Upon the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to China, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, S.A. (“SJM”) presented the 2019 Charity Auction and Michelin-starred Dinner “La Grande • Art • Amour” at the Grand Ballroom of Grand Lisboa tonight. MOP2,868,000 was raised at the charity auction and donated to ten charities in Macau. 2019 also marked the thirteenth consecutive year of this major charity event in the city.
Board members of SJM and SJM Holdings Ms. Daisy Ho, Ms. Angela Leong, Dr. Ambrose So, Mr. Timothy Fok, Ms. Maisy Ho, Mr. Arnaldo Ho and Mr. Louis Ng celebrated the evening with guests from Macau and Hong Kong.
A total of eight lots were offered in tonight’s charity auction. The high point of the evening was the auction of a giant 1,000-gram Italian white truffle. After intense bidding, SJM was the successful bidder for the item at MOP1.6 million.
Other items available for the live auction included a bottle of Romanée-Conti 2009 and a bottle of Montrachet 2009, an oil painting Feast no.99 created by Chinese artist living in France Li Fang, and a pair of racing driver’s gloves from 2019 SJM Prema Theodore Racing driver and FIA Formula 3 champion title holder Robert Shwartzman.
A silent auction was also held during the cocktail reception, offering four items for bidding: Italian white truffles of 400 grams, a glass art piece The White Night created by Macau artist Meng Shu, “The Bee Bottle – 190th Anniversary Edition” perfume by Guerlain, and a one-night stay at the Chairman Suite of Grand Lisboa Hotel with dinner for two at Robuchon au Dôme.
All proceeds raised from the charity auction were donated to ten charities in Macau, namely Tung Sin Tong Charitable Society, Kiang Wu Hospital Charitable Association, Obra das Mães, Macau Special Olympics, Macau Holy House of Mercy, Charity Fund From The Readers of Macao Daily News (2019 Walk for a Million), Caritas de Macau (2020 Caritas Macau Charity Bazaar), Yat On Responsible Gambling Counselling Centre, Macau Social Services Centre and Macau Association of the Hearing Impaired. A cheque presentation ceremony attended by representatives of all the charities was held immediately after the auction.
Ms. Daisy Ho, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SJM, said, “Tonight is our thirteenth annual charity auction and dinner, and it coincides with this month’s twentieth anniversary of Macau’s return to the Motherland. We are delighted to see MOP2,868,000 has been successfully raised for worthy causes in Macau, following the tradition established by our founder, Dr. Stanley Ho, in sharing with the local community.”
The dinner featured a special menu “La Table des Amis de Joël Robuchon”, prepared by visiting Chef Eric Bouchenoire, a close friend and disciple of the late legendary Chef Joël Robuchon, jointly with the chefs from Grand Lisboa Hotel’s three-Michelin-starred Robuchon au Dôme, highlighting Macau’s role as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. Created by Joël Robuchon, the menu was prepared in the spirit of France’s Gastronomic Meal – a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – for which every course has a variety of scrumptious dishes presented together on the table for sharing, to celebrate friendship.
The guests were entertained by two spectacular performances including a can-can dance by a local Macau dance group Dança Brasil, and the Magician Charlie Chaplin performance by famous magician and mime Denny McKinney from France.
