Retired vegetable vendor and philanthropist Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊) has made two Taitung hospitals the beneficiaries of her insurance policies when she dies, which would give them at least NT$16 million (US$516,662).
Mackay Memorial Hospital Taitung Branch and Taitung Christian Hospital, which are to receive at least NT$8.3million and NT$7.7 million respectively, have established funds to handle the money, which is to be used to subsidize treatment for needy Taitung residents.
The money would be available to people with low or medium-low incomes, and those verified as economically disadvantaged by social workers, up to a maximum of NT$50,000 per year.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
Chen in August signed contracts for the donations, but did not make a public announcement.
However, when Taitung County Commissioner Justin Huang (黃健庭) learned of her decision, he decided to hold an event today to encourage more people to donate to charity.
Chen, 67, who retired earlier this year, began selling vegetables in Taitung’s Central Market when she was 13, and used to keep her donations quiet and private, but she said she now feels differently.
She said she hopes her donations to the two hospitals would encourage more people to donate so that poor people in Taitung could afford medical treatment.
Chen’s desire to help stems from two family tragedies.
When she was 13, her mother died from childbirth complications because the family did not have the money to pay for needed surgery, Chen said.
Six years later, her younger brother, who was then in fourth grade, became seriously ill, but the family could not afford a doctor; by the time a teacher was able to raise enough money from classmates to send the boy to a hospital, it was too late, she said.
She began selling vegetables to help her family escape from poverty and worked 20 hours a day; she made it her life’s goal to help the poor receive medical treatment, she said.
Having made a living in Taitung for 56 years, she wants to give back to the city’s residents, she said.
She retired earlier this year after developing appendicitis in February and undergoing emergency surgery.
“Life is short. We are born with no material possessions and shall die the same way. Money is only useful when it is in the hands of people in need,” she said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai