Pinoy helpers remember multibillionaire
JOSE MARCELO HONG KONG
For 14 years, Ate Mina and Osmond had a ringside
view of what the rest of Hong Kong had been
curious to see: An inside look at the life of Asia’s
richest woman – and one of its most enigmatic
figures.
The Nina Wang they saw was, they said, nowhere
near the woman she was made out to be by the
media.
“Ikaw nga ang tatanungin ko. Kung masama ang
ugali ng amo mo, tingin mo ba tatagal ka ng labing-
apat na taon sa kanya?” said Mina Biangzon,
weeks after the death on April 3 of her longtime
employer after a losing battle with ovarian cancer.
Ate Mina and his brother-in-law Osmond Velasco
served in the Wang household during the most
tumultuous period in the life of a celebrated
billionaire whose net worth at the time of her death
was placed at US$4.2 billion by Fortune magazine.
The two were hired on the recommendation of Mina’
s brother – who previously worked for the Wang
family and has migrated to the US, in late 1989 –
months before the kidnapping of Nina’s husband
Teddy, who was never found and has since been
declared dead.
They were there during the very public feud
between Nina Wang and her father-in-law and
stayed until 2003, when Nina let them go after
losing the court battle for control of Chinachem
Corp – a decision Nina’s lawyers succeeded in
overturning on appeal years later.
During that time, Ate Mina said they had been able
to separate the chaff from the grain on newspaper
reports about the secretive life of Nina Wang,
finding some of it close to the truth, a lot of it
exaggeration and most of it no more than plain
rumors.
Digging from the rubble of untruths, Ate Mina said
the Nina she had come to know was a simple
woman who, for all her wealth, lived a plain life.
“Workaholic s’ya pero simpleng tao lang, madalas
ni manicure wala s’ya,” said Ate Mina. “Madalas
nga, napapansin ang manicure ko. Sasabihin sa
akin, ‘Oh, Mina, they look great, where did you have
them done?’ Isasagot ko pinagawa ko lang sa
kaibigan ko for 20 dollars.”
Nina Wang had her quirks, Ate Mina admitted,
recalling seeing her take 30 different medicines in
a single day. “Iyong iba vitamins, ‘yong iba di ko
alam para saan,” she said.
But stories about her frugality were grossly
exaggerated, she added.
“Matipid s’ya, pero hindi naman totoo ‘yong balita
na gumagastos lang s’ya nang HK$3,000 a
month,” she said.
Osmond, whose wife Gina is the twin sister of Ate
Mina, remembered the billionaire’s adherence to
fung shui; how she maintained a giant image of
Buddha, and how groups of fung shui experts
routinely arrived at her home once or twice a week.
He also recalled that Nina Wang stopped going
home to their conjugal home at The Peak after her
husband’s disappearance, and from thereon spent
most of her time in a den next to her office at the
Chinachem Golden Plaza building in Tsim Tsa
Tsui which she turned into her living quarters.
Most of her trips outside the office, Osmond said,
were largely confined to on-site visits to buildings
being constructed by her real estate company. But
he dispelled reports that Nina Wang had become
paranoid and had often surrounded herself with as
much as 50 bodyguards.
“Madalas nga, siya lang ang nagda-drive papunta
sa office, kaming dalawa ni Mina nasa likod,”
Osmond said. “Isipin mo kami ang pinagda-drive
n’ya.”
No, they did not have as much luck as Tony Chan,
the medical practicioner turned fung shui expert
whose lawyers have claimed that he had been
bequeathed Nina Wang’s entire fortune.
But the two Filipino helpers still treasure memories
of a lady adoringly called “Little Sweetie” in Hong
Kong for her fondness for wearing ponytails, and
remember her innate kindness with fondness.
“Lahat naman ng tao may mga mood swings.
Minsan wala rin s’ya sa mood,’’ said Osmond, 52,
from Atimonan, Quezon. “Pero ni minsan hindi mo
‘sya mariringgan na magsasalita ng masama.”
He continued: “Alam n’ya na active ako na nagse-
serve sa St Joseph’s church kapag day off ko. Kaya
minsan, sasabihan pa ako n’yan, ‘Osmond please
pray for my husband’.”
Ate Mina said she cried upon hearing about her
former boss’ death and joined the rest of her
family, friends, employees and Hong Kong’s elite
during the wake and funeral.
“Siyempre hindi ko s’ya makakalimutan,” she said.
“Isipin mo naman, sa labing-apat na taon kaming
nanilbihan sa kanya, ni minsan hindi n’ya kami
pinagalitan.”
JOSE MARCELO HONG KONG
For 14 years, Ate Mina and Osmond had a ringside
view of what the rest of Hong Kong had been
curious to see: An inside look at the life of Asia’s
richest woman – and one of its most enigmatic
figures.
The Nina Wang they saw was, they said, nowhere
near the woman she was made out to be by the
media.
“Ikaw nga ang tatanungin ko. Kung masama ang
ugali ng amo mo, tingin mo ba tatagal ka ng labing-
apat na taon sa kanya?” said Mina Biangzon,
weeks after the death on April 3 of her longtime
employer after a losing battle with ovarian cancer.
Ate Mina and his brother-in-law Osmond Velasco
served in the Wang household during the most
tumultuous period in the life of a celebrated
billionaire whose net worth at the time of her death
was placed at US$4.2 billion by Fortune magazine.
The two were hired on the recommendation of Mina’
s brother – who previously worked for the Wang
family and has migrated to the US, in late 1989 –
months before the kidnapping of Nina’s husband
Teddy, who was never found and has since been
declared dead.
They were there during the very public feud
between Nina Wang and her father-in-law and
stayed until 2003, when Nina let them go after
losing the court battle for control of Chinachem
Corp – a decision Nina’s lawyers succeeded in
overturning on appeal years later.
During that time, Ate Mina said they had been able
to separate the chaff from the grain on newspaper
reports about the secretive life of Nina Wang,
finding some of it close to the truth, a lot of it
exaggeration and most of it no more than plain
rumors.
Digging from the rubble of untruths, Ate Mina said
the Nina she had come to know was a simple
woman who, for all her wealth, lived a plain life.
“Workaholic s’ya pero simpleng tao lang, madalas
ni manicure wala s’ya,” said Ate Mina. “Madalas
nga, napapansin ang manicure ko. Sasabihin sa
akin, ‘Oh, Mina, they look great, where did you have
them done?’ Isasagot ko pinagawa ko lang sa
kaibigan ko for 20 dollars.”
Nina Wang had her quirks, Ate Mina admitted,
recalling seeing her take 30 different medicines in
a single day. “Iyong iba vitamins, ‘yong iba di ko
alam para saan,” she said.
But stories about her frugality were grossly
exaggerated, she added.
“Matipid s’ya, pero hindi naman totoo ‘yong balita
na gumagastos lang s’ya nang HK$3,000 a
month,” she said.
Osmond, whose wife Gina is the twin sister of Ate
Mina, remembered the billionaire’s adherence to
fung shui; how she maintained a giant image of
Buddha, and how groups of fung shui experts
routinely arrived at her home once or twice a week.
He also recalled that Nina Wang stopped going
home to their conjugal home at The Peak after her
husband’s disappearance, and from thereon spent
most of her time in a den next to her office at the
Chinachem Golden Plaza building in Tsim Tsa
Tsui which she turned into her living quarters.
Most of her trips outside the office, Osmond said,
were largely confined to on-site visits to buildings
being constructed by her real estate company. But
he dispelled reports that Nina Wang had become
paranoid and had often surrounded herself with as
much as 50 bodyguards.
“Madalas nga, siya lang ang nagda-drive papunta
sa office, kaming dalawa ni Mina nasa likod,”
Osmond said. “Isipin mo kami ang pinagda-drive
n’ya.”
No, they did not have as much luck as Tony Chan,
the medical practicioner turned fung shui expert
whose lawyers have claimed that he had been
bequeathed Nina Wang’s entire fortune.
But the two Filipino helpers still treasure memories
of a lady adoringly called “Little Sweetie” in Hong
Kong for her fondness for wearing ponytails, and
remember her innate kindness with fondness.
“Lahat naman ng tao may mga mood swings.
Minsan wala rin s’ya sa mood,’’ said Osmond, 52,
from Atimonan, Quezon. “Pero ni minsan hindi mo
‘sya mariringgan na magsasalita ng masama.”
He continued: “Alam n’ya na active ako na nagse-
serve sa St Joseph’s church kapag day off ko. Kaya
minsan, sasabihan pa ako n’yan, ‘Osmond please
pray for my husband’.”
Ate Mina said she cried upon hearing about her
former boss’ death and joined the rest of her
family, friends, employees and Hong Kong’s elite
during the wake and funeral.
“Siyempre hindi ko s’ya makakalimutan,” she said.
“Isipin mo naman, sa labing-apat na taon kaming
nanilbihan sa kanya, ni minsan hindi n’ya kami
pinagalitan.”
Madalas nga,
napapansin ang
manicure ko.
Sasabihin sa akin,
‘Oh, Mina, they look
great, where did you
have them done?’
Isasagot ko
pinagawa ko lang
sa kaibigan ko for
20 dollars
napapansin ang
manicure ko.
Sasabihin sa akin,
‘Oh, Mina, they look
great, where did you
have them done?’
Isasagot ko
pinagawa ko lang
sa kaibigan ko for
20 dollars
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