The founder of White Flower International, Mr.Geok-Eng Gan, was born on in 1900 at Haizhen County in Zhanzhou, Fujien Province . His family and extended family lived in the area of Jingmen and Xiamen . Mr. Gan was the third child in the family with an elder brother and an elder sister. Mr. Gan's father was a medical doctor of Chinese medicine. Mr. Gan left Xiamen when he was 7 and traveled with his father to Southeast Asia , a common destination for his contemporary Chinese fellows who sought for new opportunities overseas. Mr. Gan worked very hard as a low-waged piece meal laborer and a peddler in Singapore when he first arrived there.
Therefore he experienced the hardship of everyday life for ordinary people. Mr. Gan established his own business after a long time of hard work. He owned a candy factory and ran a rubber business in Penang . He also had some small-scaled business running in Singapore .
however , most of his early achievement was devastated by the second world war
. After the war, Mr. Gan represented Chinese immigrants in Singapore to travel to Nanjing for the celebration of China 's victory and met Mr. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek for the first time. After the communists took over mainland China , Mr. Gan fortified the his bond's with Taiwan . He returned to Taiwan every year, celebrating Mr. Chiang Kai-shek's birthday, participating in charities and government activities. He invested in Taiwanese business and his contribution to Taiwan was recognized by the government. He was presented with numerous awards and medals. He met many important government officers then . In addition to the factories in Singapore and Hong Kong , Mr. Gan built a factory in Taiwan , producing The White Flower Embrocation and other products. The White Flower Embrocation was the first domestic herbal soothing oil made in Taiwan and has become the No. 1 brand in the Chinese world.
In 1920, Malaysia and Singapore was affected seriously by mosquitoes and miasma due to the compromised sanitary conditions. Non-fatal illness caused by heat-stroke, injuries and bug bites would still inflict people very much. Mr. Gan, in his 20's and struggling to build his own careers, was also affected by these problems. With Chinese medicine training given by his father, Mr. Gan dedicated himself to find out a solution for these annoying inflictions. After years of testing and improvement, he came up with an embrocation oil and ointment containing mints , camphor, lavender s and eucalyptus extract. The embrocation oil was amazingly effective for cold, headache, heat-stroke, dizziness and mosquito bites. The embrocation oil later was proved very adequate and hence very popular for daily use in tropical zones. The promotion for the ointment was then delayed due to the overwhelming success of the oil.
The embrocation oil and ointment initially were made just for personal use. Mr. Gan circulated them among his family and friends. The effectiveness of the embrocation oil made people who had used them asked Mr. Gan for more. Responding to the good feedback, Mr. Gan decided to mass-produce the oil. With the reasonable price he set, he hoped more people can benefit from his invention.
The embrocation oil smells like daffodils , which was Mrs. Gan's favorite flower. Since daffodil is also known as white flower in Malaysia and Singapore , Mr. Gan named the oil " The Wan Ying Embrocation ". Because of its versatility to alleviate various pains, Mr. Gan dubbed the " The Wan Ying Embrocation " with the phrase "Wan-In (Mighty)". Hence the embrocation oil's official name was determined as " The Wan Ying Embrocation ", meaning mighty embrocation oil with the smell of daffodil. The White Flower trademark was registered in 1935 at Penang and Singapore . A factory producing the oil was built at the same time in Singapore . To devote himself in the business which can help people gain better health, Mr. Gan closed his other already prosperous business to focus on " The Wan Ying Embrocation " .
" The Wan Ying Embrocation " factory was built in 1951 in Hong Kong . At the same time, Mr. Gan closed the factory in Singapore . In 1962, Mr. Gan built another factory in Taiwan , producing " The Wan Ying Embrocation ", "White Flower Ointment" and "clean and white toothpaste". " The White Flower Embrocation " has become the common a ubiquitous product in Singapore , Hong Kong and Taiwan ever since.
In the 1970s, the governing British administration in Hong Kong forbid the name "Wan-Ying (mighty)", therefore " The Wan Ying Embrocation "in Hong Kong was renamed as " Hoehin White Flower Oil ", while the name " The Wan Ying Embrocation " remained the same in Taiwan. Despite two different brand names, the ingredients are all the same without any changes since the embrocation was invented 80 years ago .
With his achievement, Mr. Gan did not forget his roots and was devoted to serving the society. He sponsored the Charity Queen activity, which combined the promotion of " The Wan Ying Embrocation " and charity at the same time. Famous singers such as Ms. Teresa Teng, Chi Chang endorsed the activity by being crowned as the charity queens. The events won applause and supports among ordinary people. Mr. Gan also gave full support to the broadcast program "helping people in need" of the Police Broadcasting Station.
he even personally delivered blankets and cash to those people in need. Mr. Gan actively participated in the disaster relief effort on Dec. 29 th , 1977 (Typhoons Thelma and Vera struck Taiwan within one week in 1977, causing enormous life and financial losses in Northern and Southern Taiwan). The President presented him with an inscribed board on which the words " " admirable chivalry" was engraved. His chivalrous acts were recorded in the Academia Historian's official documents.
compare with other 400 or more medals awarded , Mr.Gan was the first one to officially accept such honor with status as an overseas Chinese. In addition, Mr. Gan helped to found the Grand Buddha Temple in Shing Hsin-Dian with former Taipei Mayor Mr. Huang Chi-Raeui ;
due to his generous donation to the Children Heart Disease Foundation, National Taiwan University Hospital , and to the winter relief efforts , as well as his care and love towards the Taiwanese society etc , he has earned a very well respectable status among the Chinese society.
It has been 80 years since The Wan Ying Embrocation was invented. Mr. Gan's idea that alleviating discomforts with convenient and economic means still seems very practical and appealing today. The Wan Ying Embrocation is a compound essential oil with natural ingredients, great healing effects and profound aroma. It is the a safe, effective and reasonabl
friendly price
solution for everybody' s daily life.
Mr. Gan's belief in the spirit of helping people and serving the society has become a legacy. His successors now still support charities by donation, sponsorship and hosting charity sales. The story of The Wan Ying Embrocation began with care and love, and it will keep going with care and love.
White Flower International always seeks for opportunities to serve the society as Mr. Gan did. In addition to the
long term
sponsorship of specific charity organizations and the participation in disaster relief, we also provide scholarship/support which could be applied by schools and other institutions, as well as to provide pharmaceutical products and other resources for the greater cause. As a tradition, we also donate our products to charity/social welfare organizations to help people in need
on a regular
.
A story begun with care and love
