INTRODUCTION
"He used to sell cheap watches from street vendors, and would roam the streets calling out for customers. After a day's hard work, he would save just enough money to feed his family for a single meal. Despite being a fourteen-year-old immigrant child, he managed to do more. If you are a parent of children, and your eldest child is only fourteen, imagine sitting in a corner of your house for a moment, having been forced to leave your homeland due to war. In your new country, you have no hiding place, nor the courage to provide two meals for your family. You work day and night as a laborer, while your children study in a neighborhood filled with filth and waste. One day, while working as a laborer, you have an accident and your employer takes you to the hospital. After examination, the doctor informs you that you are in the final stage of cancer. You become anxious, but this anxiety does not help you or your family's situation. After a few days in the hospital, you pass away, and the burden of your entire family falls on the shoulders of your 14-year-old child. What can this helpless child do? Will there be any option for him other than selling watches by calling out on the streets? Unfortunately, Li Kashing did not have any other option. Therefore, he picked up the bag of watches and started supporting his family.
From Selling Watches on the Streets to Plastic Business
He was a courageous human being, and destiny always favors the courageous. In a few months, he transitioned from the watch business to the plastic industry, and within no time, the plastic business made him a billionaire. But these are stories of the distant past, and before we move forward, let's go back in time for a few moments into Li Ka-shing's past. He was born in 1928 in the city of Shantou, China. Japan invaded China in 1940, and he moved to Hong Kong with his family. Initially, they lived with his uncle, who was wealthy and arrogant. They didn't get along well with him, and soon they were forced to leave his house. His father started working as a laborer, but within a few months, he passed away due to cancer. The responsibility of the family fell on Li Ka-shing's young shoulders."
Success in the Plastic and Toy Business
He started taking on this responsibility. Li Ka-shing began selling watches and quickly entered the plastic business. He joined a trading company and gradually progressed. In his spare time, he operated a plastic manufacturing machine. As he operated the machine, he understood the entire plant's work. In 1950, he quit his job and borrowed money from his loved ones, relatives, and friends to set up a small factory to make plastic toys. The business grew, and he soon became a millionaire. Allah had given him a vision, so he considered this success small and decided to make plastic flowers. He established the first plastic flower factory in Hong Kong in 1955 and started supplying flowers worldwide in a few years. Li Ka-shing's company became the largest in Asia for plastic flowers by 1960. However, corruption started in Hong Kong, causing British traders to relocate.
Venture into Real Estate
Due to this relocation, property prices dropped. Li Ka-shing, being a wise person, estimated that the turmoil was temporary, and Hong Kong would soon return to its position. Keeping the future in mind, he entered the real estate field and started buying properties. He began building flats, apartments, and houses as part of his partnership. This small business grew and became the largest real estate company in Asia. He named this company Cheung Kong Property Limited, and it expanded rapidly throughout Asia. In the coming years, Li Ka-shing also acquired British company Hutchison and major shares of Hong Kong Electric Company in 1984. Thus, his business continued to expand, and today he is the owner of banking, construction, real estate, plastic, mobile phones, satellite TV, cement, supermarkets, hotels, transportation, airports, steel, internet, electricity, and insurance companies in three dozen countries around the world. His company has 260,000 employees, and he earns billions of dollars in profit every year. He is currently the 11th wealthiest person in the world. Li Ka-shing is 83 years old now.
Li Ka-shing's Work Ethic and Continued Success
He still arrives at the office first and returns home last. He shows his self-winding watch to every person he meets and proudly says, "I bought this watch at the age of 14. It has been telling me the time along with my memories." Li Ka-shing says, "I was not fortunate, so I made hard work my fortune."
This was the story of Li Ka-shing. It was not the story of the 11th richest person in the world, but our purpose is not him. Our purpose is his philosophy. Li Ka-shing established the "Li Ka-shing Foundation" in 1980.
The Li Ka-shing Foundation and Philanthropy
This foundation has spent billions of dollars on philanthropy and welfare to date. It is called the largest philanthropist in Asia because of this foundation, and it considers its kindness to be a greater success than its business. He says, "I will consider myself successful on the day people call me a philanthropist rather than a business tycoon." He considers philanthropy as his religion and this religion of Li Ka-shing is our main topic.
One day, sit on the internet and search for the profiles of the top 100 richest people in the world. Study those profiles. You will not find any religious person among these top 100 richest individuals. After that, make a list of the top 100 influential people in the world. You will not find any religious person in that list except for the religious leaders of the Pope and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of ISIS. Then make a list of the top 2,000 wealthy and influential people in the world. Among those two thousand people, you will find only 11 individuals who are religious. This was a fact. Now observe another fact. There are 1,989 people who are working for the welfare and well-being of humanity. They are running major projects for the general public. They are securing food supplies from polio vaccination to famine-stricken areas in Africa. They go to mosques, churches, synagogues, temples, and not to nightclubs. They consider humanity as their religion and are always engaged in the worship of this religion, while the world's 11 influential religious people are not doing any welfare work.The world is seeking answers to these two questions for the past ten years: why haven't influential people built any places of worship in their lives, and why haven't the 11 religious individuals constructed wells for the thirsty or dispensaries for the sick? What is this and why is it happening? When the world exhausts itself in search of answers, it takes a long breath and smiles, saying, "Welfare and well-being are the latest religion in the world." This religion is rapidly dismantling the old idols of worship.
The Changing Dynamics of Religion and Welfare
The time is not far when there will be only one religion in the world, and its name will be Welfare and Well-being. Bill Gates and Li Ka-shing will be considered the deities of this religion, and they will also be saints. I do not agree with this philosophy. I believe that religion is both a necessity and a compulsion for humans. Humans need God in every circumstance; life cannot be lived without Him. In this regard, humans are so helpless that they even grant divinity to a piece of wood. I also understand that ninety percent of religion is comprised of welfare and ten percent consists of worship. But unfortunately, we humans have mistakenly immersed 99 percent of the religious portion in worship, leaving only one percent for welfare. We have abandoned the concept of welfare, leaving it to Bill Gates and Li Ka-shing, while they are moving ahead of religious devotees. They are now far ahead of us in this competition. They are closer to Allah than us, so much so that Allah Almighty is increasing their sustenance and honor. These people are not constructing any places of worship in their lives, yet they are successful. On the other hand, we are busy building worship places but remain unsuccessful. Why? Because a helpless human is the greatest place of worship in the world, and these people have realized this reality.
Conclusion
Whereas we are searching for God in stones and bricks, and the result is evident. Li Ka-shing's religion is spreading, and we are shrinking. I often feel that if we continue to shrink in this manner and people like Li Ka-shing continue to expand, the day will come sooner than expected when God will go to them, and we will be left with only worship places.
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