CUHK Lives and Legends

29 ‘CUHK has given me three treasures: freedom, general education, and minors.’ fintech company which saves people from overdrafts and unnecessary bank fees during tough financial times, and the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) of Telegram, an instant- messaging app which announced the launch of its own cryptocurrency at the beginning of the year. Kelvin remarked that his company had recently forayed into health tech and was planning to devote 70% of its manpower and capital to the field. But why put all the eggs in one basket? ‘In sci-fi films, the arch-villain is usually a pharmaceutical or genetics company. If we don’t get prepared in time and steer the health industry on the right path, the age of evil pharmaceutical companies taking over the world will come sooner than we think. ‘I founded my companies with the mission to make the world a better place. Making money is just a by- product,’ he said in all seriousness. Last year, AID acquired GeneSort, an Israeli company that pioneers liquid biopsy test for early cancer detection. Only a small amount of cells and tissues are required for diagnosis, and target therapy drugs will help spare patients the pain of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. ‘In future, getting cancer will be like catching cold. Once the early symptoms have been diagnosed, cancer can be cured with just the right mix of drugs. This will be the way forward for health care.’ Intarcia is another health-tech company in which AID has invested. This US company is most famous for its matchstick-sized osmotic mini- pump placed just under a diabetic’s skin to administer the medication on a daily basis. Patients will no longer need to worry if they fail to take their medications or get their injections on time. On his recipe for success in private equity investing, Kelvin responded with his signature humour, ‘Of course, you’ve got to have money above all else.’ With a changed tone, he added, ‘But, more importantly, you’ve got to have a keen sense of curiosity about the world and a heartfelt desire to change it.’ He attributed the origin of such a world view to his days as a business administration student at CUHK: ‘CUHK has given me three treasures: freedom, general education, and minors. The atmosphere of freedom on campus gave wings to my mind. General education whetted my appetite for literature, history, and philosophy. The minor programmes in Japanese and French honed my language skills, which have proven a great asset for me to do business around the world.’ To facilitate his identifying Korean projects for investment, he went so far as to relocate to South Korea for months to master the Korean language. Catching sight of the horizontal scroll on the wall featuring calligraphy by the late Prof. Jao Tsung-I, this writer finally came to see the point of the inscription: ‘Providence rewards diligence’.