Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1999

Fong Yun-wah DBA, LLD, MBE, J P Education is a life-long process both for individuals and societies. Dr. Fong Yun-wah touches on its essence and significance for us all when he remarks that T he impact of education is not confined to the existing generation, but never-ending.' Coming from a family where his father had no chance to complete secondary school, Fong Yun-wah's own schooling was interrupted by the war, and so he shares his father's ideal of helping young people to pursue their education, giving them a better practical chance of success in life. He has put this youthful idealism for improving the human condition into practice for over 30 years by donating a constant percentage of profits yearly t o this work. He has held firmly to the same hope and optimism throughout his career. Dr. Fong, in the grand tradition of Hong Kong business people, is chairman of a group of companies ， the Hip Shing Hong Group; is also managing director of another firm, the Kam Wah Investment Company; chairs two charitable organizations, the Fong Shu Fook Tong Foundation and the Fong’s Family Foundation; while serving as a member o f a third, the Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation. Through these activities he has made enormous contributions to the development of schooling at kindergarten, primary, and secondary levels in Hong Kong and especially in mainland China. This splendidly comprehensive effor t has led to his being named b y Beijing as one of China's Ten Charitable Champions for 1997, a year in which he was the only Hong Kong recipient. Through the Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation he has promoted valuable exchanges between Hong Kong and the mainland, contributing to the development of talent and leadership in China. Nor has he neglected tertiary education, being on the Board of Trustees of United College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, fo r over three decades, and on the college's Endowment Fund Committee, as well as talcing a keen interest in adult learning, through the Sponsorship and Development Fund Committee in The Open University of Hong Kong. That his caring about education extends widely into China mainland may be seen from the long list of institutions to which he serves as a special adviser, including Nanjing and Yunnan Universities, and Chinese University Bulletin Spring • Summer 1999 S2