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(Singapore and Hong Kong, 24 February 2006) Today marked the official opening of the Li Ka Shing Library at Singapore Management University.
Dr Li Ka-shing, Chairman of Li Ka Shing Foundation www.lksf.org and Hutchison Whampoa Limited www.hwl.com.hk, a world-renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist, officiated at the opening of the library together with special guest Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
In 2002 together with Hutchison Whampoa Group, a gift of S$19.5 million, the largest contribution ever made to a Singapore university at the time, was granted to SMU by the Li Ka Shing Foundation, of which $15 million has been earmarked for the endowment of the library and the remaining portion dedicated towards the setting up of eight scholarships to support scholars from Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr Li shared his long-standing feelings for Singapore, "Today feels a great deal like a fond and endearing walk down memory lane for me," Dr Li was reminiscent of 1967 when his young family came to Singapore amidst the looming threat of turbulence and uncertainty.
In a speech titled "Between Form and Substance", Dr Li shared his thoughts on the importance of "responsible citizenship".
"The prime challenge as I see it today is how to nurture responsible citizenship, how to build in the hearts and minds of genuinely progressive young men and women the will as well as the means to carry our true hope for the future."
Dr Li believes that it is important for the thinking, innovative and inspired men and women to feel a deeper sense of responsibility and public duty towards their world and beyond and care as much for individual dignity as for society's collective honour.
"The road to true liberalism is a long one," he said. "We must not succumb to the belief that by merely providing the mechanism of participation we have achieved our goal... structure might hold us together but substance is the essence of a bright and transcendent future." He used the library as an example, "I believe that this new library structure would find its beautiful soul if it inspires us to seek who we are, who we all are and where we shall be."
Attending the official opening, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said, "Dr Li is a man with great vision and foresight - an entrepreneur whose business acumen and strong sense of social responsibility is known the world over. A firm believer in the value of education, he advocates this through his philanthropic donations. His ideals permeate borders with his generous donations to the education causes around the region and now, Singapore." He also noted Dr Li's decision to invest in SMU was a result of SMU's "unique pedagogy and mission to produce students of a different calibre - students who are globally oriented, socially responsible and actively contributing to society."
Mr Ho Kwon Ping, Chairman of SMU, added, "The library will support SMU's world-class teaching and research by serving as the gateway to a vast resource of information. It is also designed to bring students from across campus to congregate and share ideas, innovations and creativity."
Poised to become the unified centre for information creation, discovery and management, the five-storey library is situated at the heart of SMU's new city campus and serves faculty and students from all four schools, as well as the educational community and public. The library is a resource for both print and electronic collections and boasts study and training areas, a 24-hour reading room, a lounge and cafe and state-of-the-art facilities such as wireless network connections, virtual interactive terminals and multimedia laboratories. The University's Visitor Centre takes pride of place on the ground floor, and is the centre point of the 4.5-hectare campus.
The Li Ka Shing Library showcases unique architectural features, such as the louvered windows facing the Campus Green, which permit abundant natural light and also allow for dramatic views of the surrounding district - including such buildings as the National Museum of Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum; skylights and light wells that infuse the interior spaces with natural brightness; and exterior planter boxes filled with natural greenery that cascades down the library's modern, curvilinear facades.
The foyer entrance of the library will feature a unique art piece titled "Sea of Learning", which was the winning entry of the Public Art Competition jointly organized by the Li Ka Shing Foundation and SMU.
A total of 17 submissions was received from Singapore, Mainland China and Hong Kong, and the work of Ms Connie Chu and Mr David Biddlecombe of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University was selected for installation. The artwork is a metaphoric interpretation of the ancient Chinese saying, "The sea of learning is boundless, perseverance is the key."
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| Dr Li Ka-shing delivers a speech titled "Between Form and Substance" to guests, teaching staff and students of SMU attending the opening ceremony of the Li Ka Shing Library. |
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| Dr Li Ka-shing and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew unveil the plaque to mark the official opening of the Li Ka Shing Library while SMU Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping (far right) looks on. |
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| Dr Li Ka Shing shakes hands with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew after officiating at the opening ceremony of the Li Ka Shing Library. |
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| Dr Li Ka-shing shares a relaxing moment with Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew at the opening ceremony of the Li Ka Shing Library. |
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| Dr Li Ka-shing, accompanied by SMU Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping (left), and an SMU student representative, takes a look at the model of the SMU campus. |
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| A group of Mainland Chinese students studying at SMU with the Li Ka Shing Endowed Scholarships present a couplet to Dr Li Ka-shing to thank his support for education. |
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| The Li Ka Shing Library of the Singapore Management University sits in the heart of Singapore's business and financial centre. |
About Singapore Management University
Incorporated on 12 January 2000, SMU's aim is to groom outstanding business leaders and creative entrepreneurs capable of excelling in a rapidly changing and dynamic world. The first in Singapore to be set up as a private university offering an American-style education modeled after Wharton School, SMU occupies a newly completed purpose-built and state-of-the-art city campus located right in the heart of Singapore's civic and business district.
Today, SMU is home to over 4,000 students and comprises four schools: Lee Kong Chian School of Business, School of Accountancy, School of Economics & Social Sciences and School of Information Systems. SMU offers five bachelor's degree programmes in Business Management, Accountancy, Economics, Information Systems Management and Social Science and six master's degree programmes in Wealth Management, Applied Finance, Professional Accounting, Applied Economics and in Economics and Finance (by research). It also has a dedicated Office of Research and provides customized executive programmes for working professionals through its Office of Executive Education. www.smu.edu.sg
About Li Ka Shing Foundation
The Li Ka Shing Foundation was established in 1980 to nurture a culture of giving. Mr Li believes that this can be accomplished by focusing on capacity empowerment through education and the building of a caring society through medical and healthcare projects. The Li Ka Shing Foundation and other private charitable foundations established by Mr Li have supported numerous philanthropic activities with grants, sponsorships, and commitments of over HK$7.6 billion.
For more information, please visit www.lksf.org
For more information, please contact:
Singapore Management University
| Mr Darran Hanson | Mr Chua Loo Lin |
| Assistant Director | Senior Manager |
| Office of Corporate Communications | Office of Corporate Communications |
| Telephone: (65) 6828 0451 | Telephone: (65) 6828 0235 |
| Mobile: (65) 97979 234 | Mobile: (65) 9851 4175 |
| Email: dhanson@smu.edu.sg | Email: llchua@smu.edu.sg |
Li Ka Shing Foundation
| Ms Laura Cheung | Mr Jeremy Lau |
| Telephone: (852) 2128 1289 | Telephone: (852) 2128 1207 |
| Email: laurac@hwl.com.hk | Email: jeremyl@hwl.com.hk |
Minister Mentor Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, Chancellor Dr. Hu, Chairman Mr. Ho, President Professor Hunter, Distinguished Guests, Faculty, Staff and Students:
My warmest congratulations to you on the completion of the new campus and the new library of the Singapore Management University. It will certainly be another bright spot to the vibrancy of Singapore. I wish SMU every success in the years to come.
Today feels a great deal like a fond and endearing walk down memory lane for me. I can still remember vividly the year 1967, and the warm welcome you extended to me and my young family who sought calm in the looming threat of turbulence and uncertainty. I will always recall your kindness with great affection.
I am also happy that our part of the world is very different now than before; we have moved beyond the days when the rhetoric of ideological differences inflamed hatred, caused bloodshed and much heartbreak to its citizens. In Asia we have all benefited from a mass of change, under a new context of "reform and openness", a wave so forceful in its sweep that it ushered in hope and optimism not only for the core nations but also the world around it.
Yes, we have achieved much but the harsh reality is that the world looks at us not by what we have achieved but by what we will continue to do.
The prime challenge as I see it today is how to nurture responsible citizenship, how to build in the hearts and minds of genuinely progressive young men and women the will as well as the means to carry our true hope for the future. Men and women who are balanced, informed, civil literate, capable of sound judgment and high ideals, who cherish not only the fruits of their labor, or are complacent in their new status as seasoned and opportunistic manufacturers, professionals or entrepreneurs, but the thinking, innovative and inspired men and women who feel a deeper sense of responsibility and public duty towards their world and beyond and care as much for individual dignity as for society's collective honor.
It would be imprecise and overly simplistic for anyone to say that political structural reform will suffice as the antidote for all the sadness and sense of loss that permeates our history. While we need political institutions that are dependable, honest and built on the rule of law, a civil society must take place in the heart of the individual citizen. It is a commitment that goes far beyond equal participation, individual rights and economic opportunities, but must be attended by a spirit of public duty, a co-responsibility epitomized in the ancient oath of the Citizens of Athens, "We will transmit this city not only, not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us."
If we are to achieve the sustainable dynamism and the flexibility in other successful democracies which enable freedom of choice, breadth of opportunity and wide range of alternatives, yearning only for the democratic mechanism that serves the rights of their citizens is not enough. A flourishing democracy requires the parallel development of the underlying civic habitat that interweaves human mind and spirit, responsibility and reason.
I know it is fashionable to talk about rights, and the mention of personal duty, duty borne by order and virtue, will almost certainly be denigrated with a broad brush, some even consider the mention of duty and responsibility to be anti-democractic. But they could not be further from the truth.
The road to true liberalism is a long one. Freedom and democracy are values cherished by every nation. I love freedom, and I support democracy, but freedom and democracy must be built on a foundation of law and order, the most important cornerstone for sustainable development of any nation. Democracy is a most noble cause thus we must not succumb to the belief that by merely providing the mechanism of participation we have achieved our goal, after all approximated truth is not a species of truth but a species of falsehood; form is important, substance is all the more important; structure might hold us together but substance is the essence of a bright and transcendent future. I believe that this new library structure would find its beautiful soul if it inspires us to seek who we are, who we all are and where we shall be.
Ladies and gentlemen, the experience of age is invaluable, particularly for those who grew up in times of strife, as we can rightfully reflect on the past and be more vocal about our hope for the future. I am not certain whether Minister Mentor agrees with me here but I believe it is not suffering that brings us wisdom, although it will certainly broaden our experience and chasten our pride; in living outside the normal range we may escape from prejudices and received assumptions.
Minister Mentor, you particularly more than the others, you have put your heart and your will to elevate your country from strength to strength, through perplexing times and competitive challenges, unswervingly committed to the principle that progress gained through laying first constructive foundation is the best steadfast manifestation of all that we hope for and all that we hold dear, a true and ordered liberty, a humane and just society, fair and equal participation for all.
It has been a great pleasure and honour to be here. Thank you very much.
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