23rd December 2025 – (Hong Kong) Heung Wah-yim, a prominent second-generation figure of the Heung family born in 1932, died this morning (23rd December) at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital in Happy Valley.
Multiple sources confirmed that Heung, the eldest son of Sun Yee On founder Heung Chin, passed away at around 6am. Historical records indicate Heung served as the syndicate’s top leader from the 1950s through the 1990s. In 1987, he was charged in connection with the Sun Yee On “dragon head” case with offences including being a high-ranking triad member, managing an unlawful society and extortion. He was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment but was released in December 1989 after serving 22 months when his appeal succeeded.
Heung’s son, Edfeel Heung, chose not to enter the entertainment industry and instead established a jewellery brand. In past media interviews, he described his father as a long-standing, low‑profile figure who assumed a paternal role for his siblings after the death of his grandfather, Heung Chin. He praised his father’s erudition and devotion to family, noting that in retirement he kept fit and maintained good health.
Heung rarely appeared in public; one of his few recent outings was in July 2023, when he attended the 80th birthday banquet of action star Chan Wai-man to offer his congratulations.
Charles Heung Wah‑keung, another of Heung Chin’s sons, is a Hong Kong actor‑turned‑producer and presenter who played a pivotal role in the city’s film industry. He founded Win’s Entertainment in the 1980s and later China Star Entertainment Group in the 1990s, helping to launch or elevate the careers of major Hong Kong cinema figures including Stephen Chow, Chow Yun‑fat, Johnnie To, Jet Li and Andy Lau, among many others. While widely regarded as one of Hong Kong’s most successful producers, Charles Heung has also been one of its most controversial figures due to the family’s triad background.
Background: The Heung family has long been linked in public reporting to the Sun Yee On, considered one of Hong Kong’s largest and most influential organised crime groups. Family patriarch Heung Chin founded the society in 1919; Charles is the tenth of his thirteen children. Heung Wah‑yim, the eldest son, was convicted in 1988 in Hong Kong of being the triad’s leader, though the conviction was later overturned on appeal on technical grounds. A 1992 report by the US Senate Subcommittee on Investigations into Asian organised crime also identified him as the group’s head.
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