Hotel staff protest over missing pay

Around 30 staff members of the Beijing Imperial Palace Hotel held a protest at the entrance of the premise yesterday at noon, demanding that the hotel administration pay their overdue salaries. The group, consisting of staff from various departments, accused their employer of “deliberately having the payment withheld,” and has already sought intervention from the Labor Affairs Bureau.
It has been reported that more than 200 local and foreign employees are involved in the dispute, with some payments allegedly being withheld for as long as eight months. Located in Taipa, the Greek mythology-themed hotel, formerly known as the New Century Hotel, changed to its current name after the listed company International Entertainment Corporation bought shares in the hotel from the Suncity Group early last year.
In 2012, the New Century Hotel was mired in an ownership dispute. A shareholder in the hotel, Ng Man-sun (also known as Ng Wai and Kai See Wai), was hospitalized after being attacked by a gang of six men inside the hotel. Ng was involved in a dispute with his former girlfriend and business partner, Chen Meihuan, who claimed that she owned 80 percent of Ng’s debt-ridden hotel shares. In October that year, a Macau police spokesman confirmed that Chen had been arrested on allegations of fraud.
The ownership dispute was litigated in a British Virgin Islands court – where the company that owned it was registered – with Ng claiming that the transfer of his hotel shares to Chen in 2011 was intended only as a temporary measure.
In 2013, a ruling of the Macau Court of First Instance (TJB) resulted in the New Century Hotel being seized to pay for unpaid debts that were due to be paid the owner of a Macau-based travel agency, Energy Travel Agency Ltd.
One month after the TJB ordered the seizure, the New Century Hotel was renamed the Imperial Palace. The Greek Mythology Casino operates inside the hotel under SJM Holdings’ license.