The Li Ka Shing Foundation and other private charities associated with the tycoon have donated $7.6 billion to education and medical institutions since 1980. The foundation, set up in 1980, has a mandate to make donations to medical, education, cultural and other community welfare projects in Hong Kong, the mainland and overseas. Institutions in the US, UK, Singapore, Canada and India have received donations. About 45 per cent of the foundation's donations are for education, with another 45 per cent for medical research and development. More than 80 per cent of the sponsored projects did not name anything after the tycoon. The most controversial and the biggest donation so far is the $1 billion given to the University of Hong Kong's medical faculty. That donation triggered a heated debate over whether the faculty should be renamed after its benefactor. The university's alumni have protested against the renaming and launched a global campaign to rally HKU graduates' support. Apart from considerable donations to tertiary education, the foundation also has made contributions to secondary schools to cover expenses for construction and redevelopment. It also sponsors school activities.
