Childhood dreams of aiding poor made true

Lifetime achievement award; Starting with a tiny workshop and $200 in seed capital, an industrialist has built an empire - only to give it away

CHIANG CHEN, chairman of the Chen Hsong Holdings, said he wanted in his youth to follow in the footsteps of the heroes in the classical Chinese novel Water Margin. In the book, 108 heroes steal from the rich and give to the poor during the Song dynasty.

Although the realities of life quickly put paid to such notions, the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award in this year's DHL/SCMP Hong Kong Business Awards has become something of a legend and hero himself, both for his success in business and his generosity to the community.

Dr Chiang was born in 1923 and grew up in poverty. His parents died when he was still young. Moving from Shandong to Hong Kong in 1949, he scratched a living doing a string of labouring jobs until friends recommended him to the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (Haeco).

Two years later, spotting opportunities in the plastics industry, he left the company to start his own workshop with $200 in seed money.

Dr Chiang said times were hard back then. His entire workshop was no bigger than the small room in the office where he now works and had no chairs. He worked around the clock and leaned on the wall for a quick nap when exhausted.

Soon after starting up his workshop, he began to conduct research on the production of plastic injection moulding machines. Within eight years, he had invented the first locally designed and manufactured 10-ounce, in-line screw-type plastic injection moulding machine.