Simon S M Suen
Mr Simon S M Suen, BBS, JP
Doctor of Social Sciences, honoris causa (2012)
Mr Simon Suen was born in 1957 in Dongguan County of Guangdong. In the 1980s, he came to Hong Kong for the first time to explore business opportunities. In 1985, he founded SML Group. He is now the Group Chairman.
During the past 30 years, SML Group, under Mr Suen’s bold leadership, has maintained an aggressive momentum of expansion in many areas of label production. The Group is now a world market leader in terms of production scale and product utility. It manages 16 manufacturers spread over 30 countries, with over a staff of 5,000 under its employment. The Group provides one-stop global labelling services for the world’s top fashion brands and the largest retailers; its high-end products enjoy a worldwide reputation.
Mr Suen boasts an advanced management philosophy and unique operations approach. He sees corporate developments as a key indicator of social advancement, and staff quality as a measure of corporate success. Applying a sound scientific basis in his management model, he strives to infuse company operations with a cultural depth. As an entrepreneur, he sees promotion of social development a personal mission. Guided by a sense of history, a clear purpose, and profound creativity, Mr Suen ties wealth creation and talent cultivation to social advancement in a unique management philosophy.
Mr Simon Suen is deeply inspired by the master scholar Professor Jao Tsung-i, and has taken upon himself to promote Chinese cultural traditions. He has helped found and later became the Founding President and Chairman of the “Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole Fan Club”, and has contributed in various ways to the research and promotion of Chinese culture. In recent years, he has launched a fundraising event named “Focus on Dunhuang”, raised a total of $13 million donations to support the protection of the Dunhuang Caves. He has also donated $3.5 million to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage toward the compilation of The Annals of China Museum.
Mr Suen is a firm believer of “giving back to the society”. He has always been committed to charity causes and has donated generously in many instances to areas such as health, education, youth development, community infrastructure and disaster relief. He also serves the society in various capacities including as the Honorary Vice President of the Chinese Association of Museums, Vice President of the Scout Association of Hong Kong, President of the Lifeline Express Hong Kong Foundation, Honorary Chairman of Canton Association Hong Kong. For his notable contributions toward his hometown Dongguan, he was named “Honorary Citizen of Dongguan”. In October 2012, he was conferred an Honorary University Fellowship by the University of Hong Kong.
Mr Suen has given staunch support for the various enterprises of HKBU. In 2010, he donated $250,000 to set up a scholarship at the University. In 2011, he donated $30 million toward the founding of the Mr Simon Suen and Mrs. Mary Suen Sino-Humanitas Institute, and became its Honorary President. In the same year, he donated $1 million to the University to support its Human Resources Management Mentoring Programme. In 2011 and 2012 respectively, he donated $300,000 in support of the 8th and the 9th Global Chinese University Student Film and TV Festival.
Mr Simon Suen possesses astute vision and a keen sense social responsibility. He is passionate about contributing to social services, cultural developments and the education enterprise. His support and contributions to the University’s mission of whole person education as well as academic research have been most invaluable.