by Ganesh Sahathevan
The following was reported by Malaysiakini and attributed to Shangri La Hotel Group owner Robert Kuok:
The above, and what has been reported previously on this blog (see below) ought to have excluded the Shangri La hotels from consideration as venues for any kind of gathering of defence and security personnel. Why they were not needs investigation.It is also a matter of public record that Kuok has said that it’s in the marrow of his bones to help China. He has also said that politics and business are indivisible and that understanding that fact is what made him who he is; one of Asia's richest and most influential men.
Needless to say, the fate of the Shangri La Dialogues needs to be reconsidered and if they are to be held in Singapore then some other venue should be found. The Raffles seems to a sensible choice, given the ready association of the name and hotel with Singapore.
TO BE READ WITH
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
Defence Department Shangri-La data breach - Why is Defence silent about Shangri-La's Hong Kong base, China connections
by Ganesh Sahathevan
Between May and July this year, customer data was stolen from eight Shangri-La hotels across Asia, including the luxury Singapore venue where Defence Minister Richard Marles held top-level security talks with China shortly after Labor's election win.
The Defence Department confirmed it was aware of a data breach affecting Shangri-La hotels and said it was "working with the company to understand the impact on Australian Defence attendees at the Shangri-La Dialogue".
Despite the now normal concerns about Chinese Government linked hacking, Defence has remained silent, or prefers to left unsaid the fact that the company is headquartered in Hong Kong:
Shangri-La Asia Ltd. is an investment holding company, which engages in the ownership and operation of hotels and real estate properties. The company was founded on August 14, 1992 and is headquartered in Hong Kon.
In fact, the Shangri-La Singapore was the first in the chain, and was established by billionaire Robert Kuok who remains very much in control of the company.
Kuok's Communist Party China connections and his loyalty to what he describes as his motherland are well known. In his words:
Shangri-La Beijing, my first major hotel project in China, was granted only a 13-year cooperation period. “I do it for the love of my motherland, the birthplace of my parents. It’s in the marrow of my bones to help the country.
(“Robert Kuok—A Memoir” written by Robert Kuok with Andrew Tanzer,2017)