12/10/2019

Li Ka Shing, Hong Kong's fallen superman

Anyone wondering why financial wealth is also called fortune? He made a fortune, amassed a fortune. Is it because the making of such wealth is in some way related to being fortunate, being lucky? Heard of lucky fools and why the smartest human beans often are quite ordinary in wealth or fortune, just merely getting by?

Li Ka Shing is China's or Asia's richest man. Many Chinese in Hong Kong, very rich, though not as rich as him, have contributed their wealth and fortune to the state and society. Chow Yun Fatt contributed all his wealth to charity. There are many that contributed hundreds of millions of their wealth, as much as 80 or 90 per cent to charity or state. One very rich Hong Kong billionaires built hundreds of schools in China as his contribution to state and society.

The equivalents in the West, like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, have pledged their fortunes to charity as well, to help the needy around the world. These men have realised that they could not possibly make use of all their wealth in several lifetimes. The financial wealth becomes in a way meaningless the more they make. Making another few millions or another few hundred millions would not change their lives.

Li Ka Shing is in such a fortunate position, money jiat buay leow for several generations. Why would he not use some of his spare cash to contribute to society, not that he is not. But why would he fell on the wrong side of the state by not doing so? It is hard to explain why such rich billionaires would do what they are doing, in this case, Li Ka Shing, the most important man in Hong Kong and perhaps China, monetary wise, to jeopardise all the goodwill he had by doing something so contrary and now likely to be disowned by China and never to return? His support for the independence movement and mass protests is now openly spoken.

He has all the wealth and good fortune to do many things for Hong Kong and the Hongkongers, like sharing or distributing his land holdings to build more affordable housing for the Hongkongers. Perhaps by supporting the mass protests and independence movement is what he thinks is where he should put his money with. Is this the right thing, the wise thing to do? Or is this a moment to expose his limited intellect and wisdom?

Li Ka Shing does not need to spend much of his huge fortune to remain in the good books of Beijing and earns himself a fine mention in the history of China and Hong Kong. He chose to do and act differently, believing that what he was doing was the right and good for Hong Kong and the Hongkongers.

History will tell whether he did the right or wrong thing. Would he be resurrected as a saviour of China and Hong Kong? Or would he go down in Chinese history as a traitor to China and the Chinese Civilisation? His wisdom is now being questioned and will be judged sometime in the future for backing a right or wrong cause.

This Hong Kong superman can only fly in the skies of America and Europe, anywhere, except China and Hong Kong. He may even lose his citizenship and has to take up foreign citizenship after this fiasco is over.

PS. I have put up a link on the left column for a new blog by my good friend Dr Teo Kah Beng,  Asia Pacific Security. This is a more serious and intellectual blog for those who want to read something more challenging. There are also some entertaining postings and videos for a little relaxation. Please take a look.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Sir Li Ka-shing GBM KBE JP is a Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist.

As of June 2019, Li is the 30th richest person in the world, with an estimated net wealth of US$29.4 billion. (Wikipedia)

Born: 29 July 1928 (age 91 years)

Spouse: Chong Yuet Ming (m. 1963–1990)

Education: Dropping out

Books: 李嘉誠如是說

Nationality: Singaporean, Canadian

Children: Richard Li, Victor Li Tzar-kuo"


The above facts speak for where Li Ka-Shing's heart lies. He is not even a Chinese Citizen!

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ RB

Oh please lah. The man has $30billion net worth. Even if you halve it, it is still in the ultra high net worth region.

People with that kind of money are under NO OBLIGATION to follow stupid "rules" made by others.

They will their lives on their OWN terms.

Let's face it, everyone who is on their journey to financial independence has that same reason: to live their lives on their own terms and not be beholden to the "expectations" of the less wealthier.

You might not like that, but it is a fact, and people with a lot of money do indeed behave that way.

"Massive success is the best revenge"💪

imho said...

China Xi want to go after him so he creates mess and the sheep will do as they are told.

Anonymous said...

Uncle RB, you worry too much for the well being of HK & the Chinese community. You hv my respect & omak! Whatever happens to HK is the result of human Greed, Hostility & Ignorance, so let the Karmic forces or Universal Law of Cause & Effect plays its role. As for the Super rich fellows in HK, they have a part to play to contribute to society, Chinese says "取之社会,用之社会,回归社会" & "饮水思源" (or Use in Society Give back to Society & know the source of water that you drinks)~these r Chinese moral values which is eroding in HK society. The role of the people at the Top end of Society should play their part in contributing to the bottom end of the society for a peaceful & harmonious society, this is lacking in HK & cud lead to tragedy.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

No, not everyone uses financial independence for personal good. There are many that are selfless and think of the better goods for people and country in general. Many use their wealth to better the lives of others, to do things for country, society and people.

Financial independence is a privilege to give, to do as one pleases. How one uses his money is his own right. Money and self are not the only things in this world. There is humanity at large. What good is all the money that is not put to good use, to improve the lot of humanity? What good is a miser with all his wealth?

This is simple wisdom. It is such a wonderful thing to give without feeling the pain of giving. The last few days in Kuching I was giving whenever I can. I buy whatever I wanted and paid whatever they asked. The feeling to be able to give freely, within my means, is so wonderful. A sense of liberty and freedom, to share with others.

Anonymous said...

To be fair to him, he did contributed to charity. But not in China or Hongkong. Most of his charitable activities have been done in the UK (that's why he got decorated with medals from the Queen of England), in Canada (where he got his citizenship), in Singapore (where is got his dual citizenship) and in the USA.

He did not want to be US Citizen because he will have to pay more taxes.

He is not very clever but he is very cunning. But he is now too old. So he fumbles and makes serious political errors. He was once Xi Jinping's mentor. And Xi Jinping knows his corrupted ways of doing business in China and Hongkong. Xi Jinping's Anti-Corruption Movement determined a list of highly corrupted officials in the Central Government. Through the investigations of those corrupted officials, a link to Li Ka-Shing was discovered three years ago. As the spider web was going to net him, Li Ka-Shing got wind about it. So he systematically extracted almost all of his "fortune" out of China and Hongkong, living only a token to maintain an appearance of make-belief "business as usual" to fool Xi Jinping.

That's why he has been selling his properties in China and secretly transferring his money through the backdoor out of China and Hongkong about two to three years ago.

It is has been reported that most of his wealth are now parked in Singapore, the UAE (Dubai) and a third country (Virgin islands?).

imho said...

''To be fair to him, he did contributed to charity. ''

Charity? He contributed to advance his business dominance.
There is no free lunch.
Li is an extremely cunning man.
His fall will be good for people.
Wealth will be distributed instead of hoarded.

Anonymous said...


Rb952am

Yes! Able to give freely within means is wonderful, is a joy....a better world!

Cheers....

Anonymous said...

Li Ka-Shing's Major Contributions

As of November 2019, Mr. Li has granted approximately HK$26 billion (US$3.3 billion) in charitable donations, approximately 80% in support of education reform initiatives and medical services in the Greater China region.

Hong Kong:

Donation of HK$1 billion to Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong announced in 2005.

"Love HK Your Way!" campaign launched in 2010, granted over HK$300 million as of September 2013. Thousands of social institutions were involved serving more than 3.3 million people.

Major projects include:

Love Ideas, Love HK (total 3 rounds)

“Heart of Gold” – Hong Kong Hospice Service Program (10 service centers established)

Love More

TrueBeam System donated to the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong & Prince of Wales Hospital

March of Social Engineers

Establishing Tsz Shan Monastery in 2013 to promote Buddhism.
Mainland China:

HK$6 billion were donated for the development of Shantou University as of 2012. The university was established in 1981 and is the only public university funded by a private foundation (Li Ka Shing Foundation) in China.

Initiated Hospice Service by Shantou Medical College in 1997 and extended to nationwide in 2002. To date, 32 Hospice Service centers are established.

In 2002, the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business was established to educate new generation of entrepreneur leaders.

In 2008, Project New Life for cleft lip and palate surgeries started.

In 2009, Pediatric Hernia Rehabilitation Program in Western China started.

In 2010, Project Define – Rural women development was run to enhance women's leadership.

In 2012, Love Ideas – Women's Project Guangdong started.

Singapore:

Donated to construction of the Singapore Management University and established the Li Ka-Shing Library in SMU.

Canada:

Supported the establishment of Institute of Virology of University of Alberta in Canada in 2009.

In 2013, granted a C$6.6 million donation for student and faculty exchanges between McGill University and Shantou University in China

USA:

Established the Center for Learning of Stanford University in the US in 2008.

Established the Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences of UC Berkeley in the US in 2011.

Offered a grant of $2 million to University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to advance precision medicine.

Created a partnership between UCSF and Shantou University, China, also in 2013.



In 2015, renewed support for Yale Stem Cell Center (YSCC) with a US$1.86 million grant for education and healthcare in 2015.

UK:

Established The Li Ka Shing Foundation Lord Sandberg Memorial Scholarship for Hong Kong students in memory of Lord Michael Sandberg of Passfield in King's College London (United Kingdom).

Established the Oxford University "Big Data" Conference in 2013.


Israel:

In 2013, sponsored US$130 million to create The Technion Guangdong Institute of Technology with the cooperation between Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Shantou University. The new institute aims to bring a new era of research and innovation in science, engineering, and life science in China and Isreal.

New Zealand:

Donated total HK$27.6 million to the University of Auckland Campaign For All Our Futures in 2016.

Australia:

Donated US$3 million for cancer research & precision oncology to the University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research (UMCCR) in 2017.

Other unrecorded and cannot be officially known contributions, donations and business goodwill gifts and financial assistance

Anonymous said...

Rejoice in the good deeds that you have done !

Anonymous said...

Base on his donations, his Contributions r juz that 10 to 20% of his wealth ( as compared to a poor person who contributed 30% to 60% of his/her worth to society is actually incomparable!). He cud hv do more to help the poor or low income (like bursary, scholarships, Enabling Grant, Abilities grant to special needs people etc), there is so much he cud do but he chose not to render more help to the poor.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

To have all the money but no home to go to. No matter how rich he is, living in foreign land is never home. China and Hong Kong are his homes, where his roots are, where he is somebody, where he is highly regarded, known to many people and knowing many people, friends, relatives.

He made a political misjudgement. It is not how much he has contributed but to take the side to want to tear Hong Kong away from China. This is treason, unforgiveable. Still wondering why he think he could get away with it. Just being neutral would be good enough.

Anonymous said...

@Anon 10.45am

It seems like his donations all has some form of Return On Investments (or ROI of some kind whether tangible or intangible ones) very clever & cunning indeed! Most people will think wow wat a lind and generous person he is, but in actual fact is all fools of craps ! He can't even be compared to Jack Ma who is loyal to his own homeland! A person tat lack loyalty will betrays it's own people when the time comes, let's see ..

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ RB

Kepala butoh lah sial... "Home" is where you make it, what you make of it. Planet Earth is our home, and we've been a Nomadic Species since we explored outside the African savannahs as primitive humans.

When your cuntry (of your birth) becomes toxic, some people choose to leave. Can you blame them? He won't be the first rich Chinese guy to quit China. But of course, he is more "high profile" so he's fodder for the naysayers and the overt negativity which scripts their lives.

Sir Martin LKS has nothing to be ashamed about lah. He's accomplished so much, and is a MASSIVE philanthropist. He started with nothing...as a refugee fleeing the Japs.

Superman? Damn straight lah...

I think he's earned "The Right" to do what he fucking damn well pleases.

Anonymous said...

《Chow Yun Fatt contributed all his wealth to charity.
There are many that contributed hundreds of millions of their wealth, as much as 80 or 90 per cent to charity or state. 》
- redbean

PAP Government has created so many PAP Millionaires with Singaporeans' tax money.
- created even more CECA Millionaires with Singaporeans' tax money

- but PAP will proudly never give any money to benefit Singaporeans
- and will continue to collect more money from Singaporeans

And Singaporeans will continue to proudly vote PAP.

Why liddat?

Anonymous said...


Hi 1156am good afternoon...

Yes! You are 1o8% correct!

Broken record here.... The masses will DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE vote for pap under ANY ALL conditions!

Yes! Don't know why? Why? Why? Why?

Hahahahahahahaha.....

Anonymous said...

The Rich invariably gets their money from the Masses. Anf Most do it through exploitations of labour and Market although there maybe a fraction of scrupulous folks amongst them.
However,
no matter what; hoarding too much money that one can never utilized due to limitations of time and lifespan, is definitel a great sin. They should have paid the Lowly Paid more in terms of welfare and or charge consumers less.
In the Old Days, even the PWD(Public Works Department) provided living quarter, subsidized utilities and FREE MEDICARE TO ALL FAMILY MEMBERS.
Wonder why some people like the British Colonial Master?
Do not be surprised that the Brit System was far superior than the Current Sin System by many folds.


Anonymous said...

PWD Labourers liked cable laying and lamp post erection, road laying etc were given all the Welfares mentioned in Above-comment.
Of course ALL WHO WORKED FOR THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT WERE TREATED SIMILARLY AND THOSE THAT RETIRED UNDER THAT SYSTEM ARE STILL RECEIVING PENSIONS IF THEY ARE SURVIVING. THIS DESPITE SIN WAS GIVEN TO LOCALS TO RULE.
NOW IN SIN,
IT IS YOU DIE YOUR BUSINESS
KANNINA SYSTEM.

Anonymous said...

@All,

Only a relatively small number of losers are jobless in Singapore.

https://sbr.com.sg/hr-education/news/chart-day-most-residents-outside-labour-force-finished-secondary-school-or-less

Based on the above report, you use the numbers & work out the stats and math ---- there are 284,490 jobless between the ages of 25-59.

Age 25-59 are the prime earning years & most needed to support families. So I bet VAST majority of these 280+K jobless will vote against PAPies.

Now .... how many voters are there in the next GE????

From Elections Department, there are 2,594,740 registered voters.

284,490 jobless out of 2,594,740 total voters.

That's less than 11%.

Now you know why PAPies are gonna get 75% votes next March GE!!! LOL!!!

BTW1, for those Sinkies who are holding jobs today .... MAJORITY of them are getting MUCH HIGHER salaries than ever before ... MUCH MORE than previous generations at the same age.

The salary increases across the board has been VERY HIGH from 2013 till 2019. Too high in fact .... Way above the increase in people's productivity. But of course people are happy.

If you're over 40 yrs old and you are not bringing in AT LEAST $60,000 income each year --- THE PROBLEM IS WITH YOU!!!

BTW2, officially according to the govt, I'm one of the losers in the 284K jobless, since I'm in the critical 25-59 age group. LOL!!!

Anonymous said...

The dude is not a Saint. Some one needed to be sodomized jialat jialat to wake up

Anonymous said...

Not only did he not use part of his wealth to help those in need in Hong Kong, he transferred most or all of his wealth made from the Hongkies to the West. He is already branded a traitor by China and cursed by many Hongkies for taking away all his money made at the expense of the impoverish Hongkies to benefit, of all countries, the USA.

But, true or not, there is rumour going on that he is losing much of his wealth in investments since moving to the US. Perhaps Karma is starting to work on him.

Anonymous said...

All traitor, betrayor, hypocrite, pretender, charlatan and rogue shall be ultimately exposed and despised.
The Sad Consequences is that their Ancestor and Succeeding Generation are tarnish by the Culprit.
Historý is not short of despicable folks who act noble and respectable. Some even got revered ļike demi-god by the Dafts. However;
the Truth shall prevail.
Be mindful of ones' own deed.

Anonymous said...

"To have all the money but no home to go to. No matter how rich he is, living in foreign land is never home."

If I have just 10 percent of his wealth, I will make 100% sure that I have many many homes in the world.

Anonymous said...

What
is home ?
Suppose different folks will have different interpretation and definition.
Would be interesting to have some opinions of what is home here.

Anonymous said...


"Do not be surprised that the Brit System was far superior than the Current Sin System by many folds"

True. The British Colonial Master treated the locals better than the present SIN Self-Declared Aristocats in many ways and many folds. There is no question about that.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Having homes all over the world is one thing. Not having a home in one's own country is a different matter. The roots have been severed, like duckweeds, flotsam.

A time will come when one will ask, who am I?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ ALL

Losing one's job might not be a "choice" in many situations. However remaining JOBLESS is a CHOICE!

For e.g.: you can always do volunteer work. Before you laugh at me and call me an asshole, you might want to change your POV here. Getting out and doing work without the expectation of pay---when you are out of OPTIONS, will eventually lead to you getting a PAID JOB.

Our brain (mind) creates meaning. Therefore the word HOME will mean different things to different people. For me, it is where I make my "sanctuary"...my private space where I get a feeling of it being a "home". I don't care about cuntries, because they are "fictions" made thru conquest and people drawing lines on a map. So I can make my "home" anywhere...as long as there is an economy happening and a nice flow of money, peace, reasonable level of comfort and wealth...I can live there.

"Nationalism" has never been part of my being. We live on one planet, and are of one race: The Human Race, evolved into seperate CULTURES. However, (especially) in the last 40 or so years, cultural barriers have diminished...it is so accepted now that in most developed societies that no one (except a few racists) really worries about sitting next to a person, or working for a person or employing a person from a different culture anymore.

As the racially fucked up previous generations make their way to UP LORRY-land, many of those racist ideas die with them. The BETTER EDUCATED young people in developed societies are essentially "colour blind".

On Empathy

EMPATHY is the foundational skill of every good communication, and communicator.

Sympathy, OTOH,is a passive response, more used so that one can appear to be "polite", aka bullshit and insincere. The one place where sympathy is valid is when offering condolences to someone close (i.e. you have a relationship) who has suffered a loss they had no control over...for e.g. death. (except for homicide and suicide, death is not a choice).

EMPATHY is required if you intend to READ PEOPLE accurately. It brings down "barriers"; it encourages them to "open up"....i.e. you get more useful and accurate SIGNAL on the inner workings of their mind. You foster TRUST. You focus your attention on them, and that works in your favour.

Human beings are mostly about "feeling". That's how they get most of their "information"...by emotions and feelings. Human beings are attuned to EMPATHETIC feelings. Let's face it, if we feel someone is "on the same page" as us, we are more likely to like, trust and want to be "friends" with them.

Bill Clinton is an example of The Gold Standard of EMPATHY. He makes you feel important, like you are the only person in the room he is paying 100% attention to.

The next obvious step is READING people, but....in order to do so, you need clear signals of their INTERNAL WORLD which can only be garnered by empathy.

Cam empathy be used to "manipulate people"? Absolutely. If "hacking humans" is your thing, you'd better get good at empathy.
=======

What's the difference between Li Kashing and a Filipina maid?

LKS has much more money than her. They both chose to leave their respective cuntries for a "better life" somewhere else.

Choosing to leave and live elsewhere is like most choices of human action: a Value Proposition.

for e.g.: ~25% of Singapore's resident population are FOREIGN. So what if LKS chooses to live in Singapore (or wherever)?

You all make a big deal out of nothing lah. Too much free time!😂

Anonymous said...

Matilar so much nonsense from you. I want to sodomize u lar despite your smelly asshole

Anonymous said...

Home, sympathy, empathy and feeling indeed vary from person to person.
However,
to use empathy to manipulate and hack others, is definitely the Opposite of its meaning. lt is wicked and sadistic.
As for sympathy is only for the dead and departed, MS should keep that sympathy to himself.
No dead person needs sympathy, it is invariably for living beings only.
Home as in nation, is non-existent for chap-cheng, unless the mixed-blood species relates himself or herself to a motherland.
Home basically is the Place where one lives with members of the family enjoy the weal and share the woes together most of the time, comes whatever may. Home is the place where sentient beings have the strongest feeling and bond for each others in the family.
A selfish being shall only be concern with oneself and also most likely one who frown on others doing less well than him or her.
There are many such folks in the Sin Cabinet.
One said that making less than half a million Sin Dollars a year is mediocre.
Another said that dignity can only be had if one is paid sinfully. Another has a daughter said get out of my incaring eyes. Others branded the downtrodden as lazy and daft.
Who You are is how You discipline Yourself and treat others. Obviously one has the right and freedom to be a beast or a human. The choice is Yours to make. Just pray that You need not suffer to need the sympathy, emphathy and pity of others.
Good health and Good Luck to All.

Anonymous said...

A person who lives like a beast does not know what a human being's home is like. This beast, can only have a slight inkling of what a human home is. So, humans must not be influenced by the beast's gibberish groans and howling.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

You like empathy? You think it is "good" for humans to have it? You're in luck mateys... New science discoveries suggest that psycopaths are MASTERS at empathy, and "emotional intelligence"

Now you know how Catholic priests get to fuck little boy's arseholes...🤡

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Related article:

Emotional Intelligence Can Be Used for Good or Evil (and That's Exactly Why You Need It)

Ok, now you know that humans can be "hacked"...go out into the field and PRACTICE lah 😂

Anonymous said...

"humans can be hacked"...go out into the field and PRACTICE lah".

Most humans are decent lah.