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Joanna Chiu

Even a billion dollars would not be enough to find a man that Gigi Chao, the lesbian daughter of property tycoon Cecil Chao Sze-tsung, would be willing to marry.
"I don't think my dad's offering of any amount of money would be able to attract a man I would find attractive," she told the South China Morning Post after her father announced he had doubled the HK$500 million "dowry" that he had earlier offered in an effort to find her a husband.
In an interview with the Malaysian newspaper Nanyang Siang Pau, Chao lamented that although his initial offer of HK$500 million in 2012 attracted more than 20,000 suitors, none succeeded in winning Gigi's heart. "I don't want to interfere with my daughter's private life," Cecil Chao said in the January 20 interview.
"I only hope for her to have a good marriage and children as well as inherit my business."
He also insisted that his daughter was still single and said he believed it was not too late to change Gigi's thinking because she was only 33.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Gigi responded to her father's latest offer.
"First of all, I'm concerned about his use of the word 'dowry' in an Asian country, as it is well known that dowry deaths are a human rights concern in India, and I don't want people to step backward on hearing this news," she said.

"Secondly, I don't think my dad's offering of any amount of money would be able to attract a man I would find attractive. Alternatively, I would be happy to befriend any man willing to donate huge amounts of money to my charity, Faith in Love, provided they don't mind that I already have a wife. Third and lastly, thank you Daddy, I love you too," she said.
In an interview in September 2012, she said her father's offer had made her realise she was "a really lucky girl to have such a loving daddy, because it's really sweet of him to do something like this as an expression of his fatherly love".
In her latest interview, she told the Post that the news of the new bounty had made her partner of nine years, Sean Eav, "distraught".
She said she had repeatedly told her father to stop talking to the press about the bounty, but "well what can I say, we live separate, private lives after all".
Gigi is an executive director at her father's Cheuk Nang property development company and spends much of her time doing charitable work as the founder and chairwoman of the Faith in Love Foundation, which works to encourage volunteering and to alleviate poverty. Gigi is also an outspoken advocate for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights. She is a founding member of the gay rights group Big Love Alliance, along with lawmakers and celebrities including artistes Anthony Wong and Denise Ho. The alliance works to reduce discrimination against sexual minorities through public education and support networks.
Gigi says her father's persistence in trying to get her married to a man had not hurt their relationship.
"I understand that he loves me, it's just he's from another time and it's difficult for him to understand the plight of the LGBT [community]. At the office it's business as usual. At family gatherings we hug and dance. And we just agree to disagree on what marriage is and family is," she said.
Pink Alliance chairman Reggie Ho Lai-kit said it was common for parents to go through phases of shock and denial when they learned of the sexual orientation of their children.
"Mr Chao is still going through the denial process, thinking money can solve any problem including those involving his daughter," Ho said.
Some parents, he said, would move from denial to acceptance, while others could never reach that stage. But they could choose how to handle the matter to avoid damaging family relations. "Parents should talk to their children on an equal footing … it is the biggest mistake to use their power to change a person," Ho said.
Gigi's receptionist has received some strange telephone calls, most opening their conversation with, "I want to be a billionaire!"
Additional reporting Amy Nip
 
Watch: Gigi Chao: 'Love shall prevail.'

 


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Cecil Chao: Hong Kong government needs more land for affordable homes

Cecil Chao paves way for Gigi to take over Cheuk Nang despite lesbian wedding row

My daughter's lesbian partner is not welcome in this family, says Gigi Chao's father as he withdraws 'dowry' offer

Cecil Chao

Money still can't buy my love, says Gigi Chao after tycoon father doubles 'dowry' to HK$1b

Gigi Chao (Left) and her father Cecil Chao Sze-tsung attend 2013 Hong Kong Professional Elite Ladies Selection in Causeway Bay in August 2013. Photo: SCMP

Gigi Chao (right) with Sean Eav

Sean Eav and Gigi Chao. Photo: Corbis

Actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen planned a movie about Gigi's plight. Photo: AFP

Indecent proposal

Gigi Chao. Photos: Corbis; May Tse; SCMP Pictures

Gigi Chao (right) with her wife, Sean Eav

A 2007 shot of Chao

Two Danish comics to write Sacha Baron Cohen's film of Gigi Chao's story

Property tycoon Cecil Chao Sze-tsung 

Photo: SCMP

Photo: AP

'I'm not forcing Gigi,' stunned Cecil Chao says of marriage bounty

"All I want is for my daughter to have a better chance to choose a better path for her life," says tycoon Cecil Chao. Photo: AP

Gigi Chao, 33, apparently married her same-sex partner of seven years, Sean Eav, in a civil ceremony in France. Photo: AP

Property heir Gigi Chao has laugh over father's bounty on her heart

Gigi Chao says her father is in denial. Photo: SCMP

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