Nelly Fung unravels her grandfather-in-law Fung Ping-shan's past

Cornelia "Nelly" Lichauco Fung never met her grandfather-in-law, but they would probably have hit it off: they both share a passion for promoting education and philanthropic work.

In any case, she has come to feel a strong sense of kinship after spending a couple of years gathering material for . The book was recently published in Chinese by Commercial Press, following the release of the English original at the end of last year.

"After learning a lot about him, I have this warm feeling. If I met him, he would be a nice grandfather," says Nelly, who will give a talk on her project to Chinese University's Friends of the Art Museum on Thursday.

Until she embarked on the book project in 2010, there was nothing published in English on Fung Ping-shan, who helped lay the foundations of modern Hong Kong in the 20th century, as one of the first-generation Chinese entrepreneurs in the city.

Nelly felt the younger generations of her family should know about their illustrious ancestor.

"My children speak Chinese but they don't read and write well. For my grandchildren, there's a need for his story to be preserved," she says.

Because Fung Ping-shan provided the funds to set up the University of Hong Kong library's Chinese-language facilities, she began her research there. It was opportune timing; last year, the university was celebrating its centenary and the library its 80th anniversary.