Buddhist role model finds beauty in giving, not receiving

Thousands of Hongkongers have lost money during the financial meltdown - but former beauty queen and singing star Cally Kwong Mei-wan is not among them. She left the market last year when prices were climbing but had not peaked.

A devout Buddhist and philanthropist, Ms Kwong uses the principles of her religion to guide her through the treacherous shoals of the investment world.

'The Buddha tells us not to be too greedy. If you are, you will lose everything. This year, bankers invited me to buy Lehman Brothers bonds and accumulator stock contracts, but I refused. If it was so easy to make money, then it must be dangerous to invest. My rules are: only use spare money to buy shares, do not borrow or mortgage your house to raise money and do your main job wholeheartedly.'

From this spring, she sensed that Hong Kong had become hypnotised by the endless rise in the stock market.

'People did not want to work properly - cooks did not want to make food and waiters did not want to serve people. Everyone was waiting for their shares to go up. People forgot everything except money. It could not be like that: it meant that society was in trouble.'

Ms Kwong is an example of Hong Kong's growing number of philanthropists, at ease in talking of the material as well as spiritual side of being wealthy. More than just a pretty face, she has made a fortune through clever investment - and has given much of it away.