18 Oct 2008

在紐約時報上讀一則王永慶傳奇

今天在紐約時報上乍見王永慶照片,畢竟是被喻為"經營之神"(the God of Management)的人物,倒也不意外。小小一則報導中,不外是他的發跡傳奇、台塑文化、驚人財富,然而,卻有一小段提到了汞污泥...

"Formosa Plastics was accused in 1998 of dumping 3,000 tons of waste contaminated with high levels of mercury near the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville, causing a local panic. The company later agreed to ship the waste back to Taiwan."

隨後和Jewel聊起這件事,沒想到她對過程很清楚,而這汞污泥運回台灣後,背後可是一段悲慘的土地故事。運到哪裡去?屏東的赤山巖。網路上有不少相關報導,直至十月初都還有環保署決意要就地處理這八千多公噸污染物的新聞。

這不是我平常掛在心上的議題。不過,既然恰好看到這新聞,總覺得該平衡一下目前媒體上過於美化的種種報導(這兩天甚至連msn list上都可以看到不少王先生的名字,也是一奇觀),在台塑精神、三娘李寶珠的台塑牛小排、經營傳奇等等琳瑯滿目的歌頌之外,還有其他事值得一看。

汞污泥事件凸顯毒物島困境
2003年的深度報導,由台塑汞污泥事件談起毒性污染物在台灣的慘況....

紐約時報報導Y. C. Wang, Billionaire Who Led Formosa Plastics, Is Dead at 91
Published: October 16, 2008

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Wang Yung-ching, who built his Formosa Plastics Group into Taiwan’s biggest and most profitable manufacturing conglomerate, died Wednesday in New Jersey while on a business trip. He was 91.

His death was announced in a statement by Formosa Plastics.

A farmer’s son with only an elementary school education, Mr. Wang set up a rice store with his two brothers in his early 20s. He then established the Formosa Plastics Corporation in 1954 with a loan from a United States aid program.

Forbes listed Mr. Wang as the island’s second-wealthiest person this year, with a personal fortune estimated at $6.8 billion.

Known widely as the God of Management, Mr. Wang expanded his plastics and petrochemicals empire and diversified into electronics, cosmetics, hospitals and car manufacturing.

A strong proponent of closer economic ties with rival China, Mr. Wang invested in power plants and plastics factories on the Chinese mainland. Formosa Plastics also set up chemical companies in the United States and owns several oil wells and properties rich in natural gas in Texas.

Mr. Wang is said to have lived an austere life, staying in an apartment inside his group’s headquarters in downtown Taipei. The group’s immense success is partly attributed to a corporate culture emphasizing thrift and hard work.

Formosa Plastics was accused in 1998 of dumping 3,000 tons of waste contaminated with high levels of mercury near the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville, causing a local panic. The company later agreed to ship the waste back to Taiwan.

Formosa Plastics said Mr. Wang assigned seven senior managers to run the group in 2006 and they will continue to oversee operations collectively after his death.

Mr. Wang is survived by his wife, Lee Pao-chu; two sons; seven daughters; four sisters; and one brother. His son, Winston Wang, runs Grace T.H.W., a group active in petrochemicals and electronics in China. His daughter Cher Wang and her husband, Chen Wen-chi, run the chip developer VIA Technologies.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Balance is Great!