What Does Goh Tong Stand for the Street Going into Resorts World?

What is the meaning of the name of the street leading into Resorts World off Dean Martin Drive, Goh Tong Street?

It's Goh Tong Way and it commemorates the father of the current chairman of Genting Group, owner, developer, and operator of Resorts World Las Vegas.

Lim Goh Tong, a Chinese-Malaysian, was the Malaysian equivalent of Steve Wynn and Kirk Kerkorian combined; where everyone else saw a remote hilltop in the Malay highlands, the elder Lim saw -- and financed and built -- Genting Highlands, one of the largest and most successful casino-resorts in the world.

Like Kerkorian, Lim made his fortune as an entrepreneur, trading in heavy construction machinery after WW II, then founding and operating one of the largest construction companies in Malaysia.

Lim conceived of a hilltop resort in 1965 when he was in his late forties and located his mountaintop at 6,000 feet only 33 kilometers (20 miles) from Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. Even that close, he had to mount a major expedition just to get there and was entirely on his own; he received no government assistance, none of his contractor friends and associates wanted anything to do with the project, and he spent his entire fortune building the resort. Just as it was about to open in early 1971, a 100-year storm washed out the whole access road and Lim had to start from scratch in constructing a new one. Genting Highlands finally opened in May of that year.

His investment and all his efforts paid off in the end: Today, Resorts World Genting comprises Malaysia’s only legal casino, along with seven hotels, two amusement parks, and five shopping malls. It's widely considered the pioneer of the integrated-resort concept.

When he died in 2007 at the age of 89, Lim Goh Tong was one of the wealthiest men in Malaysia, with an estimated fortune of nearly $5 billion. By then, he'd also been married for 63 years and had six children, one of whom, Lim Kok Thay, or K.T. Lim as he's known around here, is the current chairman of Genting.

With the street name Goh Tong Way, K.T. Lim honors his father, whose lifelong dream was to open a casino in Las Vegas.

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jay Jul-28-2021

What a nice way....

What a nice tribute to his father....

It does however make me wonder about the longevity of such a gesture. 

Vegas has never been shy about erasing its past to make way for the new. Stardust, Sands, Frontier, Rivera, The Debbie Reynolds  have all been imploded to make way for new properties. 

What about the street names ? I know we still have Dean Martin drive and Frank Sinatra Drive but have their been any tribute'd names changed to make way for new stars ? Ie Cher Street made over to Celine Way or the like ?

Kevin Rough Jul-28-2021

Riviera Dr

@Jay, the only street that I know that has changed is Riviera Dr. was renamed after the Riviera was imploded to Elvis Presley Dr.

Question of the Day - 28 July 2021

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