HALL OF FAME
RONNIE CHAN
Hang Lung Group tycoon Ronnie Chan hit headlines around the world in 2014 when he gave US$350 million through his family’s Morningside Foundation to Harvard University, which at the time was the largest donation ever received by the institution. But that wasn’t even Chan’s total giving for the year: he also donated US$20 million to the University of Southern California. And Chan gives time as well as money: he is chairman of the non‑profit educational institution the Asia Society Hong Kong Center and chairman emeritus of the Asia Society’s global board, as well as chairman of the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society, which aims to improve the quality and quantity of philanthropy in Asia.
LI KA-SHING
Billionaire Li Ka-shing was given the nickname Superman because of his enormous influence over Hong Kong’s business community, but the moniker applies just as neatly to his position as one of the city’s most generous philanthropists. The CK Hutchison
( magnate regularly gives enormous sums to universities and hospitals: he has donated HK$1 billion to the faculty of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, US$40 million to the University of California Berkeley and £20 million to the University of Oxford. Li has pledged to donate to charity a third of his wealth—which is estimated at more than US$28 billion, at the time of writing—so Superman’s work is not over yet.
KOH SEOW CHUAN
DP Architects co-founder Koh Seow Chuan is the renowned architect responsible for punctuating our cityscape with Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. But since his retirement in 2004, he has been spending more time nurturing his artistic and historical interests. The 81-yearold philanthropist, who was also appointed founding chairman of the National Gallery Singapore in 2009, has since made significant donations to the Singapore Art Museum, which included paintings by Singapore artists Lim Tze Peng and Wong Keen. He also donated historic photographs and postcards to the Singapore Philatelic Museum, and historical items from the 19th and early 20th century to the National Library Board, which led to the creation of the Koh Seow Chuan Collection—it provides researchers with insight into the social history of Singapore.