HK tycoon Lui Che-woo becomes honorary trustee of PKU

In addition to being the third-richest tycoon in Hong Kong, "gamble king of Macao", a philanthropist and many other identities, now 89-year-old Lui Che-woo has a new title: an honorary trustee of Peking University.

On June 29, Peking University hosted a ceremony to award Lui the title. On the same day, a building of School of Life Sciences of Peking University, named after Lui, was officially completed and put into use.

"Peking University belongs to Chinese people and people around the world. Being a member of this prestigious university is recognition and encouragement to me," Lui said in his speech on Friday.

Last November, Lui announced 120 million yuan ($18 million) donation to Peking University, for the construction of life science research building. This is second time he has hit headline after founding the LUI Che Woo Prize - Prize for World Civilization in 2015.

He said the research building he invested in is "a gift to Peking University, to our nation and compatriots, as well as the world."

Lui was born in South China's Guangdong province in 1929. When the Japanese army launched its attacks on the Chinese mainland, he was just a little boy. Five years later, Lui's family fled from their hometown, settling in Hong Kong.

It is widely acknowledged that education is the key to future prospects, so Lui, at 89, is still doing all he can to help others benefit from what he missed out in his early life. That is the motivation behind the LUI Che Woo Prize, the international award he established.

Lui established the LUI Che Woo Prize - Prize for World Civilization to recognize the individuals and organizations who are devoted to sustainable development of the world and the betterment of the welfare of humankind as well as the promotion of positive life attitude.

The prize has been awarded to people or organizations such as Yuan Longping, China's "father of hybrid rice", Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change affairs, Jimmy Carter, former United States president and the International Paralympic Committee.

"Anyone, from a professor who delivers his lectures passionately to a person who has achieved nothing else but to turn a remote barren mountain green through plantation is qualified to be considered as the prize awardee," said Nobel Literature Prize winner Mo Yan, also the member of the Prize Recommendation Committee.