President 
Lai Ching-te attended the funeral of Powerchip founder Frank Huang in Taipei on September 12 and presented a presidential citation honouring him on behalf of the state. Huang, who died at the end of July aged 76, was seen off by close to 1,000 political and business figures, relatives and friends, PTS reported. In a statement cited by CNA, the Presidential Office said Huang's eldest brother accepted the citation, with Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin among those attending.
In his address, Lai said he had come with a heavy heart and called Huang "definitely one of the pioneers" of Taiwan's semiconductor industry. He traced a career that began in medicine: Huang earned a medical doctorate in the United States, returned to Taiwan to teach at Taipei Medical University and, at 38, left medicine for business, founding a computer company before setting up Powerchip Semiconductor with Japan's Mitsubishi Electric in 1994, CNA reported.
What made Huang admirable, Lai said, was that he failed but never gave up. Through a financial crisis, a collapse in DRAM prices and the delisting of his company, Huang paid off NT$120 billion in debt within eight years and turned the business into a logic-chip foundry, the president said. The group eventually returned to the stock market, PTS reported.
Huang also chaired the Taipei Computer Association and the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, among other industry bodies, and pushed for semiconductor education, the president said. In remarks carried by PTS, Lai said the industry's joint efforts had brought about four semiconductor research colleges to train talent for the sector, and thanked Huang for founding the Powerchip group, contributing to Taiwan's economy and giving back to society.
Lai quoted Huang as saying that life's most important lesson is to do everything possible, never give up and see a task through until it succeeds. Huang believed people should have confidence in Taiwan, because the whole world will need semiconductors and the world's most important chip companies are in Taiwan, the president said. His words, deeds and contributions would stay in people's hearts, Lai said, as he offered condolences to the family.
Figures referenced: Lai Ching-te. — JudgeMarket.
