Grand Gestures

Property developers Peter and Martin Lee are helping with immunity supplements, laptops for students and even sterilising city buses

In late January, Peter and Martin Lee, who took over Hong Kong property developer Henderson Land from their father, Lee Shau-kee, last year, established the Henderson Development Anti-epidemic Fund. “Since the outbreak of this epidemic, we have been garnering resources and liaising with various organisations and government departments in Hong Kong and Mainland China to provide the materials and support they need,” says Peter. The initiative is funded privately by the Lee family.

The pair first focused their attention on Wuhan and sponsored Traditional Chinese Medicine company Purapharm to manufacture a series of immunity-boosting formulas, more than 1.5 million packs of which have been distributed to patients in Mainland China and to the doctors and nurses treating them. They also worked with health supplement manufacturer Aland to produce 220,000 packs of vitamin C supplement and 460,000 energy bars for healthcare workers in Wuhan, many of whom worked nearly round the clock for weeks on end.

In their hometown of Hong Kong, the brothers have funded the sterilisation of public transport, including ferries, school buses and all of the roughly 4,600 minibuses and 20,000 taxis in the city. The process uses a new cleaning product called Raze, which kills pathogens that land on surfaces and is effective for up to three months. Peter is an investor in Raze and hopes to offer it to restaurants as well.

Martin funded one million masks for underprivileged children through Unicef Hong Kong, and the brothers gave 2,000 laptop computers to students in need. “My four children need to shift to online classes due to school suspension over the epidemic, and they are still adapting to this new learning mode,” says Martin. “The new online learning mode is causing a financial burden for [some] families. It is for this reason that we are giving laptop computers with full data provision to students in need, so they can continue to study at home and stay safe.”

And the brothers are committed to giving more. “The Henderson Development Anti-epidemic Fund will continue to closely monitor the pandemic and will respond promptly to society’s needs,” says Peter.