The Founder of the Trust, Au Bak Ling, Lord of Georgeham, is a typical self-made man. He was born into a very poor family, thus having to start working at the age of 8 and leave the free school he attended at 10 without completing Primary 4.  When the Pacific war broke out, Hong Kong fell into the Japanese hands in December 1941 and the people had to endure a period of untold suffering.  At the age of 13, he was saddled with the onerous burden of supporting the whole family throughout the 3 years and 8 months of painful war days. He started his own business in 1943 and name it after himself - Ling Kee.  He struggled to survive by selling used fountain pens and could die of starvation like the rest of the starving population, already down from 1.3 million to 600,000, if the war did not end on 15 August 1945. The price of rice per catty soared to 375 yen when the Potsdam Declaration was broadcasted on the 9th. 

 

As a result, self-cultivation was the only way for him to gain further knowledge. He strongly believed that poverty was just like a red-hot furnace — it could smelt the good iron ore into steel and the bad stuff into ashes. He, therefore, studied intensively, with the help of a dictionary having both Webster's and Jones' pronunciation guides, and succeeded in acquiring a good command of both spoken and written English to enable him to learn everything by himself. In fact, his proficiency in both languages has made him a translation expert and also a master of Chinese couplets. Talents plus persistent self-enhancement efforts have indeed transformed him and changed his destiny — from a bare-footed street boy to a leading publisher. He could pride himself in defeating the entire British publishing industry by producing good textbooks to help educate Hong Kong students — most of whom have become the mainstays of our society today.

 

As a man full of entrepreneurial flair, steely determination, and fighting spirit, he has been able to expand his business interests globally dealing mainly in educational publishing, manufacturing, hospitality services, property investment, and land development, notably involved in building a new town in Canada — "Auguston（區家鎮)." The philosophy that has led to his legendary success can be aptly described by his Au's motto: "Virtue • Wisdom • Courage • Persistence; Diligence • Prudence • Humility • Sincerity"（德智勇毅‧勤慎謙誠）and fighting spirit, he has been able to expand his business interests globally. Today, his wholly-owned Ling Kee Group comprises over 30 companies operating in Hong Kong, China, Canada, U.K. 

 

He has also been active in voluntary work for 4 decades, serving as President of both the Hong Kong Educational Publishers Association that he founded and the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups ("HKFYG") which he revived and steered to become the largest youth services organization in Hong Kong. However, he is not fond of fame and personal distinction and he has, therefore, maintained a very low profile to avoid publicity. He loves work and has been working day and night incessantly for over 70 years.

 

In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, it caused mass layoffs and devastation to many Hong Kong citizens. He was deeply shocked when he saw men in suits scrambling for food from nearby garbage cans on a television news program.  It is almost impossible to imagine an economically privileged society like Hong Kong can display an image that is akin to the days of suffering from starvation during the WWII Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.  He deeply felt the helplessness in society and thus established the Rice-Giving Scheme with Hong Kong Federation Youth Group (HKFYG) as its partner to help the underprivileged as these groups were the most affected.  Since 2009/10, ACT has received a total of 45,000 applications and donated close to 2,000,000kg of rice to approximately 20,000 poverty-stricken families and individuals in Hong Kong.  As of 2019/2020, ACT is still continuing to support over 5,000 families and individuals every month.

 

As a successful educational publisher himself, he would like to continue to give his staunch support to the field of Education.  He believes that education is a sacred mission, "a good teacher can instill the correct values to nurture tomorrow's leaders and better citizens for the benefit of our society!" He fervently hopes that his personal story could inspire all teachers-to-be to achieve their career goals with success and satisfaction and help needy families in Hong Kong and China through educational scholarships to specific teachers-in-training requiring financial assistance.