USC honorary degree: Stanley Ho(King of Macau Gambling)

Honorary degrees have been given by the all of the universities in the world for hundreds of years, and they have been awarded in America from late 17th century. In order to praise the people who has done something enormous that improve our world or contribute to the society. Certainly, University of Southern California has its honorary degrees, and there were many successful people who have received the honorary degrees from USC. According to the USC website, its code of ethics "is predicated on two main pillars: a commitment to discharging our obligations to others in a fair and honest manner, and a commitment to respecting the rights and dignity of all persons."In 2007, one of the nominees that I think that he has the quality for the honor degree is Dr Stanley Ho. Stanley Ho has a large amount of great achievements on ethics, economics and politics, but the news that might disadvantage him to be a honorand of USC is that a lot of people might consider his business is contaminated. Therefore, some people think that he does not deserve to receive this award.

According to Mike W. Martin’s Meaningful Work, most contemporary professions offer a wide array of specialization that individuals select, guide in part of their personal ideals. Stanley chose to become a businessman since once he went to see a dentist when he was young. The dentist is his relative but he said something which that embarrassed him. Stanley ran home and cried. He swore: “I must become a successful man. Let those relatives who only talk about money know, I will earn a lot of money in ten years.”

Adam Smith point out that professional received more rewards from income and prestige. The Compensation Motives are the desires for those social rewards. Dr Stanley Ho (1921- ) is one of the most famous businessmen in Asia. According to Forbes, he ranked 84^th among the richest people in the world in 2006. Dr Ho operates a lot of entertainment business includes casinos, greyhound racing, lotteries and horse betting. He is the owner of Lisboa, the world’s highest grossing casino. He also takes part in tourism, shipping, real estate and air transport. His bussiness income constitutes about one-third of the gross dometic product of Macau. Taxes on them accounted for 30 present of Macau government's revene. Stanley Ho is the wealthiest person in Macau.

Martin stated that in his article that Professions are based on advanced expertise that combines theory-based understanding, practical know-how and liberal learning. Craft Motives are the desires for getting knowledge and skills. Dr Ho‘s dramatic rise is charted in books and movies. He was born in Hong Kong into to a well-known family. Although, his family is wealthy, he started his business on his own. At the age of 13, his father lost all in the stock market, and abandoning his wife and children. Therefore, he had to work very hard to make his way in the world. He studied very hard after his father went bankrupt because he understands that it can improve his social status. He became the first student to grant a university scholarship that studied in class D. It indicated his result was poor before. He was very active in the university. He became fluent in English, Japanese and Portuguese.At the age of 19, Stanley Ho arrived in Macau with only ten Hong Kong dollars in his pocket. Then he worked in a trading company and became a partner of the company from an employee in 21. He had very intelligent business mind and he won the trust of his customers since his talents and command of four languages.

Dr Ho‘s greatness comes from an almost mythic ability to survive and prosper in the face of risks and how to take advantages of the opportunities. He always thinks that the bigger the risk you face, the more chances and success you can achieve. Once, he ran a cargo boat that passed though the mouth of the Pearl River, a dangerous area with a lot of Japanese troops and pirates. His boat was surprise attacked and several of his shipmates are killed. However, Dr Ho remained clam and organized a plan to defeat the pirates, and eventually returning the boat home safely. He learned Japanese during the Second World War, and he earned a lot of money during the Korean War by shipping goods to China and North Korea.In 1960s, he won the exclusive gambling franchise and he stated to make Macau a world class tourism and entertainment destination. His Lisboa Hotel, and Macau Tower became the landmarks of Macau.

According to Martin’s article, moral concern means that a person provide valuable community services. Dr Ho set up several scholarships to award students, and he built a run a lot of facilities such as sport centers and libraries. There are schools that name after him. He is respected as a man of extraordinary, power, talent and philanthropy. He funds scholarships through the University of Macau, and he received two honorary doctorate degrees. Many schools, hospitals and even an avenue are named after him. He has been honored by the British Monarchy and His Holiness Pope John Paul the Second. He also received the “Great Cross of the Order” by the Portuguese government, and the “Gold Bauhinia Star” by the Hong Kong government, in acknowledgment of his marvelous contribution to the society.

His empire is facing a risk since the competition is increasing from the American moguls Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn. However, Ho still controls 15 of Macau's 18 casinos; also operates ferry and helicopter services that transport gamers from Hong Kong and other parts of China.

Although the image of Stanley Ho is a man who becomes wealthy by doing the gambling business and there are some people think that Ho have connection with triads, there is no evidence to point out any relationship between him the triad activities. Dr Stanley is a good man and has many very good hobbies like dancing and swimming. Dr Ho says “I am not a gambler, People call me the casino king, but I do not play.”I think his work fit the role and mission of USC, which it the main reason why i think he should be honored.