TES Invented by Linda Din

Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo

The Bible says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, as it is in your power to do it.” (Proverbs 3:27)

“TES,” invented by Linda Din (Ding Ling-Hong), is the abbreviation of a new tech-economic system—“The eStore System.” It was invented with a clear mission: to “solve unemployment” through innovative industries.

While serving as an APEC speaker (lecturer) in 2003, she proposed “Global Channel- TES,” which became a best-practice policy model. The APEC forum praised it as the best guideline for helping “240 million people” start businesses. In practice, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is estimated to have helped approximately “1.5 billion people” earn income from home and “make money from the world.” Even just one of TES’s sub-inventions—“Cashless Transactions”—has reached an estimated annual transaction volume of “USD 36 trillion.”

Fig 1: Linda Din and her invention “TES” (APEC 2003)

“The eStore System”—A Genesis-Level Invention

Because The eStore System is a “genesis-level invention,” it upgrades the oldest trading place in human history—the “store”—into an “Electronic Store,” abbreviated as “eStore.” Together with many sub-inventions—such as intelligent vending machines and TSCM (Transaction & Transmission Supply Chain Management software) — it operates as a complete system and forms an entirely new “Commercial Mechanism” (ComMec).

Therefore, in English, the definite article in “The eStore System” must always be capitalized as “The.”

A Broad Definition of “eStore”

Linda Din defined “eStore” in a broad sense: any place where people can “work and earn money” through the “TES system” qualifies as an eStore. For example, whether one conducts remote transactions from home via electronic payments, drives a taxi, or shops in a hypermarket — all of these are “eStores.”

Universal Concern: The Compassion Behind TES

Linda Din grew up under a strong family tradition and was always deeply compassionate toward human suffering. Her grandmother, Master Shi TranSmart (secular name: Ding Wu-Ping), once sold off a vast family estate to help a monk establish a monastery, firmly believing that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”

After marriage, Linda Din went through life-and-death trials, which further elevated her grandmother’s compassionate spirit into a higher calling. In 2000, during her visit to Dharamshala, India, His Holiness the Dalai Lama described her invention "TES" as an approach of “Universal Concern.”

Fig 2: Dalai Lama regarded Linda Din’s “TES”

From Taiwan’s Industrial Crisis to the “Rich Taiwan Plan”

Witnessing Taiwan’s failed industrial transformation from 1981 to 1985, when foreign companies shut down factories and relocated abroad — leaving behind only unemployment — Linda Din declared that she would promote the “Rich Taiwan Plan” through “Social Responsibility Investment” (SRI).

Fig 3: Linda Din’s “Rich Taiwan Plan”

To solve unemployment, she invented the innovative industry system "TES," with sub-inventions including:

1) Contactless Technology

2) Cashless Transactions

3) Power Chip

4) TranSmart Chip

5) RF Transmitter / RF Converter

6) TSCM (Transaction & Transmission Supply Chain Management Software)

7) Electronic Commerce (EC)

8) 3C Integration

9) Information & Communications Technology (ICT)

10) Interphone ( toll-free communication module)

11) TRD (Touchless Transaction Reading Device)

12) ESD (Entrance Security Device / access control device)

13) ATM (TranSmart Auto Teller Machince)

14) ETC (Transportation Electronic Toll Collection)

15) VAM & eStore …and a long list of other innovations.

From Volunteer Work to a Historic Breakthrough

After a violent coup involving bloodshed and the seizure of property, Linda Din followed me through difficult transitions and eventually arrived in Taipei.

While raising children every day, she also volunteered, read three newspapers daily along with the "Trade News" published by TAITRA, and never failed to complete her morning and evening spiritual practices to meditate day and night.

She believed that even during an economic downturn, being able to live happily — and being able to meaningfully support small and mid-sized businesses — was a blessing granted by a transcendent “God” to whom she gave all the glory.

By 1985, as more and more foreign firms withdrew and closed factories, unemployed workers turned to “driving taxis” — only to be robbed. Then, one day, she walked out of the kitchen and said: “I want to start a business to solve unemployment!”

After she easily created 100 job opportunities, she discovered that 4,900 people were still unemployed. She realized unemployment was not an individual issue but a "structural social problem," and declared again: “I want to create innovative industries to solve unemployment.”

Fig 4: Linda Din creating new industry while rising her son

Linda Din gave “Electronic Commerce” a birth

Linda Din became even more devoted to her morning and evening practices. One day in 1986, when I returned home, I saw her fully absorbed at the table — drawing, cutting, and pasting — until she produced a strange “picture” (or a diagram). Then she said: “This is Electronic Commerce!”

I replied: “There is only electronic industry—where would ‘electronic commerce’ come from?”

She continued: “During spiritual practice, a voice told me: ‘Transform vending machines into a card-based system.’” She began researching and found that existing cards were all "contact-based." After thinking for many days, she suddenly had a flash of insight. Her mind filled with ideas, and she hurried to capture them by drawing the “TES schematic diagram.”

Fig 5: TES Schematic Diagram invented by Linda Din

She explained:

A consumer carries a contactless “TranSmart chip card” to an “eStore” to make a purchase. The card interacts with the "VAM." The consumer receives the goods, and the merchant receives the payment — thus completing the transaction.

Then, the transaction information is transmitted through a communication module called “Interphone” (a toll-free phone-like device) — similar to a walkie-talkie — relayed via “Satellite” to the enterprise "Control Center," which then notifies "Suppliers." Goods are replenished through "Logistics," completing one full transaction cycle.

“Don’t Take This Out and Embarrass Yourself!”

Back in 1966, I helped American company secure NASA orders with my "ultra-precision eyelets," supporting the launch of Apollo 4, and my clients called me “Dr. Blacksmith.” In 1974, Chiang Ching-Kuo visited the "Cheng Kuang Precision Industry Co., Ltd." I founded and called me “the Father of Taiwan’s Precision Industry.” In 1984, I revived the Mattel’s “He-Man” toy line in a single day and thereby saved "Barbie Doll" as well, earning the title “Gadget Master.”

I told Linda: “If even I can’t understand it, don’t take it out and embarrass yourself!”

Sure enough, after traveling around the world, not a single person understood what she was talking about. Especially when she said: “This TES system can create jobs → and solve unemployment,” everyone burst into laughter, mocking the idea as ridiculous.

“Heaven’s Secret”: The System Architecture of TES

In the end, she placed the responsibility of transforming "TES" from concept into a working reality upon my shoulders. Reluctantly, late at night, in complete silence, I carefully examined the "TES Schematic Diagram" and expanded it into a full "System Architecture Diagram." In shock, I wrote two words on the drawing: “Heaven’s Secret.”

Fig 6: TES System Architecture Diagram

Because it revealed an integration of two channels—“Substantial (physical) and Virtual”: 1) The Substantial channel creates derivative value chains. 2) The Virtual channel penetrates time and space, reaching everywhere without limits. Together, “the combined value creation is virtually limitless.”

A Dream Realized—and a Greater Vision Revealed

I once had a dream, and in 1974 it truly came to pass—to contribute the concept of “Precision Industry” to Taiwan’s national leadership (Chiang Ching-Kuo), so that Taiwan could stand firm and remain unshaken by international political turbulence.

Therefore, when President Jimmy Carter unilaterally severed diplomatic relations with the Republic of China on January 1, 1979, I still took the risk of traveling to the United States to develop "satellite receiver" and cable television, helping Taiwan successfully complete its industrial transformation by 1986.

What truly astonished me, however, was "TES." The “heavenly secret” it foresaw was nothing less than this: "It would enable Taiwan to become one of the wealthiest nations in the world."

Government Response—and Skepticism

I therefore visited Chao Yao-Tung, Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development. After listening to my explanation, he gave me three responses: “1)He did not understand what is it. 2)The government had no money. 3)I should go to ITRI and explain it to them.”

I went to ITRI immediately. When the audience heard the phrase “Contactless TranSmart Chip,” their eyes went blank. Yet they pretended to remain calm and said: “Ha! What kind of chip is that? It won’t be possible to make it even in 50 years!”

From Skepticism to APEC Recognition

Nevertheless, with just “USD 70 million and 11 years” of effort, we completed our R&D and brought the results to APEC 1997 in Vancouver, igniting hope for economies devastated by the Asian Financial Crisis.

Linda Din was invited to serve as an “International Advisory Group of Experts,” advocating the establishment of “EI” (Economic Institutes) in each APEC economy, and begin compiling “Teaching Materials” (textbooks), including:

1) Consulting skills,

2) Financial analysis,

3) Human resource management,

4) Interpersonal skills,

5) Business planning,

6) Code of ethics,

7) Marketing,

8) Problem-solving and decision-making I,

9) Government regulations and legal requirements,

10) Problem-solving and decision-making II,

11) Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce).

She also successfully secured "APEC Technomart II" to be held in Taipei, for which she was awarded a medal by Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Chih-Kang.

Fig 7: The MOEA awarding Linda Din

U.S. Patents and Global Diffusion

The U.S. representatives at APEC 1997 encouraged us to apply for U.S. invention patents. Following their advice, we organized over a decade of materials — including seminars on "Science & Future," fora on "Advanced Industry Incubation," and "SME Mobile Service Programs," along with our R&D documentation—and obtained the U.S. invention patent: “US6304796B1 — Vending Machine Operated by a Chip Card.”

At that time, public understanding was limited, and many of our key terms—such as “Contactless” and “Cashless”—were arbitrarily altered by others into different words. Therefore, after winning the APEC E-Commerce Initiative, we applied again under the term “Shopping System” and obtained: “US20030197061 — Electronic Shopping System.”

Because "Entry Security Device" (ESD) were also critical, we obtained: “US20030107468 — Electronic Entrance Security Device.”

And because "Electronic Toll Collection" (ETC) systems were equally important, we obtained: “US20040054595A1 — Electronic Toll Collection (payment system) for Public Transportation.”

These publicly disclosed technological innovations later became essential tools for many “multinational corporations” (MNCs) seeking transformation, upgrading, and revenue growth. "TES" has since been recognized as a "new employment system" that is structural, scalable, and cross-nationally replicable.

Creating A Job Ecosystem

Linda Din’s invention is not an emotional narrative. It is a proposition that can be rigorously tested through "economics, industrial history," and changes in employment structures. I implemented her invention and brought it to Silicon Valley and the rest of the world. The answer was clear:

it does create new jobs — and not just temporarily, but as a "structural, scalable, and globally replicable employment system."

In simple terms, it does not solve unemployment for one specific group of job seekers; rather, it addresses the "structural causes" of recurring unemployment.

“Creating New Jobs” as a Sacred Mission

I vividly recall arriving in New York in early 1979, when I needed a "critical document" in order to proceed with developing satellite receivers. At that time, Taiwan’s quotas had already been transferred to China. However, when the interviewing officer heard me say that my purpose in coming to the United States was “Creating New Jobs,” he immediately approved the document. This alone shows that job creation is a profoundly sacred and vital mission.

Why TES Multiplies Job Creation Power

After careful economic modeling, the job-creation capacity of “TES” proved to be hundreds or even thousands of times greater than that of “satellite receiver” development. The reasons can be explained across three levels.

First: From Jobs to a Job Ecosystem

We do not merely create positions; we create a Job Ecosystem. Traditional employment policies fail because:

1. After factories automate, workers become unemployed again.

2. Subsidy-based policies—commonly used in Europe and the United States—create short-term employment, but once subsidies end, unemployment returns.

The TES eStore System is fundamentally different. It simultaneously creates:

1) Front-End Jobs:

(1)eStore / VAM operators;

(2)Micro-entrepreneurs (one person, one store; one store, one business);

(3)Content, product, and service providers.

2) Intermediary Jobs:

(1)Logistics;

(2)Financial flows (cashless systems);

(3)Maintenance, replenishment, and customer service.

3) Back-End High–Value-Added Jobs:

(1)Software (TSCM, ICT) driving hardware industries;

(2)Chips, modules, sensors, RF technologies;

(3)Control centers, system integration, and cybersecurity.

This is precisely what my teacher Theodore Levitt (1925–2006) described as the “Third Sector / Residuum Re-absorption Mechanism.”

It is also why the system we invented is “not afraid of economic cycles” — and why it flourished worldwide during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when borders were closed and traditional economies stalled.

Second, We Address the Root Cause of Why Modern Societies Inevitably Produce Unemployment.

What we solve is the fundamental question: why unemployment is inevitable in modern society? There are three "structural causes" of unemployment:

1) Productivity increases too rapidly (technology-driven unemployment);

2) Barriers to entry for SMEs are too high — the cost of entrepreneurship keeps rising;

3) Transaction costs exceed the value of labor, making investment no longer worthwhile (leading to foreign divestment and factory closures).

Every sub-invention within TES corresponds precisely to these three causes. Therefore, TES is not a system that merely “redistributes jobs.” Rather, it returns "tradability to every individual" — the ability for each person to participate in transactions, create value, and earn income.

Third, History Has Already Provided the Answer—Not Speculation

This is not a hypothesis. History has already produced an answer. A chain of evidence has been formed through several key milestones, as follows:

1) APEC 1998: The E-Commerce Initiative

Fig 8: Linda Din’s proposal at APEC 1998 that led to the E-Commerce Bill

(1) Linda Din’s role as a speaker was not an academic discussion —it was a proposal that was adopted into "international policy."

(2) President Lee Teng-Hui regarded it as a "top national priority." As a result, on May 24, 1999, we presented a proposal to the Taipei City Government, which helped catalyze the Taipei Metro "EasyCard" project.

Fig 9: Linda Din presenting the proposal at Taipei City Government

2) APEC 2003: Best Practice

(1) By then, implementation had already produced tangible results in employment creation and industrial impact.

(2) Linda Din’s APEC 2003 proposal — “Global Channel-TES” — was a direct response to the host economy, Australia, and its request on “Addressing the Needs of SME Exporters” to advance the “Best Practice Policy.” It meaningfully accelerated the real-world commercialization of "cashless" systems.

Fig 10: Linda Din serving as an APEC 2003 speaker

3) APEC 2006: Full Digitalization and Cashless Adoption

(1) After we reported our progress at the Hanoi meeting, the world began to follow.

(2) From 2020 to 2024, the scale of cashless transactions reached tens of trillions of U.S. dollars.

Fig 11: Statistics on APEC cashless transaction volume (2023)

4) APEC 2009: A Path to “Rebuilding the Global Economy”

(1) It helped mitigate the damage of the global financial crisis.

(2) Former President Lee Teng-Hui listened to Linda Din’s report on TES achievements in the APEC CEO Summit and concluded: “TES is a great revolution in finance and technology. It is an intelligent industry capable of creating a 'USD 10 trillion' economic scale for Taiwan.”

Fig 12: Linda Din reporting TES to former President Lee

TES Absorbs Transitional Unemployment and Prevents Systemic Collapse

Our TES system is designed precisely to absorb transitional unemployment, addressing a social problem shared by the entire world. Without the creation of new employment, the consequence would be catastrophic — "an explosion of total unemployment."

Yet it was not by coincidence that TES emerged and enabled a transformation of work patterns, “preventing comprehensive collapse” and sustaining economic and social development in the 21st century.

“TES” Is a Self-Generating Techno-Economic System for Jobs

In short, the TES invented by Linda Din is not merely a set of scientific or technological tools. It is "a tech-economic system (TES) capable of generating jobs by itself" — even during economic downturns.

Because “unemployment is an inevitable feature of modern society,” Linda Din was chosen to persist for decades to invent a new "commercial mechanism" (ComMec)— one that changes how human beings transact, how they survive, and how they avoid being eliminated by technology — so that people can continue to "work and earn money" in a rapidly changing world. From 1997 to 2009, the results of this research were presented at “APEC,” ultimately realizing TES’s vision of universal human concern.

However, after the company was completely looted in a robbery on January 27, 2001, cartel-like corrupt entities discovered that Linda Din’s "intellectual property rights" (IPRs) — including copyrights and invention patents—were difficult to seize. As a result, they launched sustained and organized criminal actions till today. They even exploited investigations by the Control Yuan, classifying the reports as “Confidential” until August 16, 2017, and used the threat of a seven-year prison sentence to intimidate Linda Din into silence regarding her inventions — thereby suffocating Taiwan’s opportunity to lead the world in mainstream technological and social development.

Ancient sages held that the state originated from people gathering together to resist harsh climates and wild beasts, and therefore required "order;" the establishment of rulers was never meant to allow them to pursue private gain. Rousseau argued that while wars may be waged between states, a state must never inflict harm upon its own people. We pursued “Social Responsibility Investment" (SRI) to realize our invention, “TES,” as a concrete solution to structural unemployment. Yet, in a profound irony, the very immense value chain created by TES triggered relentless predation by a state machine that had fallen “out of order,” colluding with cartel forces. We were repeatedly attacked and dismantled, pushing us to the brink of death time and again. That an innovation designed to uphold social responsibility should meet such a fate is both incomprehensible and morally indefensible.

Conclusion

Moses said: “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt. Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest.”est)” (Exodus 22:21–25) This is what we call "Social Responsibility."

This commandment is a concrete practice of the teaching “love your neighbor as yourself.” It was not meant only for ancient Israel, but applies to people of all ages. It instructs societies to show compassion and respect toward all foreigners, the vulnerable, and marginalized groups, and to avoid exploitation and injustice.

From Structural Unemployment to Social Responsibility Innovation

We witnessed Taiwan’s failed industrial transformation in 1985. Foreign companies withdrew their investments and shut down factories. The unemployed turned to “driving taxis” — only to become victims of robbery and violence.

At that moment, my wife, Linda Din, unexpectedly walked out of the kitchen and said she wanted to “start a business to solve unemployment.” After she truly created 100 jobs, she realized that 4,900 people were still unemployed. Only then did she understand that unemployment was a “structural” social problem. In response, she exercised her capacity to confront systemic challenges through “Social Responsibility Investment” (SRI) and realized her invention of a new tech-economic system (TES)— The Electronic Store System.

As a result, taxi drivers no longer needed to fear robbery, and people could make money at home through TES. During the COVID-19 pandemic, TES was said to have helped approximately “1.5 billion people” earn income from home and participate in the global economy. TES thus came to be known as a “job-generating ecosystem,” fulfilling the mission and objectives of SRI.

Universal Concern—and a Costly Price

Some have said that Linda Din’s invention surpasses even Einstein’s contribution in its impact on human society. Yet, in October 2000, she was forcibly expelled from her laboratory at the Aeronautical Systems Research Division (ASRD), National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST). On January 27, 2001, her company was robbed, and all R&D results and written materials were stolen, leaving nothing behind. It was for this reason that she wrote the book "The Daughter of A National Defense Employee" (Linda Din, 2001), documenting why she chose to invent a new "tech-economic system" (TES) grounded in Universal Concern, and copyrighting the "TES."

Fig 13: “The Daughter of A National Defense Employee”

In "The Daughter of a National Defense Employee," the author Linda Din states at the outset: “A strong sense of mission for our time has driven me to devote myself for many years to researching a method that can 'solve global unemployment.' The key lies in 'people through voluntary' — to proactively create and develop 'an intelligent industry with a derivative value-chain ecosystem,' thereby accelerating the 'technologicalization of traditional industries' and the 'intelligentization of technology industries'." This innovative industry can, in turn, be applied to solve unemployment.”

Four thousand copies of the book were printed and presented as gifts to Taiwan’s Presidential Office, Executive Yuan, and major political parties, as well as to leaders across government, industry, academia, and research institutions. The book was also brought to the APEC 2001 in Shanghai and presented to the delegates — including Jiang Zemin and Justin Yifu Lin — and later taken to the United States and given to people from all walks of life, widely promoting the benefits of "TES." In the end, the era of “intelligent industry” finally arrived.

Peter Li-Chang Kuo, the author created Taiwan's Precision Industry in his early years. Peter was a representative of the APEC CEO Summit and an expert in the third sector. He advocated "anti-corruption (AC)/cashless/e-commerce (E-Com)/ICT/IPR/IIA-TES / Micro-Business (MB)…and etc." to win the international bills and regulations.