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7 June 2000
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| Mr Li Ka-shing, Chairman of
the Cheung Kong Group of Companies, was honoured with the Year
2000 International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award (IDEA) at
a gala dinner last night in Winnipeg, Canada. Mr Li is the first
Chinese who has received this award. |
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| This award was established in
1983 by the University of Manitoba Faculty of Management, and
the Associates of the Faculty of Management -- an organisation
of noted business leaders. The IDEA aims to honour a business
executive who has achieved outstanding entrepreneurial success,
and who has made an exemplary contribution to economic life. |
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| In announcing the award, John
Fraser, chairman of Air Canada and also chairman of the Nominating
Committee for the IDEA Associates, said, "We are honoured to
have someone of Mr Li's worldwide stature earn and accept the
International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award. His incredible
success is nothing short of phenomenal and the recognition he
has earned as one of the world's outstanding entrepreneurs makes
him eminently deserving of the 2000 Award." |
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| In a speech to mark the receipt
of the award, Mr Li reminiscenced on his 50 years of life as
a businessman, "It has not been an easy journey. My life has
been filled with challenges and competition. The constant demand
for one to be wise, to be far-seeing, and to be creative is
certainly tiring. Yet all in all, I am glad that I can say that
I am a happy man, for I have tried to serve society to the best
of my ability as a human being, as a citizen and as a businessman." |
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| For Mr Li, success in business
and compassion for mankind are certainly not mutually exclusive,
"It is my belief that the increasing pressures to maximise profit
and efficiency should not compromise our respect for equality
and our determination to minimise misery. All our progress would
hardly be meaningful if we choose to sacrifice human spirit
in pursuit of money and power, " he remarked. |
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| He continued, "I do not claim
to be a beacon of moral light, nor am I a guide for anyone save,
maybe my own sons. The loss and helplessness I went through
made me determined at an early stage that I would not value
myself for what I own or what power I can wield, but to make
my life worth living." |
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| During the past
years, Mr Li has contributed more than HK$3.8 billion (C$700
million) to many worthwhile causes, and in particular education
and medicine. He is devoting as much time to his philanthrophic
causes as his business, "I will continue to do the same and
more, not out of a sense of my duty but because it is a maxim
by which I choose to live my life," said Mr Li. |
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| The IDEA winner
is selected by the Nominating Committee of the Associates from
a list of nominees submitted by past winners of the award. Previous
honorees have included leading business figures in Canada and
icons of international businesses such as: Richard Branson (The
Virgin Group), Robert Goizueta (Coca-Cola Company) and Akio
Morita (Sony Corporation). |
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