Pansy Ho, Peter Cheung, Candy Chuang and Claudia Shaw were those honoured with the prestigious Hong Kong Tatler award this year
The annual Hong Kong Tatler Ball brings together society’s finest with a few of our distinguished guests receiving top honours from our prestigious awards. The accolades presented this year included the Most Promising Young Lady, Most Stylish Woman, Most Stylish Man, and the Diamond Award. We caught up with each of our Tatler Award recipients post-award ceremony to get their reactions on this year’s fesitivites:
Most Promising Young Lady: Candy Chuang
The recipient for the Most Promising Young Lady Award is someone we believe possesses the personal and professional qualities that will lead to great things and which highlight her as an example to her peers. Candy Chuang has harnessed her passion for arts and antiquities as chairwoman for Treasure Auctions, while also holding a senior position in her family business, Chuang Consortium Group. Chuang is a dedicated supporter of various organisations, most notably the Hong Kong Ballet, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and Y Elite.
In her acceptance speech she said, “the most important effort in life is to try and make a small difference.” It’s clear she has a solid support group behind her, evident from the deafening cheers and applause when she took the stage to accept her award. “My family, friends, and soon-to-be dear husband, thank you for all the love and support you’ve shown me over the years, I hope I won’t let you down.” We couldn’t be more excited for Chuang, for her future and immediate endeavours as she will soon marry her fiance Neville Kotewall.
Previous winners include:
Jennifer Cheung, Amanda Cheung, Claudine Ying, Candice Chan, Michelle Cheng-Chan, and Sabrina Fung-Lam
Most Stylish Woman: Claudia Shaw
The winner of the Most Stylish Woman Award will go on to represent Hong Kong at our Asia’s Most Stylish photoshoot with seven others who have also been crowned the most glamorous ladies in their region. The recipient of the Most Stylish Woman Award this year was Claudia Shaw, who is not only fashionable but also fabulously fit, evident from her enviable figure.
“I believe that style is something that comes from within,” she says. “It’s not about fashion, it’s about how you feel and how you adapt what’s in fashion to suit you.” She should know – Shaw has been rising the ranks of Chanel and has been working with the leading luxury label for almost twenty years.
Previous winners include:
Olivia Lee-Davies, Jaime Ku, Angie Ting, Helen Ma, Bonnae Gokson, Michelle Ong-Cheung, and Fanny Sieh
Most Stylish Man: Peter Cheung
The Most Stylish Man Award has only been given to two gentlemen in the past, and the recipient of this year’s accolade has long graced the pages of Hong Kong Tatler, whether it’s in floor length Dior coats or vintage Versace. The award went to none other than Peter Cheung, whose saritorial choices never disappoint. Cheung opened his acceptance speech with a quote from Thomas Fuller that has clearly worked in his favour: “Good clothes open all doors.” Cheung then detailed that it wasn’t simply his sense of style that paved the way for him but his long-standing relationship with Hong Kong Tatler. His speech also thanked his family; most notably his five elder sisters who imparted pearls of style wisdom upon him from a young age including the mantra, “blue and green is never seen except in a washing machine.” When we caught up with Cheung after the awards ceremony he summed up the core to his style sensibility nicely, “I’m truly a boy of Hong Kong and I love the spirit of Hong Kong style – it allows you to express yourself in a safe environment.”
Previous winners include:
Benedict Ku and Charles Yang
The Diamond Award: Pansy Ho
The Diamond Award honours great citizens who have shaped Hong Kong and the world among Asia’s powerhouses of business. The recipient of the award this year was Pansy Ho. Ho is the managing director of Shun Tak Holdings and co-chairperson and executive director of MGM China Holdings, along with her extensive and various philanthropic endeavours. In her acceptance speech Ho said, “Hong Kong Tatler has always been front and center in the social scene,” she says, “especially towards advancing a lot of charity and community projects, and we’ve had a number of projects we’ve worked on together, and there’s more to come.” Ho also infused her speech with a few comical moments describing her time at the first Hong Kong Tatler Ball 20 years earlier. In 1995, she received an award for Charity Queen, and Ho made a wry comment on accepting 2015's Diamond Award as being her “evolution from a human to a fossil”. She finished her speech on a high note by saying, “I look forward to my award twenty years from today, so please start thinking of one for me.”
The recipient of the Diamond Award, in keeping with Tatler tradition, nominates HKD$100,000 to a charity of their choosing courtesy of Edipresse Media Asia. Ho selected a charity that is very close to her heart, The Hong Kong Girl Guide Association, which is celebrating their centenary year and has always been a long-time favourite of her father Stanley Ho.
Previous winners include:
Lee Shau Kee, Cheng Yu-tung, Marjorie Yang, Jim Thompson, and Timothy Fok
Click here for more scenes from the 2015 Hong Kong Tatler Ball