Update on the HongKong million dollar bride. I received proposals from all over the world

The newly married lesbian daughter of a Hong Kong tycoon who offered a $65 million "marriage bounty" to any man able to win her love, on Thursday said she'd been flooded by marriage proposals but harbored no animosity towards her father.



Since Hong Kong property billionaire Cecil Chao, known in the tabloid media for his prolific womanizing, dangled a $65 million reward for any man able to lead his daughter, Gigi Chao, down the aisle, she says she's been bombarded by marriage proposals from strangers, date requests, and even an offer from a Hollywood film producer to buy her story.

"War veterans from the U.S., someone from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, from Istanbul, South America, Portugal, really just from all over the world," said Chao, sifting through emails on a white Apple laptop in her father's high-rise office tower.

One suitor from the United States wrote: "I'm interested in your offer to wed your daughter, who also happens to be gay. I am a male person, who also happens to be gay."

Another put up his brother, a body double to George Clooney in the 2008 sports flick "Leatherheads" as a potential mate: "He could be the picture perfect date that your father craves."

"I've tried my best to respond to well-meaning ones ... but most of them I just try not to open," added the frizzy-haired Chao, who was wearing a silver ring after what she called a "church blessing" with her girlfriend in a Paris church.

Gigi said her billionaire father, who drives a Rolls Royce and flies a helicopter but had a poor early childhood in Shanghai, had been upset when his daughter's longtime lover revealed the couple had wed in Paris in April, leading to his impromptu HK$500 million "marriage bounty" offer to any man able to set her straight.

"I wasn't angry at all. I was really quite touched, very touched and very ... how should I say? moved, by Daddy's announcement," said the 33-year-old.

"I mean, it's really his way of saying 'baby girl, I love you. You deserve more,' basically," added Chau who works as an executive director in the family firm Cheuk Nang Holdings.

Her 76-year-old father, rarely seen without sunglasses and brand-name clothes, has never married but has boasted of bedding over 10,000 women including models and starlets.

Hong Kong, a freewheeling city that reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997, retains a traditional Chinese social fabric but is considered relatively tolerant of alternative lifestyles compared with the rest of Asia. It decriminalized homosexuality in 1991.

It has gay social venues, film festivals and gay pride parades, making it a bastion of liberalism compared with China, where homosexuality was defined as a mental disorder until 2001.

"I'm not able to generalize about the experiences of all people in the gay community, but I think we in Hong Kong at the moment, are in the middle, we're not punishable by death for being gay, but it's not celebrated and obviously never encouraged," said Chao. "I think change is overdue."

Some hope the comedy value of the whole high-profile father daughter drama could help start a constructive dialogue about gay attitudes in the region.

"Starting a conversation with humor always makes people less aggressive," said James Gannaban, the organizer of an annual Mr. Gay Hong Kong pageant, in a local gay bar. "If people are less militant about issues, then there is greater opportunity for conversation, if we start off with a smile.

The most disaster prone countries

With global warming, droughts, famine, tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes threatening our dear planet, we checked up on the top 10 most disaster prone countries and this is what we came up with.

1. With a population of 156 million people (July 2009 est.), the most disaster prone country in the world is Bangladesh. This country is at risk from extreme weather and geophysical events. The geographical settings of Bangladesh makes it prone to natural disasters. The disasters include floods, cyclones, tornadoes, drought, flash-floods, hailstorm and lightning, erosion, landslides and earthquakes. Notable in history is the Bangladesh Cyclones-2007.

2. Indonesia is second at risk from tsunamis and earthquakes. In the past few years, Indonesia has had its fair share of natural disasters ranging from volcanic eruptions to tsunamis to earthquakes. The country has always been vulnerable to huge earthquakes. Recently, on the the 4th of April, 2012, A magnitude 8.6 earthquake occurred offshore of Banda Aceh on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 02:38:37 PM local time, not far from the location of the 2004 M9.1 event which triggered a tsunami killing almost a quarter of a million people across the Indian Ocean.

3. Iran lies at the third position. Prone to seismic events. On the 11th of August, 2012, two earthquakes measuring 6.3 and 6.4 struck 11 minutes separately northeast of Tabriz and southwest of Ahar, Iran. 250 people were reportedly killed and over 2000 injured.

4. Pakistan- Landslides and earthquakes. Home to 187,343,000 (2011 est.) people, Pakistan, apart from its social and economic problems, is vulnerable to most of the world's natural disasters. The history of the country is clouded with natural disasters ranging from the 1935 Balochistan Earthquake to the August 21, 2012 Monsoon.

5. Ethiopia- Famine and extreme recurrent drought. Also at the risk of volcanic eruptions, Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. The dry lands periodically experience heavy seasonal rainfalls, which cause flooding leading to internal displacement and increased risks for diseases related to inert water such as malaria, diarrhea, cholera and typhoid.

6. Sudan- Drought, floods and famine. With decades of armed conflicts. tense political status, economic changes and natural disasters, Sudan is known to have one of the highest rates of internally displaced people in the world. Heavy rains lead to flood and drought is also recurrent.

7. Mozambique- Floods. In addition to flood risks from high rainfall in the river catchment areas, Mozambique is prone to tropical cyclones that travel up the Mozambique Channel, particularly in the period of January to March each year.

8. Haiti- Prone to earthquakes. This country has the history of tragic natural disasters. Still fresh on our minds is the January 12, 2010: Magnitude-7.0 quake in Port-Au-Prince, that killed tens of thousands of people. Not only is Haiti vulnerable to magnanimous earthquakes, it also stands at the risk of fierce hurricanes. In 2008, four storms--Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike--dumped heavy rains on the impoverished nation. The rugged hillsides, stripped bare of 98% of their forest cover thanks to deforestation, let flood waters rampage into large areas of the country

9. The Philippines- Typhoons, landslides, major floods and other related disasters. In 2011, the country topped the list of world’s most disaster-hit countries. Based on the report, a total of 431 natural and human-induced disasters were reported in the Philippines in the past year. These killed 1,774 people, and affected more than three million families or 15.3 million people, and caused over P26 billion in economic damages.

10. Colombia- Vulnerable to hurricanes, landslides and earthquake, Colombia is strategically located in an area prone to various natural disasters. The history of Colombia is full of happenings in which catastrophic natural disasters cost thousands of people their lives.

Top 9 saddest countries in the world

These are countries that have made it to the bottom rung of the happiness ladder. Many factors such as life expectancy, GDP, local purchasing power and basic amenities were considered. The conditions in these countries aren't exactly inspiring and one can only hope things get better for the people living there.

9. Lying ninth place to the last is Sudan. With serious political upheaval that has led to what seems like an unending civil war, life in Sudan could be compared to hell on earth. There is vast unemployment, a terrible case of lawlessness, wide-spread poverty, and hunger. It could be said that happiness in Sudan has fled as it almost strikes us as the devil's backyard.

8. On the eighth position is Yemen. This far east country is an epitome of civil unrest and religious extremism.  There are few or non-existent liberties. Education for girls is almost zero and there is only a third report of any form of employment. Yemen isn't hell but it must have a branch of hell in it.

7. Pakistan occupies the seventh place. With an ineffective and a very unstable government, surviving in Pakistan has all the odds stacked against it. There is a very high level of insecurity and the locals are known to be very intolerant of outsiders. We think although the devil doesn't live in this country, there must be some ''HELLBURGER'' outlet somewhere in the country.

6.Let's all give it up for Ethiopia. Although we don't see why Ethiopia should occupy this unenviable position, several goings-on in the country point to why this is so. Literacy is just 30%, undernourishment is 40% and the unemployment rate is 20%. With little resources to go around, there is a grim, sombre atmosphere. You might want to watch your mien and the way you laugh/smile when you travel to Ad-dis-ababa, the locals might mistake you for a loony for laughing.

5. How about a round of applause for Zimbabwe. We love this country but can't understand what in hell is going on. There is absurd, rotten kleptocracy and absolute lack of civil rights. Political violence is commonplace while the literacy level is abysmal. The life expectancy in Zimbabwe is absurd and there is total disillusionment and despair in town. The inflation rate is another source of concern. We still don't think the devil lives here but he sure doesn't live far from it.

4. Central African Republic. There is a looming, complete absence of hope in this hell-hole. More than 10% of children die in their first year. There is no foundation for future growth, only a few percentage have access to adequate sanitation facilities and many cannot afford food and shelter. The CAR could as well be another gate-way to hell. Does God hate the CAR so much? It's so disturbing how life is in this country. We are tempted to say poverty and depression were invented in the Central African Republic.

3. Well, if  the CAR is bad, then life in Chad is definitely worse. Home to the famous lake Chad, life should have ordinarily been not so bad in this small African nation but for drought and famine. The Chad lake has dried up and has taken the livelihood of most of the locals with it. The economy of this country has been destroyed and with the huge number of refugees streaming in from neighboring Dar-fur, no respite seems to be in sight.

2. Before our winner is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Years of civil war and genocide have torn this country apart. There are abundant cases of rape and statistics show that 48 women are raped every hour in the Congo, which makes it 1,152 women per day. The country can only boast of being richer than Zimbabwe which lies on the rock bottom of the GDP table. The irony of it all is that the DR C  has one of the largest and richest mineral deposits in Africa but because of the exploitation of the people and God knows what, the Congolese people are suffering so badly.

1. And the winner is Somalia. We almost couldn't call this place a country. No laws exist. Nothing works and there's absolutely no hope for a better future. Do people still live in Somalia? Somalia has gained international reputation recently as being the largest hub of pirate attacks on passing international vessels. The average life expectancy is 49 or perhaps less. There has been several attempts to build legitimate governments but these governments keep crumbling like a deck of cards, making way for economic instability and war.

With this list, there's only question that comes to mind: What's wrong Africa?