A Noble is a Noble....

A new-age Noble Prize? That’s what the billionaire from Hong Kong, Lui Chi Woo wants to do. After building a $15-billion fortune from casinos, looks like Lui wants to leave behind something that will speak of his virtue and less about his ways of becoming a billionaire.

Lui wants to give back prizes that include a dinner-plate-sized trophy depicting Lui in his signature flat cap, together with a cash payout of $2.56 million, which is double the amount of a Nobel Prize. Winners also get a dinner-plate-sized trophy showing the “amiable and kind smiling face of Dr. Lui,” according to an effusive description on the prize’s website.

Winners will be chosen on three categories - sustainability, welfare development and positive energy. This will be done through a three-tier structure that involves a recommendation committee, selection panels and the prize council. 

This year’s winners, who will be honored at a ceremony on Oct. 3, are renewable energy advocate Hans-Josef Fell, a former parliament member for Germany’s Green Party; the World Meteorological Organization; and India’s Pratham Education Foundation.

This award has been in existence for three years now and Lui has said that he is not trying to replace the 123-year-old awards but offering an alternative.

Well, an Oscar or a Nobel will always be the highest; everything else will remain as imitations and ‘me-too’ only.