April 11-17, 2011
Headline News
Wang Yang Jiao remembered as mother and mentor by daughter Cher Wang
Reported by Lin Yi-ying
Written by Lydia Ma
Chi-Nan Presbyterian Church held a memorial service for one of its former members, Mrs. Wang Yang-jiao, on April 7, 2011, to celebrate her life and honor her legacy. Wang had been the second wife of Wang Yung-ching, an influential entrepreneur in Taiwan and founder of Formosa Plastics Corporation. Wang later became one of the richest and most successful men in Taiwan.
“Mother, you are so dear to me. You are the most important and influential person in my life. I remember that you wanted me to become a person that’d bless society and ordinary people. I will always treasure this counsel in my heart,” said Cher Wang, the youngest daughter of Wang Yang-jiao, adding that she looked forward to seeing her mother again in heaven. Cher is the founder of HTC Corporation and VIA Technologies.
As the second wife of Wang Yung-ching, Wang Yang-jiao became her husband’s most important supporter and served her in-laws faithfully. She heard the gospel through her father-in-law, who was a Christian, and was baptized in 1967 at Chinan Presbyterian Church in Taipei. Wang had 2 sons and 3 daughters with her husband.
Recounting their mother’s life, all of Wang Yang-jiao’s children said she was an extraordinary woman who persevered despite many hardships. As a young child, she worked as a maid and a farm girl to help her family stay afloat financially. Upon her marriage to Wang Yung-ching at the age of 21 in 1946, she became a devoted housewife.
When her husband remarried, she left behind what could’ve been a comfortable life in Taiwan and started anew in the U.S. at the age of 51. With merely US$3,000 borrowed from her elder son and daughter in her account, she brought her two youngest children, Cher and Walter, to the U.S. and raised them there. It was in the U.S. that she first learned how to drive at the age of 60.
Her grandchildren gave moving testimonies and recalled that their grandmother learned to drive in order to drive them to and from school. She would later mortgage her house to help her daughter start her own business, now known as VIA Technologies.
This memorial was attended by approximately 3,000 people, including well-known figures such as President Ma Ying-jeou, Vice-President Vincent Siew, former President Lee Teng-hui and former First Lady Tseng Wen-hui.
