Tribute to a media guru legend

Ming Kung was one of the first “mainlanders” to set foot on Taiwan after World War II. Barely two months after V-J Day, he flew from the country's then wartime capital Chongqing to Taipei in October, 1945 as a young correspondent of Central News Agency to cover the island's retrocession from Japan after 50 years of colonization. Eighteen months later, on Feb. 28, 1947, a bloody riot broke out when disillusioned and disgruntled islanders went on a violent rampage against government corruption and misrule, resulting in a carnage that claimed thousands of lives. Ming Kung was an eye-witness to the tragic incident. He devoted much of his later life to bind and heal the historical wounds.

Ming Kung's easy-going gentility belied his towering achievements in journalism, politics and business.

His hospitality was proverbial and his dinner party was most sought after. A connoisseur and lover of fine wine and haute cuisine, he enjoyed sharing his favorite and rare brew (the Black Dragon kaoliang from Kinmen, for example) with his friends, especially the younger generation of journalists. Those who were fortunate to be his “drinking friends,” like “Fish” Yu, Lodge Lo and Johnny Sand, hailed him as “the host.”

To sing the praises of drinking seems politically incorrect nowadays, but drinking, I mean moderate drinking, is a part of Chinese culture, and literature to boot. Imagine Li Bai's poetry without wine! How could he have written Drinking Along by Moonlight? For millennia, wine has been the inspiration of many great literary works. Ming Kung carried on this tradition. But he was temperate in drinking. He enjoyed the vibe, the company, the moment of “true human nature” unlocked by alcohol.

The avuncular media guru, business magnate, opinion leader and political elder had friends in every walk of life and every line of profession. Of them, CNA was the first among equals, he once confided to friends. His hero and idol was T.T. Hsiao (肖同茲, 1894-1973), the late CNA president who dispatched him to Taiwan 64 years ago. In a lengthy article in the China Times marking Hsiao's centennial birthday in 1994, Ming Kung paid a moving tribute to his hero and mentor. The article, titled “A Humble Heart with Grand Magnanimity” (谦虚其心，宏大其量)， praised Hsiao not only for his leadership that pushed CNA to the pinnacle of becoming one of the world's five largest news agencies after World War II, but for his personal greatness embodied in humility, magnanimity, sincerity and integrity.

In many aspects, Ming Kung was Hsiao's alter ego, a gentleman and patriot in the true meaning of the word.

Hsiao, after his retirement from CNA in 1964 (the year I joined the news agency), served in several other capacities including the chairman of the Taiwan's Press Council the founding chairman of the World College of Journalism, now a full-fledged university. Ming Kung had held both positions until he passed away on Nov. 21.

The death of any trail-blazing man leaves a hole and void. Ming Kung filled T.T. Hsiao's hole like in a glove. Who will fill the void left by Ming Kung?

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