Updated: Double joy for Goh Tong

Malaysian casino founder Lim Goh Tong (The Star pix) has plenty to celebrate although he now looks very frail. On Sunday, he celebrated his 90th birthday. Although he is now in a wheelchair, there is still plenty of public display of filial piety.

According to New Straits Times, second son Kok Thay, who is now the chief of the casino group, helped the father to receive a congratulatory call from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. And his 28-year-old grandson Justin Leong, who is Genting’s youngest director, reportedly pledged to donate his salary to charity and receive a token pay of RM1 for one year as a tribute to the old man.

Another sweet piece of news to Goh Tong is the ground-breaking for the Singapore casino project, which was mired in controversy following the deal with Macau casino king Stanley Ho earlier this year. Genting held its ground-breaking ceremony at Sentosa today.

Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang reportedly said that the probity check over Genting's partnership with Stanley is no longer an issue. Regulatory alarm bell went off when Genting tied up with Stanley, who is apparently linked to the triads in Macau, in the Sentosa resort and casino project. Genting has since severed its link to Stanley in the Sentosa project. But probity check on any new casino project in Singapore is still needed going forward as the actual casino licence will only be issued when the integrated resort project is substantially completed.

Can the new Genting generation be as steady as the old man? The Stanley Ho episode shows that Genting’s younger generation will still need to tread carefully although its Singapore casino project is now back on track.