Page 16 - Sphere No.14 (Jul 2005)

built on campus. He is as proud as the architect of the inspiring
confluence of ancient and modern design. I witness the same
enthusiasm with other projects, taking time to visit the medical
school he has endowed, two of five hospitals he has sponsored,
along with a state-of-the-art medical centre focusing on eye
care. And this is just the beginning.
A programme he supports to provide medical relief to the
poor sends physicians and medical supplies into remote vil-
lages and rural areas of China. In 1998, he established the
National Hospice Care Programme, the first of its kind, to
serve cancer patients through a network of 20 major hospitals
and in-home patient care. In a single year more than 20,000
house calls are made by physicians sponsored by Mr Li, and
tens of thousands receive health care, including pain relief
therapy for those who are terminally ill.
I KA-SHING’S giving is not limited to Hong
Kong and China. He has sponsored children’s
centres, church buildings, cancer research
centres, and scholarships in the United
Kingdom, medical research projects in the
United States, and perhaps the largest charita-
ble organisation in the history of Canada. He
has provided millions of dollars internation-
ally in the fight against hepatitis, Avian Flu and degenerative dis-
eases. In addition to Shantou University, major educational proj-
ects include Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Open
University of Hong Kong, Singapore Management University,
Foundation Primary Schools, University of Calgary and the
University of Hong Kong, to name only a few.
Nor is Mr Li’s philanthropy limited to health care and educa-
tion. He is one of the world’s great patrons of culture – art,
dance, music, literature, sports and the preservation of artifacts
– as well as community welfare, including disaster relief.
Following the horrors of the tsunami in South Asia, Li Ka-shing
was among the first to make a sizeable contribution to help
families of the victims, to provide relief for the survivors, and to
rebuild. Likewise, following earthquakes in India and China.
How much does Li Ka-shing spend on the countless projects
that benefit from his giving? To go into detail would be suffo-
cating. Let it suffice to say that this year alone he has given
away more than US$1 billion to his private foundations, estab-
lishing him as one of the world’s most generous philanthro-
pists. Earnest and unassuming, Mr Li clearly considers his phi-
lanthropy as a blessing. He takes joy in giving, though he is
reluctant to talk about it in terms other than what those
around him are doing. Just as he instinctively quickens his pace
to hold open a door for others, his focus is well beyond him-
self, without aggrandisement, or desire for fanfare.
Yet his reputation spreads. Seven months after travelling to
Shantou, I was with Li Ka-shing again in Paris. It was
January, and he had been invited by President Jacques Chirac
to the Elysee Palace. “Your profound generosity is unani-
mously recognised,” President Chirac said, bestowing upon
Mr Li the Insignia of Commander of the Legion of Honour –
a recognition that began with Napoleon and remains the
highest honour given by France to non-citizens.
It was fitting that Li Ka-shing was honoured in the kind of
opulence that few do as well as the French, and Chirac offered
insight into what I believe motivates Mr Li’s generosity. “Your
father’s influence on you has been key to the build-up of your
personality,” Chirac said. “You have been well known for your
humanity, simplicity and generosity.” He spoke of Mr Li’s boy-
hood, arriving destitute in Hong Kong and needing to take care
of his family when his father died from tuberculosis. Li Ka-shing
was only 12 when he was forced to leave school to work in a fac-
tory. And as Chirac spoke, my mind returned to Shantou, to Mr
Li with his students. I suddenly understood. Robbed of the
opportunity to study himself, Li Ka-shing is driven to ensure the
opportunity for others. The hours he worked on the factory
floor, manufacturing plastic, moulded his spirit as well, filling
him with empathy for the cleaners in the airport.
“Your story portrayed the journey of a man of goodwill and
hard work, the journey of a man of heart and a great deal of
courage,” Chirac continued, and I was struck that Mr Li is dif-
ferent, he is genuine and thoughtful, because in his life he
found purpose before he found wealth. He knew who he was
long before he became what he is. And what he is he earned.
He makes the cleaners, the students surrounding him at
Shantou, and everyone he meets feel important because he
remembers how it was to feel otherwise.
As Chirac reviewed Mr Li’s exceptional career and life, I
SPHERE 14
L
“Before Honour is Humility”
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress