1.How did President Zhou come to the Chi-Sing Irrigation Association? How did he become the president of the Association?

      President Zhou started to work at the Irrigation Association in 1983, because his academic background was department of civil engineering in University, and he also had agricultural background. After the introduction of professor and teacher in the university, he went to work in Irrigation Association. When he first came in, he was an entry-level employee. Then he was promoted as a director general for his excellent work performance before being elected as the president. The president of the Irrigation Association is elected by members and serves a term for 4 years; he might take two terms at most. President Zhou has served as the president for 6 years now. To become a member of the Irrigation Association, first you have to own agricultural land in the area of irrigation district of the Irrigation Association, and also pay membership fees.

2.What is the key works at Irrigation Association this year? What are the expected objectives of work?

       The key works of the Irrigation Association are to provide suitable water source and to ensure that the water quality meets the irrigation standard. It's easier said than done, since the water source is coming down from the mountainous area, there may be some pollution factors along the way, such as hot springs, littering, and etc. In the event of damage caused by typhoons, it is necessary to stop water supply for maintenance work. Moreover, irrigation equipment also needs to be maintained and managed. Irrigation Association is expected to be sustainable and self-reliant. Currently, the sources of funding of Irrigation Association are from rents of leased land earned from other companies, and there were even paid membership fees before. But in 1994, the government paid the fees in order to raise the farmers’ income, and the abuse of services incurred, consequently affected the operation of Irrigation Association.

3.We know that the Chi-Sing Irrigation Association established foundations. What are the purposes and function of the foundations?

      Irrigation Association is a public legal person; it is like a government institution and is restricted by the laws. The business of Irrigation Association is to serve farmers for irrigation, and if there are surplus funds, it could benefit more people and contribute to society. Therefore, Irrigation Association has a foundation, it is like an ecological conservation foundation to maintain ecological conservation; if ecological conservation is doing well, humans and animals could coexist in the nature, so we could see more animals; therefore, remove the alien species, clean the beaches to ensure coast line is maintained eternally, and teach the mountain tribes to make good use of the mountainous nature resources are all the things that the ecological conservation foundation is doing.

      There is also the Greening Foundation, which is doing a conservation work for old trees, such as maintaining the growth of trees in Daan Forest Park, and taking care of trees. It is about knowledge, so the foundation is responsible for the certification and classification of the licenses.

      And the Agricultural Development Foundation is to help farmers focus on agricultural products, such as the sweet potato of Yangmingshan, the Foundation promotes and develops new species; and teaches people to understand crops; for example, at the Rice Culture Season hosted by the Beitou Farmers' Association, with activities like cutting rice and playing with loaches to let the public understand crops, things like these are promoted by the Foundation.

4.As we know that there are many things required to cooperate with government institutions. How do you communicate with the government institutions?

      The work of Irrigation Association is at the front end and it is the most basic work, such as getting water from the rivers and building additional irrigation facilities all need to apply for permission from the government, because water resources are state-owned and can not be taken at will. Therefore, cooperating with local governments is necessary, the two parties are mutual, you help me, and I help you, communicate and coordinate with each other and try to reach a consensus.

5.You have been the president for many years. What are your expectations for the future of Irrigation Association?

      First of all, we must have the concept of sustainable management to let employees feel comfortable in the work of the Irrigation Association. If we can widen the embankment roads and ridges along the banks of the river, it would allow mechanical plows to enter, and then we can reduce the manpower for cultivation, so the irrigation facilities can function well. I hope more youths will join the ranks. Hopefully the channels and waterways in the mountainous area can be preserved eternally, and the crop in the farmland isn’t polluted by household water, so we can do a good job in soil and water conservation. This is the future expectation of the Irrigation Association.

6.What impressed most in dealing with business after you become the president of the Association?

       The president said he had a lot of impressive things. Among them was the flood on the north side of the Dadu Road, it was a location easy to submerge; the typhoon or heavy rain often flooded as high as about the chest, so the drainage equipment was required because we needed to ask the municipal government to provide. However, due to geographical restrictions, drainage could not be carried out very quickly, so the president proposed to open the gate of the Guandu Temple to let the water release out and solve the flooding issue. The second issue is still a big problem needed to be solved: the hot spring water problem, the hot spring water pollution has been existed for a long time; the president is actively promoting the government's legislation to restrain the industry. The last issue was the effort to install automatic monitoring system, and finally caught the people who polluted the water source.

7.Since you have been the president of Association for all these years, what is your biggest challenge? And what is the greatest achievement?

      The biggest challenge at present is the problem of hot spring water, because we need to find clean water to irrigate the north of Dadu road, and since there is no reservoir in Taipei, so there is less and less water sources. If we could reduce the pollution of hot spring water, the water sources will be sufficient. Now this problem has been taken seriously by the government. This is also my greatest achievement.

8.What is your motto?

       "Technology comes from human nature" is the most frequently mentioned expression the president said, if things are done in good considerations of people, you can make things better, so we could be much more convenient and comfortable; it is also helpful to yourself. For example, we went to Penghu this year to help local farmers with their irrigation facilities and to subsidize windbreak equipment for them; and the use of coral stone solved the problem for the fierce northeast monsoon, so the farmers were touched by our good intentions to help.