Chan Hoi-wan has for years been known as the former entertainment reporter who became the wife of mogul Joseph Lau. Now at the helm of Chinese Estates — the US$1 billion property company that Lau founded — she is ignoring skeptics of her ability and instead draws lessons from her husband.

“There have always been critical voices,” Chan said in a rare interview with Bloomberg. “They are not the people I should care about.”

The former journalist with Apple Daily, who wrote under the pen name “Kimbee,” was appointed chief executive of Chinese Estates last month, replacing her sister. Another sister of hers remains a company director.

Chan described the COVID-19 pandemic as her biggest challenge as people refrained from shopping. The property firm was under pressure to cut rents and her team was busy looking for ways to attract customers, she said in the interview.

Lau had ceased to be involved in the company’s daily operations, but Chan would still consult him when she studied investments in unfamiliar areas, Bloomberg reported.

Chan also gave a glimpse of her private life, telling the news agency that she continued to cook breakfast for her three children and took them to school before beginning her work day as chief executive.

Her husband stepped down from his roles as executive director, chairperson and chief executive of Chinese Estates in 2014, after a Macao court convicted him of bribery and money laundering.

Since then, he has not served a single day in jail, because Hong Kong has no extradition arrangement with Macao.

Lau and Chan married in 2016, after he ended a long-term relationship with Yvonne Lui.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play