All cash and no heart: Is that the Hong Kong model of philanthropy?

I recently read a remarkable story. A young woman from a disadvantaged background in a poor area near Silicon Valley in California had a mentor. She and the older woman met from time to time, e-mailed often and had a good relationship. The younger woman credited her adviser with her success in becoming the first person in her family to reach college.

A year into her university studies, she read a newspaper article and learned her mentor's full name: Laurene Powell Jobs - the wife of the Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs. She is one of the world's 10 richest women.

Her philanthropic work was no secret, but as the young woman discovered, she had been quite discreet. She is involved in College Track, a programme that boosts college enrolment among the less advantaged. However, since the death of her husband two years ago, Powell Jobs has started to take on a higher public profile.

Clearly, she is heavily committed to doing good, and helping turn the world into a better place. As well as education, she is showing particular interest in conservation and nutrition. She is also starting to speak out on sensitive topics like immigration and gun control and many observers believe she will become more prominent.

Reading about her made me wonder why we don't have people like Powell Jobs among the ranks of our own very wealthy in Hong Kong. I remember a few years ago, when Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett announced they would give away virtually their entire fortunes, local commentators asked if our own super-rich might do the same. Our big tycoons seemed slightly embarrassed.

In fairness to our local billionaires, they do donate big sums to worthy causes. They could also say that local culture makes it very hard to deny the next generation the family fortune - and many people would probably agree. Indeed, Steve Jobs did not join the Gates-Buffett "Giving Pledge" initiative.