As Chinese tycoon Chen Guangbiao (陳光標) basks in the limelight over his flamboyant style of charity, there are many Taiwanese who, for a long time, have given away their hard-earned money in silence.
In 1991, Tsao Ching (曹慶), the founder of Genesis Social Welfare Foundation, Huashan Social Welfare Foundation and Zenan Homeless Social Welfare Foundation, gave away 20 lunchboxes to homeless people because he was worried that they had no place to eat during the Lunar New Year. The next year, he organized a 10-table traditional weiya (尾牙) — a year-end banquet — an event that has now expanded to 2,500 tables.
These charities that provide homeless people with food, clothes and a place to sleep are made possible thanks to the care and concern of people from all over Taiwan, who donate money or their invoice receipts.
Chen Chou (陳綢), a 77-year-old living in Puli (埔里) Township, Nantou County, was given up for adoption as a child because her biological family was poor. She has had a hard life and never went to school. Forty years ago, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She pledged that if she was cured, she would become a vegetarian and spend her life doing good.
By making zongzi (粽子) — glutinous rice dumplings — Chen saved enough money to build a temple and encouraged people to engage in charitable work. She has also donated land and raised money to build a home for disadvantaged children, in addition to volunteering to help children that have gone astray.
For several decades, many students in the greater Puli area have received grants from Chen, and many of those children that have received help from her are now pillars of society and still grateful for her help.
In August last year, Chen found that the Nantou County Government was planning to nominate her for inclusion in Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. Always taking a low-key approach, she asked the foundation to reject the nomination because she felt that the charitable work was based on the efforts of many people and not her alone. She told the county government that she hoped it would acknowledge her efforts and help bring more people and companies into the effort.
Another example of a Taiwansese charitable efforts is Chiayi Charity Organization spiritual leader Lin Ping-shan (林炳山).
Seeing that many were able to eat their fill, Lin called on people to donate time and money to build a big wooden bridge in early 1966. Today, more than 300 bridges have been built. The volunteers that build the bridges have increased in number from 30 to more than 200, and they include lawyers, architects, professors, school presidents, police officers, monks, workers, drivers, elected politicians, students, house wives and company chairpersons.
Yet another example is Liao Jung-chi (廖榮吉), who sells guabao (刈包) — a traditional steamed bread with filling — in Taipei and charges NT$40 (US$1.40) per guabao and NT$40 for a bowl of pig intestine soup.
He has to work hard to make a living, but every year on the night before Lunar New Year’s Eve, he organizes a banquet for homeless people, that is known as “the warmest of all new year dinners.”
To help Liao continue the tradition, last year, a group of fishermen donated 1,200kg of fresh fish. This year they are donating 2,850kg, while a chicken company will give him 600kg of chicken for every 600kg he buys.
Meanwhile, Wu Nan-hsing (吳南興), who sells noodles in Siluo Township (西螺鎮), Yunlin County, on Wednesday donated 10,000 gift vouchers, each worth NT$100, so that the poor households of Yunlin County would be able to eat a free bowl of his noodles.
In November last year, he also donated 2,000 of these gift vouchers to the Cihhua Charity in Changhua County. He never appeared himself, but simply asked the charity to distribute the vouchers to organizations that work with the disadvantaged.
After the 921 Earthquake in 1999, he donated NT$1 million to the earthquake victims through a temple in Changhua County.
We said that everyone who can make money does so “thanks to society” and so it is only natural to return some of the money when one is able to do so.
He said there is nothing wrong with Chen Guangbiao’s high profile donations, it’s only a matter of another point of view and different way of doing things.
Another example of Taiwanese’s charity is sixty-one year old Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊).
She never finished school because her family was too poor and several members of her family passed away because they didn’t have enough money to see a doctor. When she graduated from elementary school at age 13, she began to sell vegetables at the market. Having experienced what it means to be poor, and out of gratitude for the aid provided by her school while she attended classes, she pledged to do good.
In 1997, she used NT$1 million to set up a scholarship and in 2001 she donated another NT$4.5 million to build a library.
In addition to making donations to her school, Chen Shu-chu began in 1996 to donate NT$35,000 a year to sponsor three orphaned children at an orphanage in Taitung County. Taking the same low-key approach, not even the head of the orphanage knew who the sponsor was.
It was not until nine years ago, when Chen Shu-chu donated NT$1 million so the orphanage could build a home for disabled children, that the head of the orphanage found out that the sponsor was a vegetable vendor, although the orphanage did not reveal this fact until they organized a dinner for Chen Shu-chu last year.
Chen Shu-chu has long carried out her charitable works in a low key manner and refused to give interviews, but such charity cannot be kept quiet forever. Last year, media outlets were falling over each other to report her story, as she made Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world and Forbes Asia’s list of philanthropic heroes and was awarded the Asian of the Year Award by Reader’s Digest.
Garden of Hope Foundation director Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said that according to the Bible, NT$20 from a widow is as valuable as NT$20 million from a rich man.
“There is no reason to think that the money given by a rich man is worth more,” Chi said, adding that “this is why someone like Chen Shu-chu, who has quietly worked long and hard for her money receives so much respect around the world.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY HUANG MING-TANG, TSENG TEH-FONG AND CHENG HSU-KAI
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