William Louey on how giving back can help you to stay young

“I care more about things that bring me internal happiness, like awarding scholarships, helping others, charitable works. If you are happy inside, then you will be able to age more gracefully,” said William Louey, a 65-year-old Hong Kong philanthropist with a lifelong passion for giving back to society.

There is evidence showing that altruism does have beneficial effects on your overall health. A meta-study conducted by Oxford University in 2018 shows that those who show kindness and compassion towards others experience clear benefits to their wellbeing and overall happiness, which contributes to better health. Another study also shows that giving back to society may help you live longer, as this helps reduce overall stress and improve mental wellbeing.

William Louey is currently writing a book about anti-ageing that is centred around the aspects of his personal life that have contributed to his overall health and wellbeing, which includes various charitable acts and maintaining positive relationships.

But for him, in retrospect, the positive effects that his philanthropy has had on his general health and mental wellbeing have been his most important realisation.

William Louey is a Hong Kong businessman who is always conscious about the responsibilities of being born into wealth and privilege. He is the fourth generation heir of a centennial public transport company, the Kowloon Motor Bus company, which was founded by his grandfather in 1921.

Louey's late grandmother had taught him about the importance of giving back to society since the ripe age of seven, and had taken him along to charity visits.

At the time, William Louey admitted that he didn’t appreciate the experience. It was after his grandmother’s passing that he learnt about the magnitude of her giving.

All the charitable organisations, elderly care homes and orphanages he had been visiting with his grandmother were all founded by her. “She helped thousands of people, but quietly. I didn’t know about it until people came up to thank me for her good deeds at her funeral. That inspired me to also give back to society without any expectations,” he said.

But instead of helping “thousands of people” the way his grandmother did, he decided to start a radical social experiment with a handful of talented but underprivileged young people. This led to the founding of the William S.D. Louey Educational Foundation in 1995, to provide underprivileged students in mainland China the educational opportunities he himself had access to as a former student in the UK.

William Louey’s style of philanthropy is unique in that he chooses to give personal attention and mentoring to his scholars, guiding them through their journey in middle school, university and beyond. He believes that philanthropy is not about “just giving money away”.

“I take care of every student myself,” he said, “For 30 years I’ve been trying to convince others to do the same, but they just don’t have the time. Instead, they just give money, and let someone else do the work that is involved in making sure that the scholars are receiving proper support and personal guidance. I think that’s not good enough, because you have to take care of every single one of them. You have to mentor them,” he said.

Mentoring young people also has positive effects on your health, which could help you maintain a healthier body and mind. William Louey said this is because being around his scholars, who are extremely smart, makes him more knowledgeable.

“My scholars keep me up to date with what is happening in the world. Also, listening to them talk about subjects they are passionate about, from aerospace engineering to agricultural science to even hydrogen fusion and quantum mechanics, is a humbling experience. They make me realise that there is a lot more to learn out there, and that keeps me grounded. I learned a lot from them, I’ve benefited a lot,” he said.

It is in fact important for adults over 60 years of age to consistently learn new things, William Louey said. “You keep your mind active and curious, that’s how you stay young,” he added.

A paper by the Active Ageing Framework shows that adults who are in their 60s benefit from engaging with “non-formal general-interest courses”. Those who actively participate in continuous learning are more likely to be in better psychological wellbeing and general health.

Giving back to society also gives you a sense of purpose, which also contributes to your emotional wellbeing. Purpose is a powerful tool for better mental health, which slows down the negative effects of ageing.

Interestingly, a sense of purpose, achieved through acts such as mentoring, charitable giving or simply helping others, can in turn lengthen your lifespan, according to an article by Mayo Clinic. The article stresses that those with a sense of purpose are more likely to take better care of themselves by exercising, eating well and being more cognisant of their own health.

William Louey does believe that kindness and charitable giving does have positive effects on overall health, but when he started following his grandmother’s footsteps in helping others who are less fortunate in the 1990s, he wasn’t even aware of the correlation between kindness and good health. This was because at the start of his philanthropic journey, he was only in his 30s. But he was in a unique position in life, as he had just lost two of the most important men in his life, his father and his grandfather, who both died at ages 49 and 50. “I thought I was dying at 50,” he revealed.

This made William Louey more determined to begin his philanthropy as early as possible. “I wanted to create as much impact as possible, which was why I decided to focus on educating some of the world’s brightest minds. They in return can become successful and continue this cycle of giving. I call this pay forward philanthropy, as you never pay back, but instead, you give back to wider society,” he said.

In true form, William Louey’s original batch of scholars, 30 years after starting the scholarship, are now sponsoring and mentoring other students to help them pursue higher education in the UK. To honour William Louey’s philosophy, they named the scholarship the Pay It Forward fund which sits under the China Oxford Scholarship Fund umbrella.

Acts of kindness can have a host of benefits to health and mental wellbeing, but William Louey wants others to focus on the fact that the act of giving is the purest form of joy there is out there. “I can’t really explain in words how much I enjoy doing what I do - I have a big family, with all my scholars in it. I go to their weddings, visit their newborns. I feel like there is some kind of unconditional love between me and my scholars. That is something I want everyone to experience,” he said.

The Dalai Lama once said, “happiness is the highest form of health”, and his words are beginning to ring true.