HONG KONG: Casino billionaire Stanley Ho was awake and speaking yesterday, his third wife Chan Un-chan told reporters gathered outside a Hong Kong hospital.

Chan, emerging from Adventist Hospital after visiting her husband, also denied that Ho, 87, had suffered a stroke, as previously reported.

She didn't reply when asked whether Ho had struck his head prior to being hospitalized. Chan stepped into a chauffer-driven Mercedes Benz to be driven away.

About a dozen journalists gathered outside the hospital try to pry information from relatives visiting Ho.

Ho, who made his fortune operating casinos in Macao, was in the hospital's intensive care unit following surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain, local media reported yesterday.

The tycoon reportedly injured his head in an accident at his home, a business associate close to Ho was quoted by local media as saying.

Ho's spokeswoman, Janet Wong, said in a statement on August 4 the tycoon was recovering after surgery. Wong didn't answer the phone in her office earlier in the day.

An 86-year-old man brought a piece of doggerel he had written to the hospital where Ho is recovering.

The man said he was not acquainted with Ho but he had composed some prose praising Ho as a philanthropist and expressing the wish for his speedy recovery.

It's been reported that Ho's family has agreed to stay tightlipped about his condition. His wives take shifts to take care of him at night. It was third wife Chan Un-chan's turn Wednesday night.

His fourth wife Leong On-kei kept watch the previous night. Ho's office issued a statement earlier, claiming Ho was making progress and recovering after an operation few days ago.

Each relative arriving at the hospital aroused another frenzy among journalists seeking updates. The "gentlemen of the press" lost all decorum when Chan arrived, rushing forward in their quest for photos and smashing potted plants happening to stray into their path.

China Daily/ Bloomberg News

(HK Edition 08/07/2009 page1)