[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 97 (Thursday, June 12, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1218-E1219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING MR. LI KA-SHING, GLOBAL PHILANTHROPIST, ENTREPRENEUR, 
                            CORPORATE LEADER

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 12, 2008

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute 
to Mr. Li Ka-shing of Hong Kong and to celebrate his extraordinary 
life, service, and achievements on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
  The vast accomplishments in business of this global icon place him 
easily among the most successful and respected entrepreneurs of our 
day--Gates, Buffett, Branson and others. But his contributions in 
philanthropy, a new concept Mr. Li is introducing in China, also rank 
him among those business giants--Carnegie, Rockefeller, and 
Vanderbilt--who understood the benevolent, ennobling uses of wealth to 
strengthen and lift others.
  No one who examines the life of Mr. Li Ka-shing can help but 
appreciate the power of purpose not only in shaping one's life but 
destiny as well. He has shown what a life guided by deep, constant 
purpose and fueled by optimism, determination, and industry can 
achieve--despite odds and obstacles that may appear insurmountable. 
With purpose, he has built companies and changed lives with 
compassionate giving.
  As a child, in 1940, Li Ka-shing fled China with his family to escape 
the Japanese invasion. The family arrived destitute in Hong Kong, with 
little prospects for the future. His father was an educator, his mother 
a loving and noble influence in his life. As a young boy, Mr. Li showed 
great academic promise. But circumstances and necessity--his father was 
stricken with tuberculosis and later died--forced him to abandon his 
dream of receiving an education. At 12, he had to leave school to work 
in a factory to support his family. Despite his young age, the power of 
purpose had taken hold of him as he pushed himself to endure grueling 
16-hour workdays. By 22, Mr. Li's hard work and perseverance had earned 
him the ownership of his own plastics factory, Cheung Kong Industries.
  He was known for his honesty, his loyalty and customer service. There 
is a well-known story in Hong Kong how on one occasion, a large 
contract with a U.S. business was cancelled after Mr. Li had completed 
the manufacturing. The business had decided to change direction in what 
it wanted. Mr. Li not only did not charge the U.S. businessman who had 
changed his mind, but proceeded to complete the second order as 
directed. This single act later opened the door to Mr. Li and his 
company becoming one of the key producers of toys and home decorations 
for American companies. In fact, to this day, some still refer to him 
as G.I. Joe, as it was Mr. Li and his company that manufactured that 
popular line of toys in the '60s and '70s.

  Building on this foundation, Mr. Li expanded into real estate 
investment, creating a company that was listed on the Hong Kong Stock 
Exchange in 1972. Meanwhile, Cheung Kong continued its rapid growth 
trajectory with acquisitions of Hutchison Whampoa, a British trading 
company that has been active in Hong Kong since the 1820's, and Hong 
Kong Electric Holdings Limited in 1979 and 1985, respectively.
  Today, Mr. Li leads a vast global business empire as 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 57 countries around the world and employs about 
260,000 staff. In Hong Kong alone, the Group includes eight listed 
companies with a combined market capitalization of approximately US$122 
billion.
  The Cheung Kong Group's 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. Hutchison Whampoa 
Limited is a Fortune Global 500 company.
  Mr. Li's personal holdings confer the distinction of being Asia's 
richest man. But his deep humility and gratitude--coupled with an 
intrinsic understanding of the true value of money and the good it can 
do--have never allowed him to flaunt his wealth or his position. True 
to the lessons of his humble beginnings and hardships and his Horatio 
Alger story, he has found that wealth, when used to serve others and 
not self, can be employed with great purpose and power.
  Mr. Li believes that an equitable society can only be achieved if 
individuals are ready to do their part. In 1980, he established a 
charitable foundation--the Li Ka Shing Foundation. Its mission is 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

[[Page E1219]]

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 in the billions of dollars.
  The Hong Kong entrepreneur's giving heart is novel and legendary in a 
part of the world that has no tradition of philanthropy. Mr. Li has not 
only given away far in excess of US$1 billion to support a host of 
worthwhile causes and programs, but his giving continues with hundreds 
of millions of dollars each year. And his giving transcends country 
boundaries and nationalities. He has sponsored children's centers, 
church buildings, cancer research centers, scholarships in the United 
Kingdom, the School of Medicine at Stanford University, as well as 
medical research projects at the University of California at Berkeley, 
among other initiatives. He has created a hospice program throughout 
China that brings pain relief for patients terminally ill with cancer. 
He has built hospitals and eye clinics where rural Chinese can receive 
cataract surgery free of charge. When the tragic tsunami hit Indonesia, 
Mr. Li was the world's first businessman to provide immediate and 
personal relief, just as he did more recently with the deadly 
earthquakes in China.

  He has provided millions of dollars in aid to wage a global battle 
against hepatitis, avian flu, and degenerative diseases. Despite his 
own thwarted hope of an education, Mr. Li has placed this dream within 
the reach of thousands of young and aspiring Chinese. In 1981, he 
endowed and established Shantou University in Guangdong Province. The 
university has nine colleges, including a medical college with five 
affiliated hospitals. Enrollment is open to students across China. 
Today, the university has 6,500 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate 
students. It is the centerpiece of his philanthropy, the very heart of 
his giving. Last year, Chairman John Conyers of the House Committee on 
the Judiciary, Congresswoman Diane Watson, and I spoke at Shantou 
University, and I cannot adequately explain the spirit that exists on 
that campus, where students who would otherwise receive no education 
are given an opportunity that opens to them the doors of world.
  Shantou has internships and educational relationships throughout the 
world--in Europe and Canada, here in the United States with such 
prestigious institutions as my alma mater, Berkeley, as well as 
Stanford, the University of Utah, and others. Its curriculum is cutting 
edge, bringing a whole new and exciting learning paradigm to 
traditional Chinese education. In addition to Shantou University, Mr. 
Li supports other major educational projects such as 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 a few.
  Mr. Li's generosity is not limited to health care and education. He 
is also a committed patron of culture--art, dance, music, literature, 
sports, and the preservation of artifacts--as well as community 
welfare. In fact, Madam Speaker, he is a patron of the John F. Kennedy 
Center for the Performing Arts. His support even has gone so far as the 
Dance Theatre of Harlem.
  No less of a business authority than Forbes magazine has taken note 
of Mr. Li's magnanimity and dedication to improving the lives of people 
around the world. For his past and present philanthropy, it conferred 
upon him the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award at a gathering of 
many of Asia's top business leaders in Singapore.
  From his businesses to his service, to his generosity, to his 
countless acts of compassion toward others--all these flow from a heart 
stayed upon a single purpose, a guiding ideal for life: to love others 
by serving and lifting them. For those who have had the privilege of 
meeting Mr. Li, they feel the bright, generous, benevolent, yet humble 
spirit of this man through his broad and warm smile. He radiates good 
will, genuine concern, and humanity for all--regardless of station of 
life. And he delights in being a servant of no man in particular but of 
all men in general. This has been his life's purpose.
  Mr. Li's example can teach us much about the things of the heart, 
those invisible powers and energies of the spirit that can be summoned 
for good. His is and has been a remarkable life and legacy that remind 
all of us that we can aim a little higher and do a little more to lift 
lives and strengthen others through service--whatever our own gifts may 
be, no matter how meager we think them. And the best time to begin is 
now.
  Madam Speaker, in recognition of his achievements as a global 
philanthropist, entrepreneur, and corporate leader, I am deeply honored 
to insert into the Congressional Record a letter signed by 20 Members 
of the U.S. House of Representatives commemorating Mr. Li's 80th 
birthday. By making this letter a part of American history, we salute 
this great man and honor the occasion of his birth on June 13, 1928.

                                Congress of the United States,

                                    Washington, DC, June 13, 2008.
     Mr. Li Ka-shing,
     Chairman, Cheung Kong Holdings, Ltd.,
     Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong.
       Dear Mr. Li: On the occasion of your 80th birthday, we are 
     writing to honor and recognize your extraordinary life, 
     distinguished career, humanitarian service, achievements, and 
     legacy as a global philanthropist and entrepreneur who leads 
     a vast business empire as chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings 
     Limited and Hutchison Whampoa Limited (a Fortune Global 500 
     company) with operations in 57 countries, a workforce of 
     260,000, and a combined market capitalization of nearly 
     US$122 billion.
       We especially commend you for using your wealth to serve 
     others. Believing that an equitable society can only be 
     achieved if individuals are ready to do their part, you 
     established a charitable foundation--the Li Ka Shing 
     Foundation. Backed by your personal initiative and example, 
     and sustained by the Foundation's mission, you introduced a 
     broad-based philanthropy to a part of the world that has no 
     tradition of it. Promoting what you affectionately call your 
     ``third son''--the notion of giving beyond the confines of 
     family to others in need--you have established and nurtured a 
     culture of giving in China and throughout Asia to underwrite 
     worthwhile efforts supporting charitable aims.
       While donating more than US$1 billion to support a host of 
     worthwhile causes and programs worldwide, including 
     sponsorship of children's centers, church buildings, cancer 
     research centers, scholarships in the United Kingdom, the 
     School of Medicine at Stanford University, as well as medical 
     research projects at the University of California at 
     Berkeley, you have also provided millions of dollars in aid 
     to wage a global battle against hepatitis, avian flu, and 
     degenerative diseases, and, more recently, nearly US$20 
     million in disaster relief to the victims of the Sichuan 
     earthquake. We are touched by your work to alleviate pain for 
     those suffering from cancer through your remarkable hospice 
     program, as well as your efforts to build hospitals and 
     provide eyes surgeries for those unable to pay.
       Despite your own thwarted hope of pursuing an education, 
     you are also fulfilling the dreams of thousands of young and 
     aspiring Chinese through numerous universities, including 
     Shantou University, which you endowed and established in 
     1981, with nine colleges, including a medical college, 
     serving 6,500 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students.
       As a patron of culture, your generosity extends to art, 
     dance, music, literature, sports, and the preservation of 
     artifacts. We thank you, specifically, for being a 
     significant patron of the John F. Kennedy Center for the 
     Performing Arts in Washington, DC, and for also embracing the 
     Dance Theatre of Harlem.
       We join with Forbes magazine, which conferred upon you the 
     first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award at a gathering in 
     Singapore of Asia's top business leaders, in recognizing your 
     past and present philanthropy. Truly, your countless acts of 
     compassion toward others flow from a heart stayed upon a 
     single purpose, a guiding ideal for life--to love others by 
     serving and lifting them.
       Yours has been a remarkable life and legacy that reminds 
     all of us that we can aim higher and do more to lift lives 
     and strengthen others through service, and that the best time 
     to begin is now.
       We wish you a happy birthday and many more.
           Sincerely,
         Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Chairman, Foreign Affairs' 
           Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific & the Global 
           Environment; Diane E. Watson; Howard P. ``Buck'' 
           McKeon, Ranking Member, Committee on Education & Labor; 
           Eddie Bernice Johnson, Chairwoman, Transportation 
           Subcommittee on Water Resources & Environment; Jim 
           Moran; William J. Jefferson; Donna M. Christensen, 
           Chairwoman, Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Insular 
           Affairs; Grace F. Napolitano, Chairwoman, Natural 
           Resources' Subcommittee on Water & Power; Albio Sires; 
           Ed Pastor; Mike Honda, Chairman, Congressional Asian 
           Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC); Dan Burton, Ranking 
           Member, Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on the Western 
           Hemisphere; John Conyers, Jr., Chairman, House 
           Committee on the Judiciary; Madeleine Z. Bordallo, 
           Chairwoman, Natural Resources' Subcommittee on 
           Fisheries, Wildlife & Oceans; Keith Ellison; Bennie G. 
           Thompson, Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security; Joe 
           Baca, Chairman, Agriculture Subcommittee on 
           Departmental Operations, Oversight, Nutrition & 
           Forestry; Raul M. Grijalva, Chairman, Natural 
           Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests & 
           Public Lands; Silvestre Reyes, Chairman, House 
           Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and Luis V. 
           Gutierrez, Chairman, Financial Services' Subcommittee 
           on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade & 
           Technology.




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