???, Mr. Li Ka-shing is the richest person of Chinese descent in the world and the eleventh richest man in the world according to Forbes with an estimated wealth of US$26.5 billion on 5 March 2008.
He is the Chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited and Hutchison Whampoa Limited. Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited is the flagship of the Cheung Kong Group, which has business operations in 54 countries around the world and employs more than 260,000 staff. In Hong Kong alone, the Cheung Kong Group includes nine listed companies with a combined market capitalization of approximately HK$521 billion (US$112 billion). Hutchison Whampoa Limited is a Fortune Global 500 company.
After his birth in 1928 in Chiu Chow, a coastal city in the southeastern part of China, Mr. Li and his family fled to Hong Kong to avoid the perils of war when he was 12. Shortly thereafter, his father suffered from tuberculosis and passed away in Hong Kong. Shouldering the responsibility of the family, Mr. Li left school before age 15 and found a job in a plastics trading company, where he labored 16 hours a day.
Business Success
By 1950, his hard work, prudence, and his pursuit of excellence enabled him to start his own company, Cheung Kong Industries. From manufacturing plastics, Mr. Li led and developed his company into a leading real estate investment company in Hong Kong that was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. Cheung Kong continued to expand by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa in 1979 and Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited in 1985.
Based in Hong Kong, his businesses encompass such diverse areas as property development and investment, real estate agency and estate management, hotels, telecommunications and e-commerce, finance and investments, retail, ports and related services, energy, infrastructure projects and materials, media, and biotechnology. Mr. Li is a strong believer in synergy—the power of combined efforts. This is reflected in the naming of his company Cheung Kong (Holdings) after the Yangtze River that flows through China, a great river that aggregates countless streams and tributaries.
Mr. Li believes that an equitable society can only be achieved if each and every individual is ready and willing to do his or her part. In 1980, Mr. Li set up a charitable foundation with a mission to enhance the impact of its philanthropy through two strategic objectives: to nurture a culture of giving and to foster creativity, constructive engagement, and sustainability through supporting capacity empowerment focused projects. To date, the Li Ka Shing Foundation and other private charitable Foundations established by Mr. Li have supported numerous charitable activities with grants, sponsorships and commitments of HK$10.7 billion (US$1.37 billion).
Special Recognition
In recognition of his philanthropic efforts and his contributions to society, Mr. Li has received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Cambridge, the University of Calgary in Canada, Peking University, and the University of Hong Kong, among others. Mr. Li, a Justice of the Peace, has also received the Grand Officer of the Order Vasco Nunez de Balboa from Panama, The Commander in the Leopold Order from Belgium, Knight (Commander of the Order) of the British Empire, and the Grand Bauhinia Medal of Hong Kong. In January 2005, Mr. Li received the Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur from the French Government. The Times in the United Kingdom and Ernst & Young UK jointly named Mr. Li as the Entrepreneur of the Millennium at the turn of the century.
Mr. Li has two sons. The elder son, Victor, now serves as Managing Director and Deputy Chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, Deputy Chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Limited, and Chairman of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited and CK Life Sciences International (Holdings), Inc. Mr. Li’s younger son, Richard, is Chairman of PCCW, one of Asia’s leading information technology and telecommunications companies.
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In my life, i have quite a number of people to look up to,one of them is definitely Sir Li. Recently Astro Wah Lai Toi showcased an exclusive interview with this towering figure of Asia. He speaks with heavy ‘chiew chou’ accent even till today in the interview. I was enlighthened by him on his one principle he mentioned in this interview.
One day, while he was on his way to golfing as usual, after parking his mercedez and walking towards the club, he accidentally dropped HKD$2 from his pocket without realizing it. Then, the jockey, who is an Indian,saw it and returned him the 2 bucks. TO my enlighthenment, according to Sir Li, he said in retun he gave this ‘ah cha’ HKD$100 as a reward. He gave the reason as follows (pls take note): If I never realized and recouped the 2 bucks, forever the money is gone without any reason. And now i gave this guy HKD 100 ,i know the money is not going to drain but definitely is in a good hand for whatever reasons.
Woww, this thinking is really knocking me hard, remininscent of my mom’s smilar advice to me. This is because i often left few hundreds bucks in my pants while putting them into the washing machine. My beloved mother is always checking the pockets and if she find any $$, she will return me the $$$. Ever since, my wife got a maid, I never see this incident ($$ in pocket) happened anymore. I wonder if I no more left any $$ in pocket or the maid has swallowed the $$.
Hence, from now on, after learning the aforementioned principle from Sir Li, i am gonna tell my maid if she found any $$ in my pocket while washing my pants, i will give her the double value as a reward if she return to me. But then, i will always prepare another contingency plan as i emphasized in my earlier posting to avoid paying the reward then.
well, if you are paying attn to my postings, i am always giving you either some lessons or noble things to learn of. Hence, reader discretion is advised while reading my blog.
