Charles Lee Yeh-kwong, the first chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) became the chairman the Academy of Chinese Studies after stepping down from the top of the financial pyramid

Pivotal pioneer
Ling Wang
Monday, January 20, 2014

Charles Lee Yeh-kwong, the first chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) became the chairman the Academy of Chinese Studies after stepping down from the top of the financial pyramid.

Lee now endeavors to promote Chinese culture.

Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the first mainland enterprise listing in Hong Kong, and indeed, it was Lee, 77, who had pioneered the watershed event.

Mainland firms now account for more than half of Hong Kong’s total HK$24 trillion market capitalization.

In addition to bringing H shares to Hong Kong, Lee has been credited with being a prime mover in pushing through the merger of the city’s stock and futures exchange.

He also encouraged many of the territory’s biggest companies, including major developers to go public, as chairman of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority.

Born in Shanghai in 1936 during the Sino-Japanese war, Lee moved to Hong Kong with his family in 1949, attended Wah Yan College, then studied accounting before going Britain to qualify as a lawyer.

Returning from London, he took various roles, including politician, solicitor, administrator, reformer, academic and charity worker. Now, he prefers people to call him a “messenger of culture”.

Mr Lee told Sing Tao Daily, The Standard’s sister paper, he likes the saying from The Analects of Confucius: “While wealth is covetable for a gentleman as well, he takes it in its natural course.”

Recalling the global financial crisis in 2008, He added: “So long as it comes to humans, things are not easy to control because humans are greedy by nature.” Therefore, edification brought by culture education was important.he lays blame on greed of Wall Street elites. “That was a grave lesson. But with days gone, people seem to forget the pain as Wall Street’s greed comes back again,” Lee said. “Governments want to correct the situation, but how?”

He paraphrased a story circulated in Pingyao, Shanxi Province, from where he has just returned.

The city was the financial center during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the transition period between dynasties, the currency of the former dynasty depreciated sharply.

An owner of a private bank took pity on civilians who lost almost half of their life savings through currency depreciation, and deciding to exchange their currency with real gold prices.

“He suffered a great loss, of course, but it is a good example of doing business with morality,” Lee said.

He believes such good Chinese history is a treasure that deserves deeper exploration. The Academy of Chinese Studies is a non-profit organization established by renowned scholars in 1998. Lee is dedicated to promoting the website “Splendid Chinese civilization” (http://hk.chiculture.net).

The website has been running for more than 15 years, but has never had a high profile.

However, it has attracted a lot of overseas visitors, and the academy is translating the content into English. “You will be completely wrong if you think it’s an easy job,” Lee said.

“An article tens of thousand of words long needs more than one translator, but too many hands might spoil the coherence.” Despite the challenges, he would never give up. He believes that people should persist with meaningful things.

“It is a pity when you are capable, yet do nothing. When you are capable, then turn impossible into possible.”

In the past three decades, he has had numerous public roles. He feels sorry for the younger generation who show little enthusiasm for public service.

“The older generation felt they wanted to give something back to society when they tasted success. But the younger generation seems to think in a different way. They lack enthusiasm.”

There were lots of reasons for this, and politics was only one of them .

Asked if he would go back into public service, Lee said: “Opportunities should be left to the younger generation.”

But his public gowns have not disappeared for good.

He now heads the Hong Kong- Taiwan Economic and Cultural Cooperation and Promotion Council, and has been appointed as pro-chancellor. He has also been busy fund-raising for the Journalism Education Foundation to help it build a museum in Central.

As it gets harder for the government to find talent, Lee quoted a metaphor as food for thought.

“Man always complains it is hard to look for a girlfriend. For sure, it will be difficult when you require both beauty and brains. Sometimes you should lower the standards.”

He disagrees with those who criticize the young, saying: “Years ago, only one percent of people were admitted to university. Now over 60 percent attend colleges and universities, and one percent are as excellent as their predecessors.”

Although he was born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong, Lee’s family originated from Chiu Chow. He and another Chiu Chow tycoon, chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Li Ka-shing have a close friendship.

He helped Cheung Kong to list in 1972 and held a role of director in all Cheung Kong-related companies. Last year, he became independent non- executive director of Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa on a promise made 16 years ago.

“I joined the Executive Council in 1997, so I had to quit all the positions in listed companies. He [Li Ka-shing] said it was good to serve society, but when you finish the job in Exco, please come back to help me,” he said.

Li Ka-shing commented on current affairs and business issues in an interview conducted by mainland media last November. Asked how he sees his old friend’s remarks, Lee laughed and said, “Of course I cannot tell you.”

At 77, Lee still has lots of energy. He walks quickly, and still visits the office of Woo Kwan Lee & Lo law firm, which he co-founded in 1973. He is also a regular at a coffee shop in The Landmark..

Asked his opinion on Occupy Central, he said: “It’s OK to express ideas, but you have to adhere to the law.”

He likes scuba diving. His endurance of staying under the water would put many young divers to shame.

“People say diving is dangerous, but actually its the safest to stay under water. If I am under water when a tsunami hits, I would not feel it.”