[vn-families] Billionaire's boost to Buddhist studies

[binhp at mylinuxisp.com]

Cha`o qui' vi.,

Qui' vi. Pha^.t tu+? na`o co`n quan nie^.m la` tu ta.i ta^m
la` ddu?, va` ddi chu`a ha`ng tua^`n la` kho^ng ca^`n thie^'t,
thi` ne^n ddo.c kinh nghie^.m cu?a ti? phu' Robert Hung-Ngai Ho\.

Cha`o

Pha.m Quo^'c Bi`nh
http://vmdd.tech.mylinuxisp.com/buddhism/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tutam/

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Source:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156542610512&call_pageid=968332188492

Billionaire's boost to Buddhist studies
Aug. 26, 2006. 01:00 AM
NICHOLAS KEUNG
IMMIGRATION/DIVERSITY REPORTER

Robert Hung-Ngai Ho has an ambitious plan to spread the seeds
of Buddhism from the Far East to around the world.

While the eastern religion commends frugality and abstinence from
a life devoted to material things, it also teaches generosity and
kindness — which is what the immigrant billionaire from Hong Kong
tries to exemplify in his philanthropy. That includes this week's
$4 million gift to the University of Toronto at Scarborough,
the largest donation ever received by the satellite campus.

Since 2000, Ho has donated millions of dollars to establish
academic programs in Buddhism at universities in Hong Kong
and Thailand in the name of Tung Lin Kok Yuen, a non-profit
Buddhist group founded in 1935 by his late grandparents, who
began the family fortune.

Now, the retired Vancouver-based businessman and one-time
journalist hopes to encourage academic Buddhist studies in his
adopted homeland. This week's announcement at the Scarborough
campus, which will bolster the U of T's existing Buddhist
studies program, followed an identical donation in February to
the University of British Columbia.

"Our vision would be to see Buddhism not just as a religion
predominant in Asia but to be more widely known and better
understood by the international community," Ho told a luncheon
held at the campus Wednesday in appreciation of Ho's generosity.

"Buddhism, like many of the other religions, has been an integral
part of our global cultural development and will continue to
grow in harmony with our society globally."

Born into a Buddhist family, Ho, 74, said he did not enjoy
going to temples or Sunday religious school until he turned
40 and began seeking spiritual growth. After studying various
religions, he felt Buddhism suited him best because of its
principle of self-salvation.

"It teaches you to do everything on your own, to rely on yourself
instead of any supernatural powers or gods," explained Ho,
who retired in Canada in 1989 after retiring as publisher of
Hong Kong's Kung Sheung Daily Press. (A master's graduate of
Columbia University's journalism school, he had worked at the
Pittsburgh Press and National Geographic, for a time as White
House correspondent, before returning to Hong Kong.)

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`Our vision would be to see Buddhism ... widely known and better understood'

Donor Robert Hung-Ngai Ho
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"Unfortunately, people mix up their superstitions with Buddhism,
turning it into a mythical chop suey, so others think that
Buddhists are a bunch of voodoos."

That's why Ho has put his energy and resources into building a
strong global network of Buddhist studies programs at academic
institutions, which can help debunk misconceptions about this
ancient religion.

The gift will support a visiting professorship and lectureship
program in Buddhist studies, as well as conferences, public
lecture series and scholarships.

Professor William Bowen, chair of the humanities department
at Scarborough, said the visiting lectureship will enrich
interdisciplinary studies in visual and performing arts,
religion, philosophy and more.

Studies of Buddhism and other eastern religions have proved
popular, he said. A first-year course in religious traditions
of the East has already reached its capacity of 500 students,
and a second-year introduction to Buddhist philosophy course
is filled with 86.

"But the most spectacular impact is that our students and the
community as a whole will be exposed to a changing roster of
international experts, and given immediate exposure to the
vitality of research in Buddhist thought and culture," noted
Bowen, adding that the Buddhist conferences and lectures will
start in September 2007.

The soft-spoken Ho said he learned much about generosity from
his grandparents, the late Lady Clara and Sir Robert Ho Tung,
who headed what was perhaps Hong Kong's wealthiest family long
before fellow billionaire entrepreneur Li Ka Shing became a
familiar name to Canadians.

Born to a Dutch father and Chinese mother, Sir Ho made his
fortune in real estate and commodities trading. Many parks,
schools and buildings in Hong Kong have been named after him,
and the Ho clan remains one of the most influential in Hong
Kong's business community.

All the charitable giving, according to Ho, is simply "in
accordance with Lady Clara's compassion and sacred vow to spread
out beyond Hong Kong so that overseas Chinese and foreigners
would be enlightened by the Buddhist doctrine."

Ho said he's also negotiating with a U.S. university to build
a Buddhism study centre south of the border. He declined to
name it, but Ho has already donated more than $30 million to
his alma mater, New York's Colgate University, to fund projects
in the sciences and Asian studies.