What is The Lion Rock Institute?

Why the name “The Lion Rock Institute”?

What is The Lion Rock Institute’s mission?

Where does it get its funding?

Who are LRIs “customers”?

What’s the history of how it got started?

What is The Lion Rock Institute?

The Lion Rock Institute is Hong Kong’s first independent, leading free market think tank. Lion Rock promotes ideas and policies from a free market perspective that will contribute to a freer and more prosperous future for Hong Kong. In April 2009, LRI was granted a charitable organization by the government under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Individuals or Corporations who donate HK$100 or more will receive our official receipts for tax deduction.

What does “independent” mean in this context?

Independent means that the institute is not part of, nor endorses, any political party, government or other organization. Lion Rock accepts no government funding and limits funding from any one source, believing that independence depends on a broad base of support and operating well within means. Research and ideas are established from Lion Rock’s research, experience and judgment.

Why the name “The Lion Rock Institute”?

In the 1950s, hundreds of thousands came to Hong Kong hoping for freedom and a better life. They settled in droves on the slopes of Hong Kong’s geographical centre – Lion Rock. The timeless classic from the 1970s by Roman Tam, “Under the Lion Rock,” tells the story of these people who built Hong Kong while finding their individual fortune. The spirit of a community supported the individual efforts of those seeking freedom and prosperity. The Lion Rock still resonates with the people of Hong Kong, symbolizing the strength of the people, hope for freedom and individual courage. The name of our institute honours the generation that built Hong Kong into the greatest city in Asia.

 

What is The Lion Rock Institute’s mission?

The Lion Rock Institute will promote free market thought in Hong Kong through: a direct and demonstrable impact on government policy; educate policy makers, active political participants and the general public on the benefit of adopting free market values in building a prosperous Hong Kong; and promote Hong Kong’s best free market practices to the world.

 

Where does it get its funding?

Lion Rock receives funding from our Events, from Personal Donations, Corporate Donations and Foundations. The Institute won an honorary mention in 2007 from The Atlas Economic Research Foundation. The Institute will accept donations from any body or person, as long as it is not from the Government.

Who are LRIs “customers”?

A public policy think tank is unusual in that its funders and its ‘customers’ are two different groups of people and organizations. Customers are those who use Lion Rock research or are inspired by the message of freedom. It would include politicians, bureaucrats, media, business, welfare and other community leaders and other think tank operators as well as the general public.

What’s the history of how it got started?

In 2004, three young men with a deep and abiding concern for the city they love came together. They were Simon LEE Chao Fu, Andrew SHUEN Pak Man and Andrew Work. They believed that Hong Kong had a special role to play in the development of free market ideas and were concerned that a policy vacuum in the new Special Administrative Region would only be filled by ideas for more and more government intervention.  Seeing a desperate need for a champion of the free market to help Hong Kongers be free and prosperous, they founded the Institute. They tapped into a global network of like-minded people and institutions for think tank best practices to follow in Hong Kong and since then, have become part of a global movement with relationships on all 5 continents.