The Kadoorie Conundrum
Target 24th July 1988
HOW SWIRE PROPERTIES LTD
GOT ITS FOOT IN THE
THE SYNAGOGUE DOOR
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Swire Properties Ltd, a subsidiary of Swire Pacific Ltd, is likely to realize a profit of more than $HK400 million thanks to the generosity, or stupidity, or whimsicality, of The Incorporated Trustees of The Jewish Community of Hongkong.
The reason: Number 70, Robinson Road, is being handed over to Swire Properties Ltd in a redevelopment scheme at a figure which is less than half of the market value.
The whimsical fellow
The stupid fellow The generous fellow
The losers
Swire Properties Ltd
: The Lord Kadoorie
:
The Lord Kadoorle
: The Lord Kadoorie
: The Jewish community
of Hongkong.
Swire Properties Ltd is to develop Number 70, Robin- son Road, Hongkong into a twin-tower residential com- plex with a commercial podium.
Part of the project will be used to house the Jewish
Recreation Club, the school to teach some of the 600-odd Jewish people in Hongkong about the Jewish faith and Hebrew language -- this is the first time that such consid- eration has been given to the religion -- and, of course, the Rabbi's quarters, when, that is, the Jewish community is able to reach agreement as to who will be the Rabbi, because they change him
almost as fast
as Queen Vic- toria used to
change her bloomers, that
is once
month.
Swire Properties Ltd:
The real winners
The rest of
the project will be residential flats for sale.
Oh, before we forget, there will be a replica of the Ohel Leah Synagogue atop the podium! -- This will satisfy
the natives.
Nobody except the Lord Kadoorie and a few top ex- ecutives in Swire Properties could have thought of such a proposal, but in the words of that other Fitzgerald:
'The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.'
Now, talking about tears, it has been said that when Mr Karel Weiss, an 82-year-old devout Jewish man who has never missed a Friday night in the Robinson Road Synagogue for the last 43 years, heard about what was to be done with the Synagogue, there were tears in his eyes.'
Why would he cry?
After all, Swire Properties will carn more than $HK400 million from the development. And Mr Weiss could always buy shares in Swire Pacific Ltd. And, after all, Swire Properties has promised to build cooking facili- ties, among other things, so that the facilities could blend very well into the creation of a real kosher kitchen.
Tears are the most precious of all of God's gifts, because they come from the very heart of man.
Like an oyster whose gifts to the world are the result of its suffering, so are tears to the man who would listen.
One of the reasons why Mr Weiss might have had tears in his eyes upon hearing of the fate of the Synagogue might have been that he was one of the very few people in Hongkong who gave a damn about the structure.
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