Mr. S. S. Chen, a pioneer and the driving force of the orchid industry in Taiwan was born in 1926. Inspired by his mother, who loved gardening, and the horticultural program at his grade school, he entered a life of floriculture.

His attraction to orchids began in 1955 at 25 with his first cattleya. Since that humble beginning with a focus on cattleyas, he imported many other orchid species cattleyas from around the world to Taiwan.  

A short list of some of his many accomplishments include: 

● 1963 – Singapore invited Mr. Chen to speak at its 4th World Orchid Conference (WOC). Since the 4th WOC in Singapore, Mr. Chen has attended seven other WOC conferences.

● 2001 – He assisted in founding the Taiwan Orchid Growers Association (TOGA). Subsequently, he became an advisor to the group. TOGA presented him with the high recognition of Honorary President. He served in that role until his passing in March 2021, at the age of 95, a few days before the 2021 Virtual WOC.

● 2004 – Mr. Chen became President of the 8th Asian Pacific Orchid Conference (APOC) and its exhibition in Tainan, Taiwan.

● 2005 – He was elected as the first President of the First Taiwan International Orchid Show (TIOS). At this time, he started working on securing sponsorship for a future WOC in Taiwan.

● 2007 – Mr. Chen was elected President of the 9th APOC in Goyang, South Korea.

● 2014 – Taiwan was selected as the provisional host for the 23rd WOC in 2020 primarily due to his tireless efforts.

● 2016 – Mr. Chen was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Gold Medal while participating in the 12th APOC in Thailand. 

● 2018 – The Taiwan Orchid Growers Association awarded him the Lifetime Contribution Award during the 2018 TIOS.

● 2019 – Mr. Chen received the WOC’s most prestigious service award, a Gold Medal, for his enormous contributions to Taiwan’s orchid community and the WOCT. Mr. Chen was only the 6th person to be awarded a medal in 69 years of WOCT’s history.