chao’s daughter will be interested. The Morning Post reports that Gigi and her girlfriend of seven years, Sean Eav, eloped in April to France, where they were married.
Same-sex marriages are not recognized in Hong Kong; in fact, homosexuality was only decriminalized in 1991. While some surveys suggest Hong Kong is among the more accepting regions in Asia for gay people, many in the country still view homosexuality with unease.
Gigi, who is a director in her father’s company, keeps a Facebook page that contains a number of photos of herself with Eav. In status updates posted in the last 24 hours, she seems perplexed to have been bombarded with new Friend requests and new followers on her Twitter account, which she hasn’t used since July.
