A Perfectly Purposeful Life

A former director of a listed company and now homemaker, theatre fundraiser and champion of women’s rights, Jin Lu, shares with Mavis Teo her passion for philanthropy and her penchant for brands that seek perfection.

- Mavis Teo

At the end of a three-hour chat in Jin Lu’s well-appointed dining room, Roosevelt’s oft-quoted words, “speaks softly and carries a big stick” come to mind. Although the context is different – the 32nd US president was referring to using diplomacy first and force later when required, the meaning in Lu’s context is more literal. Disarmingly charming with a soothing and melodious voice, her mellow demeanour belies a strong and dynamic character. Her past achievements and her body of community work are testimony to these qualities.

Lu has worn many hats in her life, and she has worn them all well. Born in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution to an actor-turnedtheatre-manager father and a soprano mother, she put her Spanish degree from the Beijing International Studies University to use in her first job as a translator, and then as a domestic tour guide for foreigners travelling with China’s only state-owned travel agency at that time. The job took the intrepid traveller to exotic locations like the Silk Road and sparked off her wanderlust and curiosity about the world which led her to Hong Kong where she took up a public relations role at a TV station.

While in Hong Kong, Lu met a senior from university who later became her husband. Together they started Golden Meditech, an integrated healthcare enterprise which was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2001 (delisted in 2020). Although she casually attributes their success to being lucky and willing to learn, one can only imagine the grit she must possess to have overcome the challenges she encountered along the way.