Having heard that the grocery chain Park’N’Shop is owned by Li Ka Shing, I grew quite curious about his background. I’ve heard his name occasionally arise in the conversations dealing with fortune, so its about time I came across a documentary of Li Ka Shing and decided to find out how the richest man in Hong Kong reached his achievements. Li Ka Shing is the owner of four harbors, owner of conglomerates of Hong Kong’s
His companies make up 15% of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, earning him the title as one of the most powerful men in Asia. He has made various donates throughout the world. The main building of HKU Medical Campus is named after him. There is a Li Ka Shing research foundation in Berkeley, California.
Li cultivated a frugal yet determined personality at a young age of 12 when he lost his father to tuberculosis. The death of his father was particularly haunting because he was left with a question of “What do you have to tell me?” instead of given wise words. Li believed that everyone were given equal opportunities, and he was determined a prosperous future by studying hard while his friends played during his elementary years. By the time Li was 17, he had a vivid goal that he would own a business. Humble on the surface of press, but internally fueled on the inside, Li believes success comes from hard work, good timing and persistence. As the saying goes there is no free lunch. The most grounded young plants are found in the tallest hills where wind and rain are strongest. This analogy explains that achievements are always preceded with difficulty as nothing comes easy. The luck of business is grasped in the hands of keen speculation. His conglomerate was formed by buying out companies during stock market crashes.
He currently lives in Canada and occasionally travel back to Hong Kong for business. The documentary has also shed light to how he spends his past time. Every morning, he wakes at 5:59AM in time to listen to the news about the stock market. He then spends the first 1/2 hour playing golf with his golf mate. The mate says that although Li’s posture is not the best, he frequently loses to Li’s practical and consistence play. This reflects how he runs his businesses.
The success story of Li Ka Shing is indeed a remarkable and influential one. I am at the lack of words how he affects the minds of Hong Kong.
