Official Obituary of Joshua Wong (王嘉倫 aka 王載勝）1945 – 2023

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Mr. Joshua Wong (王嘉倫 aka 王載勝), devoted father of Marcus, Mimi, Colin, Sarah, Cynthia; father-in-law of Janny, Chan Jung Tsung, John, Man; loving grandfather of Martin, Myron, Justin, Jeffery & Jocelyn. Our father passed away peacefully on September 12, 2023, at the age of 78.

Vigil will be held on 3 to 10 pm, Wednesday October 4, 2023. Memorial Service at 7pm at the chapel of the Hong Kong Funeral Home, 679 King’s Road, Hong Kong. Funeral Service will be held at 10:00 am, Thursday October 5, 2023. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Fly High Foundation. For enquiries, please contact Shirley at 64441444.

The death of my younger brother, Joshua Wong, makes me feel a mixture of sadness and joy: sadness, because I can no longer talk to him anymore; joy, because he is now in Heaven with Jesus and free from his painful struggle with pancreatic cancer.

I thank God for leading him to Christ at a young age, and Brother John Szeto (司徒懷恩) for his friendship and spiritual ministry to Joshua. In a mysterious way, Joshua was responsible for connecting John with me during our time serving at a Christian ministry in Hong Kong

Joshua is no stranger to the INPM family. Last year, he sponsored the Joshua Wong Research Scholarship Contest for scholarly publications in Existential Positive Psychology (EPP). Before the pandemic, Joshua was a major donor and generously supported several of our Meaning Conferences.

Joshua was very interested in the existential issues associated with human flourishing. His workshops on Choice and Who Am I? have attracted and impacted thousands of participants. I feel privileged that he had consulted me as a resource for these workshops.

I have written a piece on Joshua Wong in my autobiography. As a way to remember and honor his life and legacy, I am now republishing the relevant part about him as follows. I hope that his story can be an inspiration to the INPM family.

Joshua Wong (王载胜 alias 王嘉倫): A Legend in the Insurance Industry

Among my brothers, Joshua was the greatest surprise. We used to call him “Ha Ha” because he was only able to make “Ha Ha” sounds at a time when other children his age were already speaking. He did not do well in school. I still feel bad for throwing a book at him and calling him “stupid” because he could not do his homework.

Father was especially harsh in his judgement of Joshua. He totally dismissed him as useless and without a future (不成器; 沒有出息). He told Joshua to his face: “I will never depend on you when I get old.” Fortunately, Father had to eat his own words because, in his old age, the only son that had the means and the heart to take care of him was none other than Joshua!

His rags-to-riches story can be found in his two books, Footprints (脚印) (2007) and his autobiography (曾为梅花醉如泥) (2014), the latter which was serialized in a major newspaper in Hong Kong, Wen Wei Po (文匯報) (see Ceng wei meihua zui ru ni, 2015). His remarkable life was adapted to a 34-episode TV drama, The Glorious Moments in Life (歲月驕陽) (see Suiyue Jiaoyang, 2009). His blog has more than 10 million followers (Wang Jialun, 2010).

Joshua was–by far–the most successful and famous sibling, even though he had the least formal education—he barely finished his secondary education. What accounts for his dramatic accomplishments? One word: suffering!

During the 1960s and early 70s, corruption was rampant in Hong Kong; it permeated government at every level. As an interpreter in the court, he took his share of the corruption money.

Everything changed when the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was formed in 1974 with a sweeping mandate to clean up the public sector. He was arrested and imprisoned, along with many other civil servants.

During his incarceration, he suffered a lot of physical abuse at the hands of other inmates. He vowed that when he was released, he would work hard and get to the top the honest way. True to his word, he read as many self-help books as he could lay his hands on and improved himself in every possible way.

Through my father’s recommendation, he was able to work for AIAGroup Limited as an insurance agent. Within six years, through hard work and genius, he smashed all their sales records. Over the past 40 years, Joshua captured all the top awards, both regionally and internationally. He was widely acknowledged as the “Godfather of Insurance” in Hong Kong.

I believe that another factor of his success was that he really knew how to relate to people. He was extremely generous and opened his wallet readily whenever any family member needed help. Our INPM conferences have benefited greatly from his financial support. Joshua also contributed generously to other charitable organizations, such as hospitals and cancer research.

Joshua was not only generous, but cared about other agents who worked with or under him. His weekend seminar, Choice, was designed to help insurance agents become their best through self-understanding, personal growth, emotional-regulation, and building trusting relationships. This self-help seminar was highly successful, attended by thousands of insurance agents. This training has indirectly contributed to the success of all those agents working for him.

Finally, Joshua understood the importance of meaning in life. In one of his blog entries, he said that success without meaning cannot endure testing (成功需要被赋与某种意义. 没有意义的成功等同没有地基的建筑, 是经不起考验的) (Wang Jialun, 2010). He practiced what he preached: to him, insurance was his way of help people plan a more secure financial future. His natural warmth and genuineness instantly earned the trust of the people with whom he worked.

His son Marcus has followed the steps of his father and grandfather by working for AIA. Marcus, too, has already achieved remarkable success at a young age. I am so glad that my father’s genius in the insurance industry has been passed on to Joshua and Marcus.

References

Ceng wei meihua zui ru ni: Wang Jialun sushuo bansheng. (2015, December 23). Wen Wei Po. http://paper.wenweipo.com/2015/12/23/OT1512230004.htm

Suiyue Jiaoyang Guanfang boke [The Glorious Moments in Life Blog]. (2009). Wangyi Gongsi [Netease]. http://suiyuejiaoyang.blog.163.com

Wang Jialun. (2010). Weibo. http://weibo.com/u/1331561275

Wong, J. L. (2007). Jiaoyin [Footprints]. Sun-Yat Sen University Press.

Wong, J. L. (2014). Ceng wei meihua zui ru ni: Wo zhe da bansheng [This is my life]. Zhonghua Book Company.