Martyn Castelein Realized His Dream Finds Success in Kaohsiung Martyn Castelein 實現夢想的基地─高雄
Martyn Castelein Realized His Dream Finds Success in Kaohsiung
◎English Written by Chen Kuan-chun
◎Photo by Hou Ya-ting
Martyn Castelein is from Holland and came to Kaohsiung in 2004. Originally he was part team that was here on a two year assignment to build Lous Vitton's yacht. However, during this period, he met his wife, JoJo, and decided to stay in Taiwan. After the yacht was complete he developed his own business. Even though Martyn couldn't speak Chinese, his wife helped him set everything up and opened bank accunts. He was then able to completely devote himself to doing product research and development. Martyn's customers come from Taiwan's leading yacht manufacturers and other international buyers.
With an international certificate of vessel inspection and two years of testing experience he was able to develop a high-efficiency, waterproof LED light for boats and yachts. His LED lights emit natural light, with an illumination that does not change the object's color. The light is also waterproof, protected against corrosion and resilient to humidity. All components are locally sourced due to the fact Taiwan's products maintain a high standard and are competitively priced.
Martyn recalls he did not experience any cultural shock mainly because JoJo had been around. The only thing he could not get used to is the hot and humid weather. And not surprisingly, Stinky Tofu remain to be unacceptable for him to these days. At his free time, he does enjoy going out to eat with his family at Sea Bay Beach Resort Restaurant, which locates within San Yen-sat University in the Sisihwan Bay. He loves being surrounded by beautiful scenery and a good atmosphere.
Martyn feels Kaohsiung is more of a business and education hub than a tourist attraction. However, he acknowledges the improvements that have occurred over the past years. When his father came from Holland for a visit and was unfortunately hospitalized due to pneumonia, they were impressed by the affordable and high quality of hospital services. It gave them a great respect for Taiwan's medical services.
Martyn Castelein
實現夢想的基地─高雄
◎文、攝影／侯雅婷
荷蘭籍的Martyn Castelein因為工作的關係於2004年來到高雄，這是Martyn第一次造訪亞州國家，卻因此認識了太太JoJo，成為台灣女婿。Martyn說除了高雄經年豔陽高照的好天氣讓有些他招架不住之外，當時並沒有不適應的地方。Martyn為了愛情，繼續留在高雄打拼事業，擁有國際遊艇檢驗證照的他，經過2年不斷地測試，成功研發出船/遊艇專用高功率、防水的LED 燈。Martyn研發的LED燈散發出自然光照，不會使物體因為光照的關係而改變顏色，並且克服濕氣的挑戰，具防水功能。LED燈的材料全部選擇在台灣本地生產的材質，除了台灣產品零件品質達到市場要求之外，成本控管較佳。Martyn表示他研發的防水LED燈，具備船/遊艇市場所需的特質，除了防水，還可完全密合，不會被腐蝕，因此獲得台灣遊艇大廠及國際買家的青睞。
不會說中文的Martyn在創業之初，因為有太太的協助，讓他不曾為了申請電力、銀行帳號等瑣事傷神，太太讓他沒有後顧之憂，可專注於研發。談起高雄這個城市，Martyn 認為高雄是個適合商業和教育中心而非觀光勝地，也肯定高雄這些年來明顯的進步。空閒時，Martyn一家人喜歡到西子灣海景餐廳，JoJo說，距離市區約20 分鐘的車程就能到達西子灣，享受全然不同於城市的景色跟氛圍，真的很棒。而前陣子Martyn的父親遠從荷蘭來訪，卻不慎感冒引發肺炎住院，康復後，Martyn的父親直誇台灣住院品質，更覺得台灣的醫療費用真的很便宜，這段意外的插曲，讓Martyn全家對台灣的醫療水準有很高的評價。