Kim Lim and Mario Ho spent Valentine’s Day 2016 at the Eiffel Tower in Paris after a trip to Spain. Kim Lim is the daughter of Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, and Mario Ho is the son of Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho. Kim was 23. Mario then posted on Instagram about the woman he was calling his fiancée, and the talk that they were engaged grew louder.
In his post, Ho joked that “one in a million” was the wrong phrase, because it would mean about 7,000 people like her across the world. He called her his “one in 7 billion” instead. He also said it was the first time anyone had pampered him. He gave her a second, nicer ring and joked that it was his way of making sure she stayed.
The couple at the centre of it
In the photo, the pair wore new matching Cartier rings. Kim also had on a thin diamond band, but not on her ring finger. Neither of them released a formal engagement announcement. The rumour came from their captions and their rings.
The speculation had started weeks before Paris. The couple posted two similar photos with matching captions on New Year’s Eve (31 December 2015), with ring emojis, and both received congratulatory messages.
The match drew attention because of both families. Peter Lim also owns the La Liga club Valencia. Mario Ho’s father, Stanley Ho, was the casino magnate whose name was tied to Macau’s gaming industry.
How the story changed
There was no wedding.
Kim later explained what had happened. She said that she and Mario had dated for less than six months and that busy schedules had made them drift apart.
What Kim Lim did next
In July 2017, Kim was in the news again when Cristiano Ronaldo, a long-time friend of the Lim family, visited her and her father at Thomson Medical Centre. She was 24 and had just had a son. Ronaldo was in Singapore on a short trip that also included signing an endorsement deal.
On Friday, 21 July 2017, she posted a video showing the invitation with words: “Save the Date 23rd March 2018.” The family’s spokesperson told local media that she had already married, and that she preferred not to reveal who her husband was.
Her husband was later identified as Kho Bin Kai, and Kim said they had dated for a year and a half before deciding to marry.