Reviving a Forest Mountain Village: Civil Servant Lu Kun-wang Blazes a Trail for Forest Farmers Under the Canopy

The winners of the "Outstanding Contribution Award for Civil Servants," the highest honor in the civil service, were announced recently. This year's first-place winner in the individual category is Lu Kun-wang, a technician at the Hualien Forest District Office of the Forestry Bureau. The official citation for his award reads: "Outstanding professional performance in 'integrating tribal culture and forestry conservation, promoting sustainable development of under-forest economy through economic and ecological approaches.'" But the reason for his award can also be explained in just two words: busybody.

Many people choose a career in civil service as their first choice, seeking the security of an iron rice bowl. Lu Kun-wang, by contrast, runs his public service career like a private enterprise - except this "private" isn't about himself, but about the tribes and mountain villages he mentors. A busybody by nature, he uses public sector resources to learn and research, and spends his own vacations promoting his work everywhere. Like the nursery rhyme says, "ask for five cents, give a dollar" - his dedication far exceeds what his job requires. With a heart full of passion for farmers, his award is well deserved!

From an agricultural college forestry program, determined to become a civil servant since youth

Lu Kun-wang resolved to become a civil servant at age 18, when he was only in his third year of junior college. He fulfilled that wish at age 26.

In fact, when he graduated from junior high school and was choosing among five-year junior college programs, Lu Kun-wang was drawn in by the "future prospects" section of the admissions brochure for the forestry program at Yilan Agricultural College. The brochure said that after graduation, one could work as a civil servant at the Forestry Bureau, national parks, and other agencies. Having no grand ambitions as a youth, and with other paths offering uncertain prospects, "civil service seemed like an achievable goal," and so he stumbled into the field of forestry.

"His life decided by a brochure" - during his third year of junior college, Lu Kun-wang interned at the Taipei Botanical Garden, where he was responsible for making plant specimens, maintaining the park's interpretive signs, and accompanying researchers on plant surveys and collecting trips. He realized he genuinely loved this kind of work - stable and related to his studies - and wanted to realize the vague "civil servant dream" he had held years earlier.

But during his military service he "went astray" - Lu Kun-wang became a transport specialist in the Army, driving trucks for a year and a half. After discharge, he first worked as a home delivery driver. But the freight job was too busy to allow time for exam preparation, so he switched to a landscaping company that paid by the day, preparing for the civil service junior exam while earnestly learning pruning, horticultural landscaping, and other skills.

Lu Kun-wang says this job taught him the importance of details. "Only by paying attention to every step can you ensure project quality," he said. "Quality isn't something you only worry about when facing a client or a final inspection." Passing one's own standards is what truly constitutes a responsible attitude.

Responsible at work and responsible for his own life, he never forgot his original aspiration no matter how busy work got. After a year and a half at the landscaping company, the three characters "Lu Kun-wang" finally appeared on the pass list for the forestry technician junior exam.