Jian Yi-bin, a 1989 graduate from the Department of International Trade, set up a special hardship scholarship to return his gratitude to TKU. Five students from the International Trade were the lucky recipients that became its first beneficiaries who received NT$ 30,000 each last Wednesday, Dec. 6 from Jian’s father, Jian Jin-guang.

Mr. Jian Yi-bin is a very successful businessman who is the vice president of the well-known Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., a.k.a. Foxconn. He contacted Prof. Lin Yi-nan, the chair of the International Trade, expressing his desire of wanting to help students in great needs. Although he has spent a great deal of his time in China in recent years where most of Foxconn’s businesses are focusing, he has not forgotten his roots—Tamkang University. For him, this is simply a gesture of showing his gratitude—something he learned from his father.

His father who came to ceremony said that his son is a hardworking man who attaches great sentiment to his roots. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but through his know-how, which he acquired in his studies in the US and a hardworking work ethics, his father explained, he went from a simple position at Foxconn to the leading role he’s in today, with the blessing of Kuo Tai-ming, the CEO of the company. His current job has taken him all over the world, but does not take him away from his charity work. He is extremely active in various non-profit, charitable organizations helping the weak in the society. Setting up a hardship foundation at TKU is a natural step for him to make for reaching out to students who need a helping hand from time to time.

Application to the scholarship is annually, but in cases of great emergency, application is available anytime. The first time ever recipients, Chen Yi-ming, Shih Yuan-ru, Lung Li-chiang, Kao Pei-zhi and Huang Hsin-tai, are grateful to such a wonderful opportunity of having this extra help so that their studies at TKU could continue. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )