Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2002

on. A n d , over all these years, Dr. L u i has indeed gone f r om strength to strength in the furtherance of his business activities. Ap a rt f r om sustained g r o w th i n H o ng Kong, the K. Wah Group is proactively investing i n the mainland and Singapore, and K. Wah Construction Materials Limited is one of the five major suppliers of b u i l d i ng materials in Hong Kong, its principal markets being Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland. In the United States the L u i family holds 17 five-star hotels w h i c h specialize in accommodation for the business traveller and, in 1998, his company became the 12th largest hotel consortium in that country. Dr. L ui is very fond of the hotel industry, for it is not a speculative business, but one i n w h i ch progress is made steadily and on a sure footing, w i t hout empty slogans, but w i t h f l e x i b i l i ty exercised i n a general atmosphere of prudence. These are, of course, very mu ch in line w i t h his o wn investment philosophy. Dr. L ui is a staunch supporter of professional training for the hotel i n d u s t ry i n H o n g Ko n g, and an em i n e nt backer of The Chinese U n i v e r s i t y 's p l a ns f or the establishment of its teaching hotel and the School of Ho t el and Tourism Management. On v a r i o us occasions he has r e p e a t e d ly expressed in public his w i sh and enthusiasm for the development of Hong Kong as a centre of excellence in hotel management in Asia. Furthermore, Dr. L u i is a participant in the d e v e l o pme nt of ad v an c ed t e c h n o l o gy i n Ho ng Kong, and since the d a wn of the 21st century his quarrying company has adopted advanced, ecologically f r i end ly facilities to reduce dust, and special departments have been set u p w i t h i n the company to ensure environmental safety and employee health, the ultimate goal being the dual advantages of mo d e rn e n v i r o nme n t al protection: ‘to protect in the course of development' and ‘to develop in the course of protection'. Dr. L ui has a special concern for the future of Ho ng Kong, a nd has proposed on ma ny p u b l ic occasions that the business o p p o r t u n i t i es c om i ng w i t h China's entry into the Wo r ld Trade Organization are too precious to be missed. In his v i e w , H o n g K o ng s h o u ld c a p i t a l i ze on the a d v a n t a g es it a l r e a dy possesses to become the leader in commerce, trading, as we ll as mu n i c i p al development w i t h in the Pearl Delta, and then to scale new heights u p o n this basis. The f o r e s i ght is particularly relevant at the present time as Ho ng Kong citizens are beginning to rebuild their confidence. Despite a full business and public service schedule, Dr. L ui has never failed to find time f o r c h a r i t a b le causes, to w h i c h he has c o n t r i b u t ed i n v e ry substantial amounts. Medical services and education in particular have benefited f r om his generosity. Take the Wu y i University in Jiangmen as an example, Dr. L u i was the sole donor of the Great Ha ll and the Science and Technology Bu i l d i ng. Ap a rt f r om generous giving, he personally liaised w i t h other Wu y i residents abroad, for t h e i r s u p p o r t a nd c o n t r i b u t i on to t he development of the University. In addition, D r. L u i has c o n t r i b u t ed s u b s t a n t i a l ly to establish various educational f u n ds w h i ch h a v e f a c i l i t a t ed t he d e v e l o p m e nt o f institutions ranging f r om the primary to the tertiary, and great are the numbers of those w h o have been assisted in various wa ys i n their quest for education. Dr. L u i Che Woo w a s a p p o i n t ed a M e m b e r of the M o s t Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1982 and a Non-Official Justice of the Peace in 1986. He w a s elected a C i t i z en of H o n o u r of Gu a n g z h ou and Jiangmen i n 1993, and of N a n j i n g i n 1994. I n a p p r e c i a t i on of his o u t s t a n d i ng c o n t r i b u t i o n s, t he P u r p le Mountain Observatory in Nanjing named the asteroid 5538 i n the international series the ‘ L ui Che Woo Star' in 1995. In 1996 he was presented the ‘ Ou t s t a n d i ng C o n t r i b u t i on Awa r d' in Guangzhou. In 1997 he received t h e A w a r d f o r C o n t r i b u t i o n i n t h e Z h e n x i n g d a ze Series a nd an h o n o r a ry doctorate in laws f r om Victoria University in British Columbia in 2001. The public offices that Dr. L ui has held are t oo m a n y to e n ume r a t e. The ma j or a p p o i n t me n ts i n c l ude memb e r s h ip at the 4 8 Chinese University Bulletin Autumn • Winter 2002