The body of Jeffrey Koo Sr (辜濂松), founder and former chairman of one of Taiwan’s largest banks, Chinatrust Financial Holding Co, arrived in Taiwan early yesterday morning.
Koo died at the age of 79 on Dec. 5 in New York after reportedly battling Parkinson’s disease for some years.
The charter plane carrying Koo’s body along with members of his family was greeted by dozens of Chinatrust executives and other Koo family members.
Photo: CNA
The Koo family organized a simple ceremony led by a pastor for the late banker at an EVA Airways cargo facility before taking his body in a motorcade to Taipei.
The motorcade drove past Chinatrust’s headquarters in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), where more than 2,000 employees lined up on the street to mourn Koo’s death, many of them in tears.
The motorcade then drove to Sanjhih (三芝) in New Taipei City (新北市), where Koo’s body was to be temporarily placed.
Later, more than 300 Chinatrust employees were taken to Sanjhih to pay their respects to Koo.
According to Chinatrust, his family will organize a requiem Mass.
Koo went to the US earlier this year for treatment, where he was reported to have been diagnosed with a brain tumor.
He died in the company of his family.
His elder son, Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒), who had been previously barred from leaving the country over his alleged role in a financial scandal, paid a record NT$1billion (US$34.3 million) as a guarantee late last month in exchange for court permission to visit his ailing father in New York.
The late tycoon represented Taiwan in the international arena in numerous capacities, including serving as the nation’s representative on the APEC’s Business Advisory Council from 1995 to 2009.
A long-time “ambassador-at-large,” in September Koo was conferred the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government, the highest honor given by Japan to businesspeople, for his contributions in promoting Japan-Taiwan ties.
He has also been honored by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for his long-term efforts in expanding Taiwan’s ties with the international community, and pushing for economic and trade cooperation with other countries.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
A magnitude 6 earthquake last night at 9:11pm struck off northeastern Yilan County, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The earthquake’s epicenter was located in waters between Toucheng Township (頭城) and Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島), about 22.1km northeast of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 112km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Yilan’s Dongshan (冬山) and Nanao (南澳) townships and Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), where it measured 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. It measured 3 in other areas of Yilan and Taipei, as
RSS