‘Overwhelming’ interest in auction for Rafael’s Hui’s Hong Kong memorabilia collection

About 200 people, mostly from Hong Kong, have expressed interest in some of the 79 treasured pieces of memorabilia that once belonged to former top official Rafael Hui Si-yan and are now up for grabs in a public tender to offset his reported debts of HK$75 million.

JLA Asia, one of the trustees handling the property of the bankrupt and jailed former chief secretary, described the response as “overwhelming” after the first day of the public tender ended on Friday.

But few interested parties have placed formal bids yet, according to the firm.

JLA Asia has put up a variety of items for sale from Hui’s private collection, which include Chinese paintings, sculptures, collectible banknotes, stamps and souvenirs. The latest public tender came after two separate rounds had fetched an unknown amount last year.

It is understood that 110,000 records, CDs and video discs previously in Hui’s possession were sold as a single lot to a Taiwanese collector in January last year.