Profile of Chih-Hao Yiu Rotary Club of Taichung East, Taiwan
When he was in his late 20s, Chih-Hao Yiu started his own business in Taiwan. An electronics engineering major in college, he especially liked to invent ways to improve the designs of existing electronic products. His company produced carbonation machines, PA systems, whistling key finders, and, one of Yiu’s most popular items, an electronic dart board that provided instructions and announced scores.
Over the course of his career, Yiu was introduced to Rotary by a friend. “They told me about all the good things Rotary had done and the fellowship opportunities,” Yiu says. He joined the Rotary Club of Taichung East in 2004 and subsequently served as club president and as an assistant governor of District 3461. He and his wife, LiHua Hsu, who joined the Taichung East club in 2018, are members
of the Trustees Circle in the Arch Klumph Society.
Yiu sold his business in 2008 and retired. “I came from an impoverished family and benefited
from the help of our community,” he says.
“Now I wanted to devote my full attention to helping others.”
To accomplish that, Yiu came up with an ingenious way of doubling his club’s membership. “I set up a plan to recruit 55 more members in three years,” he says. He donated about $50,000 to his club, and each time a current member brings in a new member, the club contributes some of Yiu’s money to The Rotary Foundation in the current member’s name. “This is really working,” he says. “Everyone is feeling so motivated.” Even in retirement, Chih-Hao Yiu could not stop inventing.
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