"Shih Chien's conceptions were really a spark of something new in a Taiwan society still mired in conceptions about charity inherited from the Ching Dynasty," says Lin Wan-yi. "More than a social worker, he was also one of the first people of his time to look at socialist thinking."
「施乾的觀念，對當時仍承繼從清末以來以施捨、救濟等『慈善』觀念為主導的台灣社會真是一大啟發」，林萬億說，「他不只是個社會工作者，還是當時代進入社會主義思潮的先行者。」