The virtue of the simple life
While giving away over HK$1 billion to support education in China, the late Tin Ka-ping led a simple life.
He had seen hardship. In his hometown of Yintan village, Meizhou city of Guangdong province, he’d seen farmers at hard labor planting rice so that he never wasted food and he taught that principle to his sons and daughters.
Tin and his wife spent less than HK$3,000 a month on food and other necessities. He seldom went out in his later life and when he did, he took the MTR.
Tin’s eldest son Tin Hing-sin said he seldom saw his father buy new clothes or accessories unless the old ones were worn out. His eldest daughter Tin Suk-fong said that, when traveling, her father finished every bottle of water, and took his own soap. He said he didn’t want to waste disposable soaps in the hotels.
Tin Hing-sin recalled that his father discouraged his children from buying him gifts, even for his birthday. “My father would return the gifts to us and ask us to use them. If it was food, he would only accept a little,” Tin Hing-sin recalled.
While Tin Ka-ping lived a frugal life, he was generous in helping others. According to the childhood memories of his sons and daughters, their house in Hong Kong was like a “hotel”, as their father’s relatives or friends from the Chinese mainland or overseas would often lodge there. When there wasn’t enough room, Tin’s family would allow guests to sleep in their bed while family members slept on the living room floor.
Tin Ka-ping’s third daughter, Tin Sok-lin, recalled the brother of one of her schoolmates asked if her father could help him go to the United States to complete his education. Tin Ka-ping immediately agreed — and when the young man offered to write a receipt, Tin told him not to bother and that all he wanted in return was for him to succeed.
Tin was especially generous toward educational causes, but he didn’t stop there. What he had done bridged the road of success for children in seeking education. He also devoted himself and his resources to constructing roads, bridges, school libraries, as well centers for the elderly and youths. There are six roads named after him.
Chinese people always say, “happiness lies in contentment”, but only a few can find contentment in what they have. Tin Ka-ping was one of the few. Although he achieved success in business and earned a fortune, he never lived in luxury, but remained content with a simple life. He took the old Chinese saying “frugality cultivates virtues” as his motto, and lived by it faithfully all his life.
The title of Tin Ka-ping’s autobiography is “My Happy Life”. Being thrifty was one of his secrets for achieving happiness.