Angela Leong’s theme park awaits gov’t approval

Casino operator SJM’s executive director, Angela Leong, says she is still waiting for the government’s approval to turn her plans for a theme park into reality.
Ms Leong told media last week that the new resort project, located next to SJM’s Lisboa Palace in Cotai, is comprised of five hotels with different themes. “I’ve waited for five years. Like many other citizens and friends, I’m also very [much] looking forward to it. (…)We have the ability to develop,” she said.
The project will feature family-oriented entertainment, including a Hello Kitty theme park, on a plot of land in Cotai. The development rights are owned by a company named Macau Theme Park and Resort, previously revealed to be controlled by Ms Leong.
A separate MOP800 million investment deal to build a similar park on the neighboring Hengqin Island was later signed among several companies. Ms Leong stated that her company has nothing to do with that project.
“There will still be Hello Kitty elements; a theme to be used in about a hundred hotel rooms,” she said, adding that the company would need to look for new themes that have not yet been used in neighboring regions. “We will add in new entertainment elements, depending on the Cotai Strip’s development.”
Angela Leong was speaking on the sidelines of a traditional blessing ceremony on Thursday for SJM’s three men’s teams that will be participating in the upcoming Macau International Dragon Boat Races. At the Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, the company executives lit incense sticks, cut a suckling pig, and dotted the eyes of dancing lions, as part of the traditional ritual for the racers’ success. BY