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INSIDERS<br />
For Goodness Sake<br />
What influenced your decision to get involved in charity<br />
in Hong Kong?<br />
I have been very lucky in my life and was fortunate<br />
enough to have had many opportunities. I made more<br />
money than I needed and my Chinese mother and<br />
English father always instilled a sense of responsibility<br />
and care to those less fortunate around us. I grew up<br />
knowing that I wanted to give back, so with the support<br />
of my family I set up a perpetual foundation a few years<br />
ago with the aim of making a real impact in my home<br />
of Hong Kong - hopefully continuing for many years to<br />
come.<br />
How did you get Mission Possible off the ground?<br />
In 2012 I was introduced to the Chairman of HKRFU,<br />
Trevor Gregory, who was instantly behind the idea of<br />
a charity box, where expenses were covered so that all<br />
money raised from ticket sales, sponsorship and auctions<br />
went to local non-rugby related charities. In 2013 the<br />
HKRFU generously donated one of their premium<br />
corporate boxes with 76 seats, the Holiday Inn offered<br />
to provide the food and service, Wineshop Asia supplied<br />
the premium drinks and the Peter Bennett Foundation<br />
covered all of the other expenses of the event.<br />
How do you choose the charities that Mission Possible<br />
supports?<br />
I am the first to acknowledge how difficult it is to<br />
choose from all the good causes at work in Hong Kong.<br />
We’ve found that some of the smaller charities are doing<br />
a fantastic job working in the community but don’t<br />
necessarily get the recognition they deserve. This year we<br />
chose locally-based, relatively small charities that shared<br />
the same ethos and mission of alleviating poverty in<br />
Hong Kong. We also wanted to support particular projects<br />
as our sponsors like to know exactly where their money<br />
is going and be able to follow its progress.<br />
Tell us more about other projects The Peter Bennett<br />
Foundation is involved in.<br />
We believe in a hands-on approach to philanthropy to<br />
address issue of poverty in Hong Kong and the Southeast<br />
Asia region. Throughout the year we also actively<br />
support, in both monetary and advisory terms, Half the<br />
Sky, a charity making a huge difference to orphaned<br />
children in Mainland China, THE ONE, an international<br />
humanitarian award run by Rotary International, and<br />
also the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation. These<br />
projects meet our standards of accountability, efficiency<br />
and scalability. Coming from a business background, I<br />
believe a lot of issues can and should be addressed using<br />
business metrics such as these.<br />
Plans for next year?<br />
Obviously to build on this year’s success but more<br />
specifically, we’d like to establish a partnership with<br />
another box owner to expand the reach of Mission<br />
Possible.<br />
Can you sum up the success of this year’s Mission Possible?<br />
This year’s Queen of Hearts themed box was a huge<br />
success. Not only did we raise HK$4m, almost HK$1m<br />
more than last year, but each one of our guests left with<br />
a smile on their face knowing they had given something<br />
back. Going forward our aim is to continue to build<br />
awareness of poverty issues and encourage philanthropy<br />
and social responsibility within Hong Kong. I think<br />
with the help of the HKRFU and our other supporters,<br />
Mission Possible has made significant progess already in<br />
acheiving these goals. R<br />
90 RESERVE<br />
THE
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