By now almost everyone in Taiwan must be aware of the story of Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊).
Chen, a single woman who only completed elementary school, has spent the best part of her life selling vegetables at her local market in Taitung, donating a staggering NT$10 million (US$315,000) to local charities in the process.
She was recently catapulted into the limelight after her selfless endeavors were recognized by Time magazine, who ranked her eighth in the “heroes” category of this year’s “Time 100” list of the most influential people in the world.
It is a heart-warming story and Chen is indeed a remarkable woman. Any publicity she gets is fully deserved, but in fact her story is not that unusual. She is just one of the thousands of kind-hearted people around Taiwan who devote large parts of their life or income to helping others less fortunate than themselves.
What is remarkable about Chen’s tale, however, is the way the president, government officials and local politicians have descended upon her like vultures, hijacking her award win in a bid to raise their own sagging profiles.
When the uncomplicated, unassuming Chen was nominated for the award, she probably had no idea of the ghastly circus she was about to be dragged into.
Initially unwilling to go to the US to collect her prize, Chen was eventually convinced to go after talking with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and a cabal of politicians, who told her that it would be good for Taiwan.
Since then, we have been treated to round-the-clock updates on Chen, with exhaustive details on every moment of her trip — her journey to Taipei, her flight, her stop at the hairdressers, her interest in US supermarket vegetables, the price of the dress she wore to the award ceremony.
Government Information Officer Minister Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) even went so far as to suggest a movie should be made of her story. Let’s hope he wasn’t serious.
Throughout this period, Chen has been chaperoned by government staffers anxious to remind her to thank the president and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs each time the press pack managed to corner her for a comment.
While it is pleasing to see Chen rewarded for her life of generosity, it is sickening to see the way she has been used. The whole episode has become a garish PR stunt for the president, with Ma and the government shamelessly taking advantage of Chen’s timid personality to plug themselves and Taiwan. It is utterly embarrassing and they should be ashamed of themselves.
If the measure of a government’s desperation is how it exploits even the smallest item of good news for its own end, then this government is indeed in dire straits.
The irony of Chen’s story is that news of her altruistic deeds first came to light in 2005 during former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) second term. Her story was part of a series meant to counter the endless stream of negative stories about Taiwan generated by the pro-unification Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporting media.
Now, five years later, it is those same media outlets and KMT officials who took every opportunity to run the nation down that are basking in the glow that this kind woman’s aura has cast upon Taiwan.
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