HKTVmall’s Ricky Wong breaks silence after protests over animal research methods
CEO of Hong Kong Technology Venture Company says research meant to alleviate elderly patients’ suffering, but animal rights group unconvinced
The founder of Hong Kong online shopping platform HKTVmall has broken his silence over a science project involving controversial animal experiments, saying the research he supported was meant to reduce elderly patients’ suffering from illness.
Ricky Wong Wai-kay, vice-chairman and group chief executive officer of Hong Kong Technology Venture Company, the platform’s parent company and a listed firm, wrote in a social media post on Saturday that its experiments were intended to improve the quality of life for the elderly.
“Initially, I had just one goal: to improve the quality of life for the elderly, so they wouldn’t have to suffer from illness or live each day feeling like they were just waiting to die,” he said.
Wong recapped how his career had evolved as his passion for technology moved from telecommunications to a concern for people’s well-being.
“From the beginning to the end, my interest is technology, from communication networks, television production and logistics automation in the past to medical technology today, it is all revolving around technology to improve human life,” he wrote.
“After turning 60, one by one, the elders in my family passed away. In the last few years of their lives, every little detail – daily routines, eating, using the bathroom, bathing, changing clothes – required someone’s help. Their world was confined to home and the hospital. Was that the life they wanted?”