Changing Hawaii
By Diane Yukihiro Chang
Monday, April 1, 1996
Ching had many corporate coups, but a favorite must have been his successful showdown with Texas raiders.
Ten years ago, he served as chairman of profitable Aloha Airlines. It was bound to attract predators. Sure enough, businessmen from the Lone Star State pounced on the air carrier like wolves on a fat calf. The unspoken game plan was to buy up Aloha's stock, gain control, sell off the assets, make a financial killing, and then look for another victim.
Hold on, pardners. Not so fast.
Ching, Vice Chairman Sheridan Ing and other major stockholders circled the wagons. In their case, money really was no object. They would not sell at any price.
That was the end of the takeover. Now it is the end of Hung Wo Ching.
His family and friends will miss his warmth and wit; his business associates lament the passing of a man with integrity. But those who never personally knew him - the vast majority of people in Hawaii and generations to come - may be the biggest losers.
Why? Because Ching and other late, great private-sector leaders could have helped cut the red tape of state bureaucracy by putting their business acumen to work through a brief stint in public service.
So why didn't they? Why didn't consummate corporate types like Ching and Ing share their ideas on improving the stone wheels known as the executive and legislative branches before their earthly stays were pau?
Simple. Nobody thought to ask them.
This is a travesty, and the biggest waste of an irreplaceable natural resource: a great mind.
Imagine if Governor Cayetano had invited Ching to be an unpaid volunteer and to spend at least a month studying a particular state department.
Only two things could have happened:
1) Ching would have declined, and the governor would have the satisfaction of knowing that Ching had been asked.
2) Ching would have accepted the mission, observed, and then relayed his thoughts on improving that particular office, or government in general. Cayetano could have disregarded or implemented the suggestions. And it wouldn't have cost taxpayers a cent.
This is not a far-fetched fantasy. Consider the respected Yoshiharu Satoh, who recently retired as the longtime chairman and chief executive officer of Central Pacific Bank. He is a fiscally akamai guy who now has a lot of free time on his hands. He also has the reputation of being one of the most community-minded people in Hawaii.
Believe me: If you ask him, he will come. And let's face it, the financial planners of this once great state could use some professional help.
AS with all brilliant ideas, however, here's the teensy problem plaguing this one - making it reality. In a close-minded society run by know-it-all politicians and unyielding bureaucrats, this town's best business brains shouldn't expect a formal invitation to the State Capitol anytime soon.
Meanwhile, magnificent minds are moving onward and upward.
Bet there's no budgetary shortfall in heaven.