The impact of a person's life can be seen from his funeral. Mr. Zhuang Shiping, who donated 200 billion yuan and fought all his life for the rise of China, enjoyed a state funeral when he died, and Tung Chee-hwa, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Li Ka-shing, the former richest man in Hong Kong, and others personally buried his soul.
In Thailand, there is also such a Teochew businessman, who was once the first of the ten richest people in Asia, and when he died in 1988, the King of Thailand personally held a cremation ceremony, and countless Thai people, including members of the royal family, came to see him off. To this day, there are still memorials and bronze statues of him in Thailand.
He is the founder of Bangkok Bank in Thailand - Mr. Tan Pil Chen!
Mr. Chan Peti Chen.
Today, Bangkok Bank is one of the top 10 most profitable banks in the world, operating in 21 countries, and its status is basically equivalent to that of Thailand's best bank.
Chen Bichen said: This bank does not belong to their family, but to the Thai people.
At that time, Bangkok Bank, in addition to an official recognition, can be said to be the "best bank" in Thailand. As the founder, Chen Bichen has developed a private bank to such a pivotal position, and the hardships are inhumane.
An expert familiar with the Thai economy once said of Bangkok Bank and Tan Pilson: "The contribution that Bangkok Bank has made to Thailand after the war has accelerated the pace of Thailand's economy for at least 10 to 15 years. ”
Who would have thought that Chen Bichen, who had achieved such an achievement, was just a son of an ordinary family at the beginning, and he couldn't afford to go to school because of his poor family, so he had no choice but to drop out of school and work!
Dropped out of school and borrowed money to work in Nanyang
Coolies, hawkers, waiters, ......Do everything
In Xiashan Community, Xiashan Street, there is still a traditional building - the former residence of Mr. Chen Bichen, an overseas Chinese in Thailand. Mr. Chen Bichen's ancestral home is Xiashan. In 1910, Chen Zigui, who was forced to go to Thailand to make a living, had his first son, Chen Bichen. No one could have imagined what this sawmill employee's son would achieve in the future!
Since he was a child, Chen Bichen was sent back to his hometown Chaoyang County by his father to study. After graduating from primary school, Chen Bichen was admitted to Chaoyang Liudu Middle School with excellent results, but due to his father's unemployment and poor family, Chen Bichen, who could not afford to pay the tuition, had to drop out of school to work to support his family.
Until 1982, after the implementation of the national overseas Chinese housing policy, the Xiashan community immediately helped Mr. Bi Chen to go through the relevant procedures of the overseas Chinese housing policy. The sons of Mr. Bichen Mr. Youqing and Mr. Youhan, including his family and relatives and friends, also often go to this former residence to recognize their ancestors and go to the village to take a look.
When Chen Bichen was 17 years old, he borrowed 8 oceans from relatives and friends and returned to Thailand to make a living. In order to make a living, Chen Bichen does all kinds of work, as a coolie to carry goods, as a hawker to sell goods, and as a waiter in a restaurant......
Later, he entered the large-scale Bangkok Sen Xinglong *** part-time job in the wood industry at that time, and began to make a career. He started as a handyman, then rose to clerk, accountant, and finally became the full manager of the company.
Start a business with the help of a friend
From 200,000 Bangkok Bank to $50 billion in assets
In 1935, Chen Bichen, who had accumulated a lot of valuable experience in the industry, founded the "Bangkok Wood Company" with the support of a friend. Since then, it has been out of control.
Then, he opened a number of ** companies such as Xingyuan and Asia Commercial, and in addition to continuing to operate timber, his business scope has expanded to hardware, stationery, food, rice, insurance and other industries.
In 1944, the Pacific War was drawing to a close. The 34-year-old Chen Bichen has a unique vision to set his sights on the banking industry.
Chen Bichen, who made a quick decision, united with several Thai businessmen to establish Bangkok Bank. At the beginning of the bank's establishment, it was only 200,000 US dollars, and Chen Bichen was just an ordinary director. It was not until 1952 that Chen Bichen became the general manager of Bangkok Bank, bringing Bangkok Bank to a new height!
In 1954, the discerning Chen Bichen took the lead in opening a sub-branch in Hong Kong, and then successively set up branches in Tokyo, Singapore, Taiwan, New York, Jakarta, London and other places.
By the 80s, Bangkok Bank had become a well-known international bank with 263 branches in Thailand and 15 branches abroad with nearly 1 employee70,000 with assets of up to $50 billion.
In 1984, the American Financial Monthly published the world's 12 richest bankers, and Chen Bichen was among them.
In 1983, Chen Bichen (front row, middle) returned to his hometown for inspection.
Long-sleeved good dancing writes a wealth of life
Someone once asked Chen Bichen for advice on the secret of his career success, and he said very modestly: "My career has only succeeded by adapting to the needs of the social environment. As a financial tycoon, Chen Bichen did not show off his outstanding business skills at all. What he admits is nothing more than the times creating heroes.
After the Second World War, foreign banks, which had dominated Thailand and other Southeast Asian regions, neglected the ability of overseas Chinese to do business. Chen Pichen seized this opportunity, he had insight into the strong demands and hopes of Chinese enterprises and local businessmen, estimated their strong strength, and decisively formulated a plan for the business development of small and medium-sized Chinese businessmen and Thai businessmen, and quickly shifted the focus of the bank's business development to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, helping them to develop international** and various industrial and commercial businesses. Due to his unique vision, during the decades he took charge of the bank, many of the original small and medium-sized industrial and commercial enterprises were supported by Bangkok Bank, and many of them developed into large enterprises, playing an important role in the economic field of Thailand and Southeast Asia. As a result, Bangkok Bank became the largest bank in Southeast Asia, overtaking many foreign banks.
On the other hand, as a self-made overseas Chinese, Chen Bichen knows the difficulties of starting a business, and he also knows the difficulties of Chinese abroad. Therefore, he never forgot to unite and help his fellow citizens.
In 1957, Lin Shaoliang, a famous red-capped businessman in Indonesia, officially founded the **Asia Bank) with the help of financial magnate Chen Bichen. Because of the backing of the bank, Lin Shaoliang has strengthened his wings in the business field, and his business scope has expanded rapidly, and his business includes industry, commerce and finance, and the Lin Group has begun to take shape.
In 1969, the career of Malaysian gambling king Lin Wutong fell into a low ebb and suffered from the dilemma of poor capital turnover. Just when he was at a loss, it was Tan and his Bangkok Bank who extended a helping hand to him, allowing him to overdraft up to RM5 million. With this support, Lin Wutong survived.
Every entrepreneur has his own way of doing business, and Chen Bichen's business philosophy is different. Flexible management strategy is undoubtedly another secret of Chen Bichen's career success. Bangkok Bank's credit policy and business activities are very broad and flexible. The bank issued agricultural credit loans before ** and operated a variety of retail banking businesses much earlier than any other bank to help the lower echelons of the population boost their incomes. Bangkok Bank also allocates a certain amount of money in its annual budget to fund social welfare undertakings, such as health care, education and culture. Of Thailand's US$8 billion worth of annual merchandise exports**, 40 are financed by Pangok. At the same time, it also deals in 40 percent of Thailand's rice**, as well as operating a sugar refinery in Thailand, among others.
In addition, Bangkok Valley is a pioneer in the adoption of advanced technology. It is both the first bank in Thailand to use electronic computers and the first bank in Thailand to serve the car. To date, its approach to service is still evolving and improving.
As an ancient adage, "harmony makes money" has been remembered by generations of tide businessmen, and Chen Bichen is no exception. He is generous, peaceful, modest and cautious, approachable, whether it is with subordinates or customers, whether before or after success, he has never had the slightest arrogance and arrogance. Once, when his youngest son was rude to a bank car driver and yelled at him, he immediately called his son in and reprimanded him, and then drove him to Australia to study. "Let him see the world and live independently. Chen Bichen said.
He also often taught his subordinates that whether customers deposit or borrow, they are also beneficial to the development of the banking business, and there is no room for discrimination against customers, let alone arrogance. To this day, Chen's words are still regarded as the most basic principle by the staff of Bangkok Bank.
Meritocracy is the foundation of the financial kingdom evergreen
In terms of employing people, Chen Bichen has always adhered to the principle of "do not be suspicious in employing people, and do not use people who are suspicious". He is very good at finding and using talents. He is well aware of the truth that it is difficult to run a modern large-scale enterprise even if he has great ability. Since the establishment of Bangkok Bank, he has attached great importance to recruiting talents in accounting, management, and industrial and agricultural credit. It can be said that the continuous development and growth of the huge financial enterprise under the helm of Chen Bichen is largely due to his use of talent.
Chen Bichen's "way of employing people" is also reflected in the selection of first-class people, he is well aware of the saying that "it is difficult to start a business, and it is not easy to keep it". In 1977, when Chen Bichen resigned as general manager, he had two deputy positions, one was his son Chen Youhan and the other was Huang Wenbo. And Chen Youhan is also recognized as an outstanding talent in the banking industry, almost everyone thinks that it is no suspense that he will choose his son as the best person, after all, it is his own business, and he will hand it over to his son in the end. But unexpectedly, Chen Bichen chose Huang Wenbo. Before Huang Wenbo joined Bangkok Bank in 1952, he was only the host of a small accounting firm, but after being selected by Chen Bichen, he was hired as the audit director of Bangkok Bank, and made achievements in reforming the accounting management system, and was soon promoted to deputy general manager. From 1957 to 1963, Chen Bichen temporarily left Thailand for some reason, and Huang Wenbo took the position of general manager, and Bangkok Bank not only maintained its original prosperity, but also developed. Chen Bichen was very satisfied and trusted Huang Wenbo more and more. In 1980, Huang Wenbo became the deputy prime minister of Thailand's first cabinet, and the position of general manager of Bangkok Bank was taken over by Chen Youhan.
Brothers Chen Youqing and Chen Youhan took a group photo with the statue of their father
There is an old Chinese saying: "You can't be rich for three generations". However, this old saying was subverted by the Chen family.
Chen Bichen is good at learning the lessons of the decline of family businesses around the world, and pays great attention to the education and cultivation of his children while developing his own business. He has 6 sons and a daughter, all of whom have been sent abroad for further study. His second son, Chan Youhan, graduated from the London School of Banking. He started as an assistant in the bank's accounting department, and after 21 years of training, he was elected by the board of directors to become the president, and finally became Chen Bichen's assistant. Having worked in a British bank, Chen Youhan is well aware of the important role of computers in the banking industry and strongly advocates the implementation of full computerization in the accounting department. If you use a computer in banking, it's a big investment. As a result, the proposal was rejected several times. It was Chen Youhan's repeated persistence and hard work that made Bangkok Bank the first bank in Thailand to use computer management. Facts have proved that Chen Youhan is right, because of the introduction of advanced electronic technology such as computers, the economic benefits of banks are even more obvious. Because of his outstanding performance in the business, Chen Youhan was quickly promoted, from manager to deputy general manager, and finally, he became the president with his own strength.
My father specially arranged for us to study abroad and work in foreign companies, so that we could learn knowledge, increase our knowledge, and receive training from the basics after returning from school. Because my father felt that a successful leader had to understand the operation of the whole company. Recalling his father's words and deeds, the eldest son Chen Youqing obviously understands his father's good intentions very well, and knows that his father hopes that he can become his "right hand" in the future and take on the responsibility of prospering the family business.
Chen Youqing.
Chen Youhan.
In 1988, Chen Bichen died of illness, although the era of Chen Bichen, a financial giant, has passed, but the descendants of the Chen family have grown up in the "Pangu", the world he established. At present, in addition to the second son Chen Youhan, who has taken up the important position of president of Bangkok Bank, the eldest son, Chen Youqing, is the vice chairman of the board of directors of the bank, and is in charge of the Hong Kong business. The third son, Chen Yongde, is the deputy general manager of Bangkok Bank, responsible for international financial business. The fourth son, Chen Yongjian, is also the deputy general manager, responsible for investigation and planning; The fifth son, Chen Yongming, is the general manager of Bangkok Insurance Company, Thailand's largest insurance company; The sixth son, Chen Yongli, is currently the executive director of the business of Bangkok Investment Trust*** and City Bank of America) and Bangkok Tokai Investment Co., Ltd. (a joint venture with Tokai Bank of Japan).
Career success does not forget public welfare
He has won numerous medals in his lifetime and is the richest man in Asia
Chen Bichen is not only a famous banker, but also deeply valued by the Thai ** and loved by the people. He has served as the chairman of the Thai Social Welfare Association, the permanent honorary chairman of the Thai Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and the advisor of the Thai-Chinese Friendship Association.
During his lifetime, Chen Bichen has donated to public welfare undertakings in Thailand, covering education, culture, health and other aspects. He also set up the "Chen Bichen Charity Association" to reward poor students. Even "The World" was founded by him.
In recognition of his contributions, the King of Thailand has awarded him various medals, including the Red Cross Medal of First Class, the Scout Medal of Honor, the Medal of Honor for Freedom, the Order of Honor for the White Elephant of the First Class ......
By the 80s, Chen had received almost all the decorations of Thailand, and even the King of Thailand was very respectful to him.
In March 1982, Time magazine in the United States called Chen Bichen Thailand's number one tycoon and "the North Star of Thailand's largest family business kingdom".
In 1985, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun "Asia is Leaping" estimated that Chen Bichen's family wealth was estimated at 2.2 billion US dollars, ranking first among the ten richest people in Asia at that time.
On January 3, 1988, Chen Bichen died of illness at the age of 78. At the cremation ceremony, the King of Thailand personally lit the fire, and the Thai people, as well as the Queen, the Crown Prince and the entire members of the National Assembly came to commemorate this Chinese financial giant who has made outstanding contributions to Thailand.
*: Singapore Know-it-all, Chaonan **, Chaonan District People**Portal**, etc.
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