The man dubbed “Superman” locally, Li Ka-shing, HK’s richest man - and from the evidence of this letter one of its fruitiest - got so sanctimonious when folk baulked at the idea of the Faculty of Medicine at HKU being named after him that he rather lost the plot English-wise:
[QUOTE=Nutty Li]
Dear Vice-Chancellor Tsui and Friends at HKU,
I must write to thank you for the warmth and encouragement you have extended towards me. I have never received such voluminous support from all over the world – support from those who are outraged by this incident, and its irony. I agree with your view that the University need not take a polemic stance against such remonstrations, and the Vice-Chancellor has been wonderfully tolerant. I must admit that the rude remarks which have been thrown at the University have hurt me deeply, though I believe that in these reckless and unruly times, one is only more noble to uphold correct principles. Please do not worry about how the sniping is affecting me. Knowing my cause and believing that I have served society to the best of my ability as a man, a citizen and a businessman, I am glad to tell you I am still a happy man.
[/QUOTE=Nutty Li]
Having established such a benchmark,one might think that Li would be unable to top that in the following five paragraphs of the letter he placed in the Chinese and English language newspapers here. One would be thinking wrong. He reaches his apogee in paragraph 3, sounding more and more as if he’s cribbing from Everyman’s Gulliver’s Travels:
[QUOTE=Losing the plot?]
No one should, even for the pleasure of transcendence, succumb to loud lambaste, further inflicting damages to the integrity and the international reputation of the University Council, Vice-Chancellor and the University.
[/QUOTE=Losing it big time]
If you can bear to, you can read the whole thing here
Looks like the quoting function’s knackered - my computer appars to have gone into spasm. I’ll try and submit this post as it is before I have to reboot.