4 September 2007

Li Ka-shing's gift: Tribute to those who serve the people

THE $100 million gift to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) is a tribute to those who serve the people, said Hong Kong entrepreneur Dr Li Ka-shing. Addressing the audience at the unveiling of a building named after him at the School, he said that serving the people is a noble and conscious choice.

DEDICATION CEREMONY: Dr Li Ka-shing (centre, left) and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew unveiling the Li Ka Shing plaque. They are flanked by NUS President Prof Shih Choon Fong (extreme left) and Prof Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of LKYSPP.

"Serving the people as a leader requires a lifetime of energy and time. This is no easy task. It is humbling and tiring. But it will be rewarding as your effort will have a long-lasting influence," he said in Mandarin.

Dr Li’s gift will create an endowment fund to support academic activities by offering scholarships and establishing chair professorships. The gift is matched dollar for dollar by the Singapore Government.

Guest-of-honour Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said the scholarships will benefit students from China, Hong Kong, India and ASEAN countries to train future leaders. "They can raise the standards of governance of their countries and improve the lives of the people and transform Asia," he said.

Prof Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of LKYSPP, described Dr Li’s gift as "more than a gift to one school" but "a gift to the entire region" because many growing Asian economies are facing the challenge of developing institutions of governance and regulation.

This year, five LKYSPP students from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and China have been awarded the Li Ka Shing scholarships. One of them, Ms Magdalena Legaspi Mendoza, from the Philippines, said: "He has touched my life and others who stand to benefit from better ideas and decisions that I would make in the future (as a policy maker)."