Forbes India – August 4, 2017

has helped organise two

star-studded concerts to rally

support and raise funds for

lesbian-, gay-, bisexual- and

transgender-rights groups.

In May, the island’s top court

ruled in favour of legalising

same-sex marriage. In

2009, she started the Dream

Fulfillment Scholarship project

with an initial donation of

$16,600 to World Vision,

which sponsored hundreds of

indigenous students for a year.

Chuang Yung-

Shun 65

CHAIRMAN, AAEON

TECHNOLOGY & ONYX

HEALTHCARE

Last month, pledged $3.3

million to China University of

Technology for scholarships

and faculty benefits and to

establish an e-learning system

and a Chinese-language

centre. In 2009, he donated

$6.6 million toward the

construction of an 11-storey

building at his alma mater, the

National Taiwan University

of Science and Technology,

the largest single donation

the university has received.

The building, named after

Aaeon, provides a platform

for the research work of the

local electronics and medical-

device industries. Last year, his

wife, Marian Huang, gave $3.3

million for the construction

of another building there, to

be named after Onyx when

it’s completed next year.

Formerly a junior high school

teacher, Huang now manages

the group’s foundation, which

has spent $2.8 million on

scholarships and financial aid

for disadvantaged families as

well as on art sponsorships

and disaster relief across

Taiwan since 1999.

Lin Yu-Ling 80

CHAIRMAN, HUNG TAI GROUP

Set up a charitable trust in 2015

with a billion dollars’ worth

of his assets, which include

several commercial buildings

and plots of land in Taipei’s

upscale Xinyi district. The

assets generate $30 million

annually for the trust, which

aims to nurture talent and

encourage innovation by

awarding scholarships, sending

students overseas and making

grants to individuals who

have contributed to society.

thailand

Keeree

Kanjanapas 66

FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN,

BTS GROUP HOLDINGS

The billionaire property

and mass-transit developer

has increasingly turned to

philanthropy since passing

control of the company that

runs Bangkok’s elevated-

train system to his eldest son.

He focuses on health and

education in the parts of the

country with the greatest need.

He spent $1 million to build

a school in Sa Kaeo Province,

then added a school for the

blind in Khao Yai, where

he also equipped a hospital.

Another million funded a pair

of dialysis centres offering free

service in several provinces to

people with kidney ailments.

Thongma

Vijitpongpun 59

FOUNDER, PRUKSA HOLDING

Since 2010, the property

developer has donated more

than $5 million, focusing

on hospitals, university

scholarships and Buddhist

organisations. Underprivileged

children, the disabled and

patients with HIV and AIDS

are also beneficiaries. Among

the recipients of his $1 million

in donations last year were the

Child Protection Foundation,

the Mirror Foundation,

Operation Smile and Wat Pra

Baht Nam Phu’s AIDS hospice.

vietnam

Pham Nhat Vuong 48

CHAIRMAN, VINGROUP

The richest person in Vietnam

is also one of the country’s

biggest philanthropists. His

Kind Heart Foundation,

which he started in 2006, has

spent roughly $180 million

in Vietnam on education,

health care programmes and

assistance for the poor. Under

one project, the foundation

has given 24,000 heifers, or

breeding cows, to thousands

of poor families in rural areas.

Recipients raise and keep

the cows after giving the

first calf to another family in

need. Last year, 3,000 cows

were given away. This year

he’s donated $70 million to

a programme that provides

free surgeries and transplants

to poor people at one of his

Vinmec international-standard

hospitals, a chain he built

in Vietnam and converted

into a non-profit last year.

reported bY

Shu-Ching Jean Chen,

Chen May Yee, Grace Chung,

Susan J Cunningham,

Sunshine Lichauco de Leon,

Rebecca Feng,

Ron Gluckman, Jane Ho,

Joyce Huang,

Neerja Pawha Jetley,

Naazneen Karmali,

Kim Hee-Joung,

Lan Anh Nguyen,

Jane A Peterson,

Anuradha Raghunathan,

Lucinda Schmidt, James Simms,

Jessica Tan, Katherine Taylor

edited bY

John Koppisch

86 | forbes india August 4, 2017

the 2017 list

Cross Border

Chang hui-mei

VC

g / VC

g Via getty image