Chen, Lu hard at work two years on

To mark the second anniversary of their inauguration yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) offered practical help to their constituents, with Chen working as a hospital volunteer and Lu handing out scholarships to students in need.

Chen received a personal ID card as a lifetime volunteer for Saint Mary's Hospital in Lotung, Ilan County, after he cleaned, massaged and fed the elderly and donated NT$1 million to the hospital. Lu vowed to seek better funding for children deprived of an education due to financial difficulty.

This is the second time during his administration that Chen has sought to promote the spirit of volunteerism by example. On May 20 last year, he swept streets and washed cars.

The president selected yesterday's activities to fulfill a promise he made almost three years ago.

While visiting the hospital in July 1999, Chen -- then the DPP's presidential candidate -- pledged to work as a permanent volunteer at Saint Mary's.

Showing off a pink vest -- the type worn by the hospital's volunteers -- Chen used a towel to cleanse the body of 90-year-old Hsu Chao-chi (徐兆齊), who was bed-ridden because of cancer. The president took every action with care, cleaning every part of his body. After Hsu was fully cleaned, Chen gave him a massage.

Afterward, Chen fed Chan Luan-feng (詹鸞鳳), a 83-year-old suffering from high blood pressure.

Dubbing herself "the luckiest patient in the world," Chan was fed rice, pudding and a banana by the president. "Today I am a volunteer, not a president," he told Chan.

Chen's next task was to push the wheelchair of Kao Tu Ta-hu (高杜大虎), a stroke patient, from the first floor to the physical therapy room on the fifth floor. Chen helped Kao lie down on bed for his physical therapy session.

Chen adeptly completed all of his tasks. "This is a fairly easy job for me, because I do it all the time for my wife," he said.

The president is known to be a loving and caring husband. For nearly two decades he has taken care of his wife Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) after she was hit by a car and partially paralyzed in a politically-motivated attack in 1974. Wu has been confined to a wheelchair ever since.

Before he was elected president, Chen was frequently seen carrying his wife in and out of their home.

While walking through the hallway, a child gave Chen a sticker shaped like a star and stuck it on his forehead.

Chen later commented that "volunteers are just like stars for people in need and I hope more and more stars come out to serve others."

In contrast to Chen, Vice President Lu chose to stay in her office and hold a ceremony granting financial aid to students.

In view of the fact that many children are deprived of the right to an education because they are from poor families, Lu has called upon the private sector to donate money to assist them.

The aid handed out yesterday had been collected from dozens of private sector groups and also from charitable events since the beginning of the year.

The vice president has distributed NT$5 million to poor children in the past and yesterday she handed out another NT$10 million.

Lu said that in her remaining time in office, she would "beg for alms" to safeguard the right to an education for all children.

``We still have two years and we'll keep working hard for all the people,'' Lu said.