Ben Feng & Chiu-Lin Tang, HK 2012
The Kroks first met the Feng-Tang family in 2000 through Bill Kang’s family who were hosting the Kroks at the Taipei American School. Jenn Feng and Bill had both attended the school a few years apart. Their parents knew each other through their MIT and Harvard Business School networks and subsequent careers. During that visit, they met Ben and Chiu-Lin at the Kang’s apartment.
In 2001, the family first sponsored the Kroks concerts in Taipei to sing for various private companies and for charitable concerts arranged through the GFC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Golden Friend Corporation owned by Chiu-Lin’s family.
From the very start, the entire family has been deeply involved in supporting the Kroks.
The GFC Foundation concerts have become the mainstay of the Taiwan stay – including visiting orphanages, elementary schools, high schools and community centers. On a recent tour, they had a great time exploring both the cities and the mountains of Taiwan. They sang “Molihua,” a traditional Chinese ballad, with the children of the Liouguei High School Choir in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
The administration of the Taiwan portion of the tour has become a well-oiled machine with Chiu-Lin setting course and Cindy Lee (her chief of staff) working out all the logistics.
Jenn frequently fills the role of “boots on the ground”, moving around with the Kroks to make sure they find their way to their concerts and helping with housing, translating, receiving packages, banking, etc.
The Kroks of 2012 decided it was time to formally recognize Ben and Chiu-Lin’s extraordinary importance to the Kroks by inducting them into the realm of Honorary Kroks. The Kroks had dinner together with Ben and Chiu-Lin at a restaurant owned by Kelly Woo, a friend of Henry and Sasa Ho. At the end of the dinner, the Kroks serenaded the family, General Manager Dan Bruder made a speech about the special relationship they had together, and then Ben and Chiu-Lin were named Honorary Krokodiloes.
Per BA Sillah, Tour Manager of the Kroks of 2012:
“They took on their new roles with gusto; learning our traditional Johnny O’Connor lyrics and dance moves overnight by watching YouTube, and performed with us on our show the next day.”
You never know where the Kroks might pop up in Taiwan. During the 2014 tour, they had a flash performance at a Taipei shopping center that attracted a great crowd.
The family has joined many of our other Honorary Kroks in making the trip to Boston for our major reunions – here they are at our 70th Anniversary celebration in 2016.
From the collected recollections of Bill Kang, Ted Fienning, BA Sillah, Daniel Du Comb and Jenn Feng.
Biographies:
Ben’s family is from Shanghai and after graduating from Harvard Business School in 1975, he pursued a career in finance in Asia. Initially, he was at American Express (along with Bill’s father), then became the youngest VP to cover all of Asia at Citibank. He went on to become a venture capitalist investing in Taiwan’s many technology-focused companies and continues investing in new ventures that interest him.
Chiu-Lin’s family is from Fuzhou and moved to Taiwan many decades ago. Her father founded the Golden Friend Corporation (GFC) which is the sole distributor of Toshiba elevators and escalators in China and Taiwan. Their most famous installation is at Taipei 101.