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"My forefathers left India for Shanghai, Canton and Hong Kong…not because of  lack of opportunities but a sense of adventure and travel. I am always thankful to them for making this very bold decision,” conveyed Rusy Shroff who was brought to Hong Kong as a toddler and, currently as the eldest Zoroastrian in the Special Administrative Region, will be celebrating his 100th birthday on roz Srosh, mah Spandarmad (July 29, 2017) according to the Shahenshahi calendar, and August 23 as per the Gregorian calendar.
"I still come to the office every morning for around two hours and then in the afternoon as well,” notes Shroff. Permanent managing director of Ruttonjee Estates Continuation Limited (RECL), Shroff has his office on the 21th floor of Ruttonjee House at the Ruttonjee Centre and his penthouse residence above. Initially involved in the Ruttonjee family’s brewery and wine trading business, their main focus now is on the real estate business under the banner of RECL headquartered at the 26-storey Ruttonjee House on Duddell Street in Central Hong Kong.

 

 

 

 

 On both the occasions when Parsiana had the privilege to interact with him in the last six years, he had impressed us with his punctuality and zest to keep himself updated on community developments. Neither restrictions on mobility nor visual impairment have deterred him from pursuing his property interests, philanthropic commitments and passion for horse racing. Wife Purviz, who too is the permanent managing director of Ruttonjee Estates, is equally dedicated to the causes dear to Rusy.
"We feel strongly that since we have been fortunate to prosper in Hong Kong, it is our duty to give back to those less fortunate in society,” states Shroff. The personal tragedies that he encountered since a young age have fortified him to face difficulties, not with despondency but as opportunities to invest one’s resources and energies to benefit humanity. Son of Motabhoy Shroff, a silk merchant, and Tehmi (née Master), Rusy lost his father when his ship sank en route from Shanghai to Hong Kong where he was headed to attend the navjote of his daughter Minnie. Young Rusy, brother Beji and Minnie were raised and educated by their uncle Jehangir Hormusjee Ruttonjee and aunt Banoo (née Master). Rusy remembers fondly his uncle who founded H. K. Brewery and Distillery Limited  as "a very astute businessman who opened a brewery as well as a successful wine business. When I was 17 years old I went into his business, first working in the warehouse. We worked hard but life was very satisfying.”
During the turbulent period when the Japanese occupied Hong Kong, members of the Ruttonjee family, including Rusy, were taken as prisoners. It was during this time that Tehmi Rustom Desai, one of Jehangir’s three daughters, succumbed to tuberculosis, a disease then rampant in the crown colony. At the end of World War II, Jehangir transformed the old Royal Naval Hospital into the Ruttonjee Sanatorium and handed its operations to the Hong Kong Anti Tuberculosis Association, now known as The Hong Kong Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Diseases Association where Rusy has long been serving as vice president. In 1991 the Sanatorium was converted into the 600 bed Ruttonjee Hospital.

 

 

 

 

"Further since my first wife Freni (another of Jehangir’s daughters) died of cancer (within seven years of marriage), these charities are also close to my heart,” relates Rusy who is known to aid the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society, Children’s Cancer Foundation. "As I am blind, I wish to support many of the charities helping the visually impaired,” reveals Rusy who patronizes the Hong Kong Society for the Blind, Orbis, Lifeline Express, Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children, Riding for the Disabled, UNICEF, the Community Chest.
Internationally decorated as Member of the most excellent Order of the British Empire, and conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award which honors non-resident Indians for their contribution to promoting India in their respective adopted countries, "Most Charitable Force 2003” by the Hong Kong Tatler, and the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Rusy admits in his email clarifications that he was "apprehensive in 1997 with the handover to China. However we feel strongly that China has our best interests at heart and have helped us immeasurably, especially when our economy was faltering so soon after the handover.”
As he had conveyed to Parsiana (see "The Ruttonjee-Shroff saga,” July 7, 2006), "There is no change in lifestyle…except for the change of flags. Hong Kong has a civil service which functions very well. It is one of the top financial centers of the world. The HSBC is one of the largest banks in the world.” Updating our knowledge in 2017, Rusy wrote, "Two Parsis were on the provisional committee that formed the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in 1865. By 1860, 20% of the trading firms in Hong Kong were owned by Parsis.”
In fact, the founder of the Ruttonjee empire, Jehangir’s father Hormusjee, had established B. M. Ruttonjee and Company in 1887 that specialized in the trading of wines and spirits. Their wine business which was flourishing from the 1950s to the ’80s, with the Ruttonjees acquiring sole selling agencies of vintage wines from all the principal wine producing regions of the world, was closed down in 1988, a year after they celebrated their centenary.
Another personal blow to Rusy came in 1991 when his 36-year-old son Zarir (by his wife Purviz) who lived among the Alps in Leysin died in a car crash. To find a new meaning in her life Purviz chose to dedicate herself to Mother’s Choice, a shelter for children of unwed mothers, where she is associated as patron and continues to volunteer four mornings each week. A former teacher at Bombay’s Queen Mary School, Purviz (née Moogat), continued in the education field in Hong Kong, running Kiddyland, a playgroup for 20 years.

 

 

 

 

 

Zarir’s photo as that of other members of the Ruttonjee family adorn the walls of the Zoroastrian Building in Hong Kong. The social hall on the third floor of the Zoroastrian Building is dedicated to the memory of Jehangir. Glad that the Parsi community in Hong Kong, numbering nearly 240, meet regularly for religious and social functions, the seniormost Shroff  summed up, "The Parsis (here) are happy and content. We are a very close-knit community.” Rusy had earlier conveyed, "I am proud to be a Zoroastrian. I am not orthodox,” and recommended that "Parsi children be allowed to marry persons from other faiths, (and their children) be accepted into our faith freely. Are we not all children of one God?”
At their Ruttonjee Centre office are prominently displayed the "Sayings of Zarathushtra: If you want the whole world to admire you, make everyone happy and waste no time in self admiration…Seek your happiness in the happiness of all. Regard the sorrows and sufferings of others as yours and hasten to assuage them.”
 Whilst adopting a universal and benevolent approach in his charities and holding the reins of his business, Rusy’s love for racing continues unabated. "For 10 months of the year I follow each and every race meeting on Wednesdays and Sundays. Dhun Ruttonjee (Jehangir’s son and former president of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hongkong, Canton and Macao) was a steward of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and he instilled this passion in me. Fortunately I have been successful in instilling this in Purviz as well. She still visits the race course whilst I follow at home. We have owned many race horses since the 1970s and had even imported an Indian horse called Astonish from the Poonawalla Stud Farm in Poona.” Having won many races in India, he even went on to win his first race in Hong Kong when one of the dailies reported, "Astonish Astonishes Hong Kong.” 
Always willing to promote Hong Kong, Rusy had earlier listed the plus points of the island city: "There are no financial restrictions or controls. Hong Kong has the best public transport system and excellent infrastructure… There are neither electricity cuts nor shortage of water. Hong Kong is a safe, clean and very well maintained city.” In his concluding message in 2017 he noted, "No doubt there are problems but we are confident of Hong Kong’s future and hope local youngsters will take advantage of the opportunities of living here.”