Tan Siu Lin
Dr Tan Siu-lin
Honorary University Fellow (2017)
Dr Tan Siu-lin, Founder and Chairman of Luen Thai Group, is an entrepreneur with outstanding achievements and a well-known philanthropist.
Despite his humble background, Dr Tan possesses strong motivation and extraordinary vision. He made his way to Southeast Asia at an early age to explore business opportunities, and persevered amidst setbacks. In 1965, he set up the Luen Thai Shipping and Trading Company, which has been continued to innovate and evolve over time.
Under the distinguished leadership of Dr Tan, Luen Thai Group has grown into a global conglomerate, operating a wide range of business in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, Southeast Asia, North America, Europe and the Western Pacific Region. Its business covers tgarment, fisheries, real estate, logistics, shipping, cargo aviation construction materials, finance, insurance, hotel, tourism, rubber, and so on.
Deeply influenced by Confucianism, Dr Tan has fostered the principles of ‘treating others with sincerity’, ‘disciplining oneself to trust’, ‘diligence can make up for deficiency’ and ‘striving with determination’ into his workplace. He believes that the success of entrepreneurship can be summarised as capturing the right time, right place and right people – the right people, and the trust among people, are particularly important. Dr Tan has integrated his motto ‘honest, trustworthy and hardworking’ into not only his Group’s corporate culture but also the daily life of his family, encouraging family members to respect and help each other, which in turn has earned them good reputation in society.
Dr Tan embraces the principle of ‘Giving back to society what society has given us’. Since 1986, he has founded the Tan Siu Lin Foundation subsequently in Saipan, Guam, Hong Kong and Quanzhou.
For the past thirty years, Dr Tan has given back generously to the community. In addition to making donations and investments to his hometown of Quanzhou, he has also placed special emphasis on education and poverty relieves, contributing lavishly on various educational programmes in Beijing, Shanghai, Quanzhou, Hong Kong, The United States, Guam, Saipan and the Philippines. As an advocate for Mr. Sun Yat-sen, Dr Tan has established the Sun Yat-sen Education and Charity Foundation and Peking University Sun Yat-sen International Research Centre.
The contribution of Dr Tan is highly recognised by the community. He has been honoured with the Quanzhou Philanthropist Award from the Quanzhou Municipal People’s Government, the Fujian Charity Award from the Fujian Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, and the Distinguished Contribution Award from Peking University. In 1986, Dr Tan received a Doctor of Laws degree honoris causa from the University of Guam.
Dr Tan is dedicated to community services. Throughout the years he has taken on various roles in the public sector, including Chairman of Sun Yat-sen Education and Charity Foundation, Founding Chairman of Cross-Strait Peaceful Development Federation, and Member of Board of Trustees of the Shaw College of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also Chairman of Peking University Luen Thai Centre for Supply Chain System Research and Development, Chairman of The Board of the Tan Siu Lin School of Business and Information Technology of Quanzhou Normal University, Chief Consultant of Hong Kong Association for Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China Limited, and Honorary Life President of Hong Kong Quanzhou Associations. This year, Dr Tan was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) by the HKSAR Government for his dedicated and meritorious community service.
Dr Tan has rendered tremendous support for Hong Kong Baptist University, including the establishment of Dr Sun Yat-sen Research Fund to support the Department of History to promote academic activities and research work; the Dr Tan Siu Lin Scholarship to sponsor freshmen majoring in History to participate in overseas exchange programmes. He has also donated and set up the Tan Siu Lin Foundation Perpetual Fund for Free Chinese Medicine Consultation Day for underprivileged community members.
Dr Tan is a man of great talent and lofty virtues, a successful business tycoon and a kind-hearted, benevolent man. Sparing no effort to give back to the community, Dr Tan is an exemplary candidate for the Honorary University Fellowship.