Above: Pan (left) has moving appointments scheduled tightly throughout the day, shuttling the goods between the streets in the city.
“Daddy! Daddy is home!” Upon hearing the sound of the truck backing into the garage, the 5-year-old boy rushes to the door shouting in excitement. The headquarters of Genuine Indigenous Moving Company is located in Tucheng District, New Taipei City. On this day, owner Pang Jyun-Hong has already moved four houses and was completely drained, but when he hears his son, he immediately walks in and picks his boy up, no longer feeling tired at all.
Pan is a Pangcah from the Changliang community in Hualien and relocated to Taipei with his parents when he was in elementary school. His father worked on formwork and his mother managed their household. Making a living in the city wasn't easy, and starting middle school, Pan had to work during summer and winter holidays to help make ends meet at home. He once worked at a moving company operated by relatives, then as a blacksmith, as a carpenter, and even opened a juice bar with friends. He was willing to try anything to make money to alleviate the economic stress at home and had seen all forms of human nature from a young age.
In 2011, an old client he met while working at his relative's moving company approached him, hoping that Pan can help him move some artwork for him. Pan thinks back to the reason this client approached him and says shyly, “because we worked very diligently, and he liked our earnest. ”Because of this opportunity, Pan picked up his old trade again and started the Genuine Indigenous Moving Company. “I am indigenous, and I hope that in the future, all my employees are indigenous,”
Pan starts a moving company hiring only indigenous peoples; he drives a truck with a banner that reads “Genuine Indigenous Moving Company”, providing service to those in the city who needs to move.
Artworks, Yacht, Treadmill,
We Move what Others Wouldn't Dare To
“There are so many moving companies out there, 200-300 just in Taipei city, so we had to be different.” Pan says that the Genuine Indigenous Moving Company specializes in moving things other people wouldn't dare to, and that covers everything, other than artwork and exercise equipment, even jet fighter and yacht are on the list.
Speaking of the unique experience of assisting the exhibitor moving a yacht into the showroom, Pan shares with us that moving is not just about the physical work, you must also be familiar with the principles of mechanics and lever and rely largely on the practical experiences of the experienced workers. Where the crane truck cannot reach, the workers put to use special tools, exhaust their energy and patience, and little by little move the yacht to the location assigned by the client.
Pan confesses that the special items they move are often priceless, a wooden statue alone could be worth tens of millions of dollars, and if damaged during the move, a small moving company such as his would never have been able to pay for it. Therefore, he tries to personally participate in every move and instruct the workers on the techniques of moving, before rushing off to the next appointment. Pan states that even if it is just a regular house moving project, their skills are still being tested. He will always go a little extra for the client. For example, when he sees that the client wants to put the oven next to the fridge, he will suggest that the two be placed apart according to experience; or if he suddenly realizes that the staircase in the client's house is too narrow for large furniture to pass through, he will have to reassess the environment on-site and determine what to do, sometimes he suspends items manually from the top floor instead of trying to convince the client to pay more fora crane truck.
In the last few years, by word of mouth, old clients have referred new clients to them and business has been booming for Genuine Indigenous Moving Company. They have slowly expanded from a single-person company to the current7 employees, working on an average of 30 to 40 projects per week. Every employee is busy moving from morning tonight, rushing from appointment to appointment, business hardly dampened by the recession.
Family Sticking Together
to Ride Through the Early Days of Startup
However, in the early days of his startup, Pan also faced the predicament of unstable businesses. “Business was bad in the early days, I wasn't able to convince any employees to stay until, finally, it was just me trying to make it work.” He says that during the first few months, business was pretty good so he hired a couple of new staff, but as soon as business slowed down for just a couple of months, they would leave because they weren't getting paid, and it would be just him alone again. Even when large projects came knocking, he had to turn them down because there was no one to help him out.
Pan admits that back then, every day he opened his eyes, he was faced with the various expenses of rent and car loan. Such was the burden that he was often anxious and helpless during that period, even thought about closing his company. Luckily his family provided firm support. His wife may complain about him always working, but it was also her who helped him through the projects during that time, no regrets at all. Back then, Pan did his best to take on projects, occasionally soliciting help from his dad and other relatives. Life went on this way days on end for half a year before he finally made it through the startup period.
“Employees are hard to find, most young people these days are not willing to toil,” Pan says matter-of-factly. Moving workers work on a commission basis, work fast and work well, and you will have the opportunity to receive more projects. There is a going rate for moving general housing or office building, but companies that can move special goods are rare and few. There is no going rate and it's all up to the company to provide a quotation. It is normal for experienced workers to earn80,000 NTD per month. But because the goods they move are complicated and work can be tough, even if colleagues in the same business would like to switch to his company, they often decide against it after they hear the difficult job description.
For Pan, what he looks for in an employee is not the physical strength, but foremost integrity. “Clients only allow you move important goods if they trust you. ”Pan explains that in the early years, moving companies operated with legal controls and corrupt companies either hike up the prices as they please or shop-lift while they were moving, all of which are major taboos to Pan.
Treat Employees Like His Family
and Pay Off Their Debts
Pan says that he is well aware that his offer isn't the highest in this line of business, but he makes his employees feel like one big family, a quality that is incomparable by any other company. All of Pan's employees are indigenous peoples who left their indigenous communities to work in Taipei, and most of them are just in their early twenties. Pan recalls his younger days, when society was less friendly towards indigenous peoples, and how he was given the coldshoulder and even deceived while seeking employment. It was then that he made up his mind, he will do everything within his power to bring his people in on the same boat and look after each other. Therefore, he turned Genuine Indigenous Moving Company into a second home for these younger brothers.
“This is a tough job, and I want them to work without worries weighing them down.” Pan sees them as family, whatever phone bill, NHI bill or credit card bill they owe, he clears their debt without another word, and take it out of their salary in installments. He jokes about how he likes to butt in and often preaches to the younger brothers to not bring their bad habits of smoking and drinking to the job, he also reminds them of the importance of saving. These younger brothers don't call him boss, they call him big brother, and they often sing and barbeque in front of the company just like a real family.
The Solid Backing
to Urban Indigenous Peoples
Having worked in the moving business for over a decade, transforming from an employee to an employer, “being a boss is not physically tiring, but mentally demanding!” says Pan. Pan works very hard to manage the company. Not so he could make big money, but because he believes that the biggest achievement as a boss is to see his employees leading a stable life in the city. He points to a room at the back of the office and says quite matter-of-factly that an employee entered his company single, and as his employment becomes stable, he not only got married but had two kids; he understands that renting a house is no easy task in Taipei, so he fixed up a space in the office for the employee to stay in and save on rent, and take better care of their children.
“I don't aim to own a large company, but I would like to do my best to help the young indigenous peoples.” After moving for a whole day, Pan is exhausted and can't help rubbing his face to wake himself up. Because he had experienced all types of treatment in society, he is all the more determined to support his peoples. What Pan carries on his shoulder is more than the valuables of his clients, but the gentle commitment towards his family and his peoples.
With over a decade of moving experiences under his belt, Pan is able to quickly determine the steps and details in moving the goods. He will carefully evaluate what goods required protections, the order of loading and unloading the truck, and how to stack them so that the furniture of the whole family can arrive at the designated location in the shortest time possible.
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