As the new Policy Address is set to be announced in September, amid a wave of closures in the food and retail industries, public anxiety about investment, security, and social welfare continues to mount. It is precisely in this economic climate that innovative thinking and knowledge transfer have become more than academic buzzwords—they are the keys to transforming academic achievements into direct support for grassroots communities.
CubicZine had the privilege of interviewing Matthew Li Ping-fai, an alumnus of CUHK’s Master of Arts Programme in Social Service Management (MASSM) and current Assistant Vice President of the HKEX Foundation. Matthew shared his cross-sector journey: from childhood dreams of social work in public housing estates to implementing charitable strategies; from addressing social issues to creating “win-win cycles” through sustainable social enterprises. With humanistic care at his core and scientific management driving social impact, he transforms knowledge into lasting momentum for community betterment.
From a Young Child to CUHK Student: Beyond KPIs, Staying True to Original Aspirations
Matthew grew up in Hong Kong public housing, understanding the struggles faced by grassroots families under life pressures, and witnessed playmates being sent to rehabilitation centers. During secondary school, inspiration from a social worker led him to pursue this profession. After graduating from HKU’s Department of Social Work and working on the social welfare frontlines for over a decade, he resolutely pursued CUHK’s Master of Social Service Management (MASSM).
During those years, the Social Welfare Department promoted reforms including lump sum grants, subsidies, and service agreements, creating tension within the social welfare sector between “chasing numbers” and “humanistic spirit.” “We do social work because it’s people work. Why do we need to deliver KPIs? Many people demonize quantitative management, and colleagues question me: ‘You’re studying management—does that mean abandoning humanistic spirit, just nodding and chasing numbers?’” This contradiction reached its peak in the early 2000s, deeply affecting the young man who “ran all over the mountains.” The real turning point came during his academic journey at CUHK.
Matthew firmly believes that “people work” requires both warmth and efficiency: “Everyone says there aren’t enough resources. When one person handles 100 cases, how can resources be used more effectively? Are there other resources that can expand the pie? Management studies provided a new perspective, showing me how to systematically measure impact while reminding us not to forget our original intentions.” This cross-sector perspective not only established his scientific approach to strategic planning in charitable foundations but also became a solid foundation for subsequently promoting innovation and knowledge transfer.
Photo Caption: The Dean’s List aims to recognize students with outstanding academic performance. Matthew was selected for the Dean’s List in the 2013-2014 academic year. (Source: interviewee)
“Small Steps, Big Impact” Illuminating Grassroots’ Lives
Having entered the foundation sector for over a decade, Matthew candidly admits that compared to his previous social work, the journey has started without guidance from mentors, even facing misconceptions that philanthropic work is merely a show for big companies, inevitably leading to feelings of isolation.
Now, as transitional housing projects are progressively completed, reducing financial burdens for those on waiting lists with residents saving an average of HK$4,200 per month in rent, Matthew deeply appreciates the significance of his cross-sector choice: “Some foundation or philanthropist friends aim to bring about systemic change. When there are new social needs that existing government resources cannot immediately address, we work with non-profit organizations and local partners to try innovative solutions. After one or two years, if the protocol is truly effective, it can be replicated to other regions or organizations, and finally adopted by the government as part of policy. As the charitable sector, we have a responsibility to bring new thinking to solve social problems.”
Matthew notes that the emergence of transitional housing in 2025 can be traced back to the 2016 “Light House” in Sham Tseng—the first collaboration project between the government and social enterprise “Light Be“. Matthew had promoted his foundation’s donation to support the social enterprise “Light Be,” transforming the former Kowloon Cotton Mills staff quarters (idle government property) into affordable housing for grassroots families while providing family support programs with savings and job-seeking goals to help them achieve upward mobility. “Of course, building more public housing is the most effective way to solve grassroots housing problems, but the reality is that construction takes time. While we strive for that, are there alternatives? Starting from our project, discussions about social housing have increased. Some property developers donated land, some abandoned schools were repurposed, telecommunications companies laid cables, furniture brands made donations—creating positive cross-sector collaboration effects.”
Technological Innovation and Cultural Integration
In recent years, the business sector, academia, and social enterprises have collaborated to promote the development of “Care Food,” bringing insights into how social innovation can change society’s consumption ecology. “During reunion dinners when everyone orders tables full of roasted pork and barbecued meats, the elderly can’t swallow them, even having to borrow their grandchildren’s scissors to cut up food, affecting their dignity and gradually reducing their willingness to dine out.”
Matthew shares that two to three years ago, some social enterprises attempted to develop soft meals, and teams explored 3D food printing, but high costs made widespread implementation difficult. “So we first had the foundation provide startup funding, commissioned academia to conduct texture testing, then organized taste-testing experiences through local elderly centers to collect feedback, ultimately successfully attracting business partners to join in promoting and implementing soft meal solutions.”
“Surprisingly, even Café de Coral came out with soft meal versions of their baked pork chop rice! Today, beyond restaurant chain support, it has reached Chinese restaurants, with famous Michelin establishments also launching soft meal versions of charcoal-roasted goose leg.”
Photo Caption: Matthew candidly shares that HKEX’s collaboration with The Project Futurus on the “Sensory Restaurant on Wheels™️” community program initially drew from Japanese technical standards, but more importantly involved continuous improvements, combining Hong Kong-style flavors with local elderly dietary habits to promote public awareness of dining dignity for elderly people with cognitive impairment and dysphagia. (Source: HKEX 2023 Corporate Social Responsibility Report)
Keys to Successful Collaboration
Cross-sector collaboration is never smooth sailing. As a “middleman” between the social welfare and business sectors, Matthew finds the most challenging aspect is “bridging different stakeholders’ languages”—speaking numbers and impact to investors, service goals and sustainability to social enterprises, and service philosophy and stakeholder dynamics to the social welfare sector.
From Matthew’s experience, many social welfare friends seek business collaboration but receive no follow-up. “Their difficulty lies in not necessarily understanding the operational logic behind commercial companies—different business departments have different ideas, interests, and cultures. They say they want to help commercial companies do well in ESG’s ‘S’ (Social), but this statement is actually quite hollow. Many NGO friends don’t truly understand clearly whether commercial institutions need to do ESG reports, how to do them—there’s actually a rigorous framework with KPIs for every indicator. You need to try to match others’ reporting requirements, truly understand the other party deeply, and how your solution can help them, making cooperation flow naturally.”
Reflecting on “Causes of Death” to Go Further
“Goods Co-Share” is the social enterprise Matthew established, purchasing daily necessities in bulk directly from suppliers to significantly reduce transaction costs, then selling them below market price to ease the economic burden on grassroots families. “The difficulty we encountered then was not finding many suppliers to give us cheap goods, so we understood what pain points they had in their business. It turned out that due to supermarket shelf fee policies and big brand monopolies, many suppliers lost in competition, and their products would flow into industrial supply stores, hotels, airlines, etc.”
Understanding partners’ needs and operations, Matthew negotiated cooperation with suppliers: “My social enterprise regularly set up direct sales stalls in areas with many grassroots families, helping suppliers establish marketing points while doing market promotion, so they were very willing to cooperate.”
Caption: Matthew was interviewed by Cable TV’s “Wish” program, implementing the concept of “saving your own community yourself” by changing consumption habits and encouraging neighbors to participate in community improvement. (Source: from interviewee)
Matthew hopes everyone can learn from his experience: “I’m not a very successful example because the social enterprise has already concluded quite successfully! Fortunately, we stopped without debt. He summarizes three essential capabilities for entrepreneurship: first, in-depth understanding of different industries’ operations; second, sensitivity to numbers and entrepreneurial awareness; third, constant adaptation, as business models need continuous market adjustment. “The process of opening doors as a boss is very tough. Unlike being an employee who gets holidays, when you’re a boss you really have a hundred thousand fires to handle, having to do everything personally. Every moment you have to worry about your business, and when colleagues have issues, you have to fill in yourself.”
Having been an entrepreneur, Matthew better understands entrepreneurial difficulties and emphasizes the importance of financial sustainability: “Many projects earn money dollar by dollar from customers, but actually we can consider many different business models. B2C (business-to-consumer) is tough—we could actually do B2B (business-to-business), such as partnering with companies, schools, and public institutions to obtain more stable financial income. Diversifying income can also reduce financial risk.” At the same time, with strong national support for sustainable development, if models and standard systems can be established with applications beyond Hong Kong—possibly the Greater Bay Area or even across Asia—more opportunities can be secured.
(Source: CUHK KTO)
The Significance of Cross-sector Collaboration
Embracing diverse excellence and making innovation a “long-term driving force,” Matthew believes: “Whether in business or social welfare organizations, having more diversity within an organization is healthy for development—not just diversity in age, rank, and gender, but more importantly, diversity in thinking, perspectives, and backgrounds, which helps us make correct decisions. For example, if business management understands so-called ‘people’s hardships,’ grasping different social issues and grassroots living needs, it would definitely help them in marketing or business decisions to more comprehensively care for different customers. Simply put, it increases business resilience. This shows that cross-sector collaboration is very valuable.”
Regarding the deep integration of academia and society, Matthew treasures the power of “knowledge transfer,” firmly believing that research emerging from academic laboratories can be applied to society. He believes the core value lies in multi-party collaboration: scholars provide theoretical models, students bring creative vitality, and social enterprises and businesses provide implementation venues. The three complement each other, jointly creating replicable innovative models.
Caption: A project currently supported by the HKEX Foundation is the collaboration on “Scientific and Action Research to Eradicate Bedbugs in Hong Kong” by team members from CUHK’s Department of Social Work and School of Public Health and Primary Care, among others. Through effective and affordable innovative bedbug elimination methods, the project hopes to bring hope for eradicating bedbug infestations to subdivided flat residents and grassroots families. (Source: CUHK News Centre)
Cherishing Lasting Impact
Matthew particularly appreciates a quote from former CUHK Vice-Chancellor Professor Joseph Sung: “Do things that can be left behind”. “ “When we choose a profession or handle work, we must always think: after completing this task, we will one day leave this position, no longer be in this role, no longer be in Hong Kong, or even no longer be in this world—will there be something from our work that can remain, influence others, and make people’s lives better? I think everyone really needs to keep this saying close to heart.”
Speaking of the recent popularity of social platform Threads, which makes it easy for younger generations to make black-and-white judgments about things, there are actually deeper meanings behind headlines. “Why do these phenomena occur? I believe everyone taking the social innovation path needs to cultivate an attitude of not rushing to judge right and wrong, but rather asking ‘why,’ seeking more underlying causes. Only this way can we find the most secure, effective, and feasible solutions. We must maintain this spirit in observing and handling problems.”
Matthew believes, “Criticism is easy and costs nothing, but behind it, many people are silently making efforts.”
Caption: Many passionate university graduates or young entrepreneurs with several years of work experience may find themselves without breakthroughs after years of entrepreneurship, possibly even without salary, inevitably becoming disheartened. Disagreements with co-founders may also cause originally promising companies to reluctantly close down. Matthew shares with CUHK entrepreneurs: “You just need to be prepared. Don’t let worry stop you from starting—you only know the path by walking it.” There might be benefactors to help you, partners right beside you!” (Source: CUHK KTO)
This truly embodies CUHK’s innovative spirit—not just technological breakthroughs, but innovation in thinking. In this institution that has nurtured countless innovators and entrepreneurs, we learn not just problem-solving techniques, but the ability to think critically about social issues.
True entrepreneurs know how to embed responsibility and care into every business model, just as CUHK’s mission is not only to cultivate successful entrepreneurs, but social builders who can leave behind lasting positive influence. In times of rapid change, nothing is more precious than that kind of enduring positive change that transcends short-term achievements and is rooted in society—this is the true entrepreneurial spirit of CUHK people.
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