What Are Li Ka-Shing's Intentions For His Multi-Million Dollars to St. Michael's Hospital?

Left: Statue of goddess Gaun Yin in Macau, China, which Wikipedia describes as:
"...a blend between the traditional images of the bodhisattva Guanyin and Holy Mary."

Center: Statue of Guan Yin at the Ka-Shing Tsz Shan Monastery (under construction)

This statue is to be completed in 2014, and will be "The world's tallest bronze Guan Yin Statue."

Ka-Shing, I think, used the Macau statue as his model, and it suits his "cosmopoliatan" opportunism, where Mary might figure in his design, but his thoughts and beliefs are quite certainly Buddhist and Asian.

More on the goddess Guan Yin:

Guanyin (...previous transliterations Quan Yin, Kwan Yin, or Kuanyin) is the bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists, usually as a female. The name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means "Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World". She is also sometimes referred to as Guanyin Pusa (...literally: "Bodhisattva Guanyin"). Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western pure land of Sukhāvatī.

[Collage by KPA]
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I wrote recently that the disappearance of Saint Michael, the patron saint of St. Michael's hospital and its legacy, is due to Christianity and Western culture being subtly but persistently swept aside in Toronto. I alluded to the $25 million donation from Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-Shing to establish the Li Ka-Shing Knowledge Institute as being influential in this process. This was a premonition (or an educated deduction), based on other posts I had written over an eight-year period.

My post was too long for me to search more on the religious practices of Li Ka-Shing, this Hong Kong billionaire.

I tried to find Ka-Shing's religion. Is he Catholic? Is he Buddhist? Is he an atheist? What is he?

The information wasn't forthcoming, but Ka-Shing is no Catholic, let alone some kind of a Christian, and instead has close affiliations with Buddhism.

From Wikipedia:

Tsz Shan Monastery is a large Buddhist temple currently under construction in Tung Tsz, Tai Po District, Hong Kong. Much of the monastery building funds were funded entirely by local business magnate Li Ka-shing.

[This] includes the construction of Tsz Shan Monastery, a large monastery and a height of 76 meters and is the second highest in the world outdoor bronze Guanyin statue. Tsz Temple is expected to be completed in 2014, led by the Venerable Kok Kwong HHCKLA open, the public will then be able to make an appointment and visit Tsz Shan Monastery.

Perhaps this lack of information is because of the yet-to-be-completed Buddhist monastery, but surely there are other instances where Ka-Shing reveals his religious sentiments?

China Times provided more information about the monastery-in-contruction in an August 2013 article Li Ka-shing builds bulletproof private compound in monastery:

Property tycoon Li Ka-shing has allegedly had a private safe house and meditation room built at the Tsz Shan Monastery, a Buddhist temple in Hong Kong that is under construction. Li's Cheung Kong Holdings has also been sued by the building contractors for HK$335 million (US$43 million) in outstanding payments, according to Duowei News, a media outlet operated by overseas Chinese.

Li donated over HK$1 billion (US$128 million) for the construction of the monastery, which includes the world's second tallest Buddhist statue. Li and his eldest son Victor established a private company to oversee the work.

My conclusion for this lack of ready information on Ka-Shing's religious affiliations is that if Ka-Shing publicizes his beliefs, he then has to be held in some way accountable to the many Christian organizations in which he participates. Another reason could be that Buddhists don't view their belief as a religion, as Christians do, but classify it more as a guide for living well. Either way, his affiliation with a historically Catholic hospital is odd. But perhaps it's not so odd.

In search of money, organizations, and even whole countries, are going to the biggest bidder. Ka-Shing is delivering. But, he has his loyalties, and he will make sure that they are met.

And by funding a world-renonwed Western hospital like St. Michael's, he is providing a facility which can cater to his own people, both family and countrymen.

The author at Wikipedia on the Tzs Shan monastery provides this title with a link at the bottom of the article:
Hong Kong billionaire denies report 249-foot goddess statue will be his tomb. I think this is just another instance of Ka-Shing's obfuscation and secrecy.

Everyone has to think about his death at some time. People's loyalties can be ascertained by how they approach their death. Ka-Shing has given us plenty of information with his choice of burial place.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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