Now let me introduce the political background of Palau before and after my arrival. My visit coincided with the presidential and vice-presidential elections in Palau. Just a few days before my arrival, a significant event occurred: the then-vice president was found dead in his office, shot, with a firearm left at the scene. The case was later reported as a suicide due to corruption exposure, but there were rumors that it was orchestrated by a faction in the presidential race to eliminate competition. By the way, the first president elected in Palau in 1981 was assassinated in office in 1985.
The partner of PMIC, the chief (the chief, named Gibsens Abudu, is one of the two chiefs in Palau, serving as a spiritual leader for the people, and he is from the west), also ran for president in this election.
During the election period, the streets of Palau were bustling with activity, filled with parties organized by candidates to rally votes, with singing and dancing, and free meals provided to passersby who came to listen to speeches. Colorful flags were everywhere, supporters marched and shouted slogans, and candidate posters were plastered all around, continuing for about a month.
Since the chief was our partner, PMIC fully supported him, providing financial assistance, though the exact amount is unknown. However, many T-shirts and sun hats were printed in Taiwan as promotional materials for the chief. The Taiwanese cameraman took me to the chief’s campaign headquarters to shoot videos and followed the subsequent street parade.
Interestingly, the campaign headquarters and the street parade itself did not leave a deep impression, but there is one amusing incident that I still remember clearly. After filming, the cameraman returned to his accommodation to replay the footage, only to discover that he had forgotten to turn on the recording device while interviewing the chief. He went into a frenzy, hitting himself and smashing his equipment, and after a long while, it seemed to end without resolution. He did not stay in Palau for long before leaving. The result of that presidential election was that the chief did not win; he came in third.
Subsequently, two engineers joined us, Li Changping from Changchun, Jilin, and Yin Tingtong from Beijing. We worked together for quite some time and had a very harmonious relationship. Unfortunately, after they returned to their country, they scattered in different directions, and the friendship formed in Palau did not continue, which is quite regrettable. In fact, Li Changping contacted me once later regarding business related to their company; I happened to be at home then, but we did not keep in touch afterward.
Li Changping is a tall and handsome young man, an architectural designer, and he drew the architectural plans for the early dormitories, offices, and other buildings. Engineer Yin Tingtong is an older gentleman, seemingly from the Beijing Fisheries Design Institute, and he designed and supervised the PMIC dock. He would even tell Chinese employees that he had experience in dealing with capitalists, which probably made Wenhua somewhat wary of him.
There was also a Filipino woman named Ruby, who joined PMIC either before or after them, I can’t recall. Speaking of Ruby, she is quite an impressive figure, not only beautiful but also skilled in charming men. The rivalry and jealousy between Wenhua and PMIC Chairman Chen Kun’s brother-in-law Kenneth, sparked by her, played out as a long drama at PMIC, ultimately resulting in Kenneth being sent back to Taiwan by Wenhua, effectively breaking up a couple. However, Ruby also rejected Wenhua’s advances, providing us with more topics of conversation during the tedious wait for the official construction of the base.
Besides her charm, her accounting expertise must have been quite competent; otherwise, Wenhua would not have continued to employ her even after she rejected his advances. She claimed to be a professor at a university in the Philippines. Eventually, Ruby held significant power at PMIC for a long time, until I returned to Palau years later for work and interacted with her for several years; that is a story for another time.