Dennis Chen,one of the pioneers of Taiwan Toastmasters movement passed away recently. I am writing this article in memory of this wonderful man I loved.

In the early 90s when I just joined the TM at Grand TMC in Taipei, I did not know of other clubs existed outside of Taipei. Then I met two fine gentlemen, Dennis and Y.H. Both are Chens, one from TaiChung and one from Kaoshiong, and both inspired me to excel in the Toastmasters. I love them both.

Dennis has been involved in Taichung area TM for a long time and everybody called him "ShienBai" meaning respectable elder in Japanese. He was the founder of a Japanese speaking TMC called "Central" and it was the first one of its kind in Taiwan as I recall. In 1996 when FengYuan TMC was chartered, many TM members and I took a train ride from Taipei to help them celebrate this occasion. I know that Dennis Chen was one of the sponsors and charter member of this wonderful club. We must had over 100 participants and many of them are good friends of Dennis, and it was a great event. Dennis Chen was behind this wonderful event. Two years after that,

I served as the Council Governor succeeding late Jerry Ma. Dennis was the one who came to support me and encourage me. Knowing that YH Chen from Kaoshiong was before Jerry ,who is from Taipei and Dennis is from Taichung, all three of them were much more senior than I was at the time. Mind you that in those early days, there were still tensions exist in different areas of TM in Taiwan. And there were no elections held. I reckon that Dennis will be the best one to take the job as Governor in 1998-1999. However, he insisted and encouraged me to take the position after serving as Lt.Gov marketing and Lt.Gov education in 1996 and 1997 previously under YH Chen and Jerry Ma. With his blessing and his encouragement, I took the job. My life was totally changed after that experience.

To serve as a TM leader gives me so much pleasure and privilege to Learn,grow and excel in my leadership skills. So I am forever indebted to Dennis for his kindness to support me and his guidance to contribute and excel. Without his support and guidance I would not be who I am today. He is truly one of my mentors in TM.

Dennis Chen had accomplished so much in his life and touched many souls. I am lucky that our path has crossed and he will forever live in our hearts. We will always miss him and remember how great a person he was!

Erick Suen 孫慈悌, Past Council Governor 1998-1999