A big-hearted veteran soldier in Taoyuan, who was previously falsely imprisoned for 10 years, has donated almost his entire NT$4.2 million (US$134,710) compensation to take care of fellow veterans living in poverty and ill health.
Former army second lieutenant Cheng Yung-ching (鄭永清), 84, was falsely charged with joining an illegal organization and was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1953, but the court recognized the case as a miscarriage of justice and paid him NT$4.2 million in compensation in 1989.
Cheng volunteered to join the army at the age of 14 and retreated from China to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in 1948.
Photo: Lin Chin, Taipei Times
Aspiring to a successful military career, he passed a reserve officer exam and was conferred the rank of second lieutenant in 1950, but was accused of joining an illegal organization after he pledged allegiance to a brotherhood with four close friends in 1953, which saw him spend most of his youth behind bars.
Unmarried, childless and stripped of his rank, Cheng was penniless when he was released, but he managed to earn a living by learning how to repair watches.
He was reinstated and received financial redress in 1989.
He checked into Taoyuan Veterans Home — a nursing home run by the Veterans Affairs Commission — five years later at the age of 63 and has lived there ever since.
Taoyuan Veterans Home vice director Chen Tun-hua (陳敦華) said Cheng, a voracious reader, leads a frugal life on a NT$14,000 monthly allowance and often makes donations to disadvantaged residents.
To help veteran soldiers and their families, Cheng in February donated NT$2 million to a charitable foundation dedicated to looking after the welfare of veteran soldiers and residents of the military dependents’ villages, Chen said.
In support of fellow residents who have difficulty remaining mobile, Cheng on Thursday last week made another NT$2 million donation for the purchase of a van and 106 electric fans to be installed at the nursing home to create a more hospitable environment for residents, Chen said.
“I want to make good use of every penny of the money I have left,” Cheng said.
Saying that he is old, and suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, Cheng added that the donation gave him peace of mind because he probably has no chance to use the money himself anymore.
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