Singapore-based tycoons build memorial hall on Kinmen
2009-11-16 12:00 AM
Singapore-based shipping tycoon Chang Yun Chung and his brother attended a ceremony on Kinmen yesterday to mark the inauguration of a memorial hall to their late father and mother built on their parents' home island.
The inauguration of the memorial hall, located in Kinmen's northeastern township of Chinsha, was attended by nearly 400 people, including Kinmen Magistrate Lee Chu-feng.
Addressing the ceremony, Chang, 90, founder of Singapore's Pacific International Lines (Private) Ltd (PIL) , said the memorial hall was built to allow the brothers to express their gratitude for the love and care given to them by their parents.
"The hall is also dedicated to telling our offspring scattered around the world that our roots are in Kinmen,"Chang said.
Y.C. Chang and his younger brother Chang Yun Fu, 83, traveled from Singapore to Kinmen via the Chinese city of Xiamen.
An older brother, Chang Yun Chung, who also donated toward the memorial, died last month.
The Chang brothers also made another donation of NT$10 million (US$309,310) to establish an educational foundation aimed at helping young people from Kinmen to receive better education.
PIL was ranked the 20th-biggest container shipping company in the world in 2005. The growth of the privately held family-owned shipping firm was achieved against the odds in the political and economic environment faced by many Singapore-based shipping firms that emerged in the 1960s.
Started as a small regional shipping company based in Singapore in 1967, it has since grown into an international shipping company, operating over 90 vessels with an annual turnover of US$1.7 billion in 2004. Chang Yun Chung has in recent years passed the company baton over to the second generation.
Chang Yun Fu, chairman of the World Chang Clan, is also a respected Singapore business leader who has received a Singaporean presidential citation and medals from Singapore's Ministry of Education for his contributions to public service.
At the ceremony, Lee praised the Chang brothers for their filial piety, their remembrance of their parents and their compassion for their parents' ancestral home.
