Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) was elected EasyCard Corp chairman yesterday at a provisional board meeting, where he pledged to cut his salary by half and bring the company back into profit by the end of his term.
Lien, son of former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), denied he was using his position at the company for his political advancement and promised to expand the use of the MRT Easy Card.
“Why does everyone think that entering politics is going to be my next step? Joining the company does not mean I am about to become more involved in politics,” Sean Lien told a press conference at the company yesterday.
EasyCard general manager Jason Lin (林志盈), who accompanied Sean Lien at the press conference, said that all 18 board members in attendance had agreed to elect Lien as chairman. One board member was absent from the meeting.
Of the 19 board members, eight were appointed by the Taipei City Government, the biggest shareholder in the company. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) appointed Sean Lien as a board member on Aug. 21, a move that was ostensibly part of a plan to have Lien replace former company chairman Chen Yu-chang (陳裕璋).
Sean Lien said yesterday he would cut his monthly salary of about NT$300,000 in half and use the leftover money to reward employees, adding that he would use his expertise on financial management to turn the company’s deficit into a profit by the end of his term next year.
“I am confident we can return to profitability during my term and we will seek to make the EasyCard as multifunctional as the Octopus Card used in Hong Kong,” he said.
The company was set up in 2000 with capital of NT$500 million (US$15.7 million). While circulation of the EasyCard exceeds 14 million, the company registered a deficit of NT$55 million.
The company will expand the use of the EasyCard so that it can be used for all means of public transportation as well as at convenience stores and restaurants, he said.
Asked whether he would take the MRT to work, the new chairman said he had taken the MRT on several occasions, especially during election campaigns, but that he would use whatever means of transportation is most convenient for his business trips.
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