Ip Yiu Tung, a 66-year-old Hong Konger who is a Singapore permanent resident, is the former boss of Crystal Jade, a restaurant known for making xiao long baos that are juicy and squirty.

He is the ex-boss because he sold his share of the company in May last year, when about 90 percent of the Crystal Jade Group was bought by L Capital Asia, the private equity arm of Paris-based luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, for an estimated US$100 million (S$140 million).

Having made a killing, Ip then used part of that money he made from selling the restaurant chain to give bonuses of up to S$40,000 to current and former employees in Singapore.

He is here this week visiting various Crystal Jade restaurants to hand out cheques.

According to The Straits Times, some of the staff were initially skeptical, such as 61-year-old Madam Ong Ah Kwee, who was one of those asked to gather at Crystal Jade Kitchen in VivoCity on Wednesday afternoon to collect her bonus:

"My friends told me that they had read reports in Hong Kong that Mr Ip will share the profits of the sale with the employees, but I didn't quite believe them. I never thought it would really happen," said Madam Ong in Mandarin.

An employee who mostly worked four-hour days part-time since 1996, she received an undisclosed sum roughly three times her pay from Ip personally.

Ex-boss, but still brand ambassador

Even though he has sold his stake, since last year, Ip stayed on as chief executive and is an adviser and brand ambassador for the company.

There are 120 restaurants worldwide, including 47 in Singapore, and about 4,500 full-time staff.​

The Crystal Jade restaurant chain was founded in 1991 and serves Chinese cuisine. It started out as a single restaurant in the now-demolished Cairnhill Hotel.

In 1992, it experienced financial problems. Ip, a Hong Kong businessman, invested HK$10 million (about S$2 million at the time) in the business taking a 49% stake in the company and becoming chairman in the process.

In 2014, it reported an annual revenue of close to S$250 million.

In an interview in May 2014, Ip said he planned to divide his newfound time into three parts: One part for Crystal Jade, another for his family and the last part for helping the under-privileged in China.

"I am not greedy. I don't need more money to make me happy. I was already happy. I need a meaningful life, not just money."

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