A Taiwanese vegetable seller and the mother of media mogul Rupert Murdoch are among the most generous souls in the Asia-Pacific region, based on Forbes Asia’s latest list of philanthropist “heroes” in the region.
The list, compiled by the magazine and in its third year, features 48 of the region’s most prominent altruists.
Four were chosen from 12 markets in the region — Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
PHOTO: HUANG MING-TANG, TAIPEI TIMES
“These aren’t always the biggest givers,” said John Koppisch, associate editor of the magazine.
“Instead we aim to highlight a varied group of generous people, some holdovers from last year but mostly new names who deserve recognition. By calling attention to these 48 we hope to encourage more giving,” he said in a statement.
Forbes said the past year was a good one for philanthropy as tycoons and more modest donors continued to fund charitable projects. The causes supported ranged from disaster recovery, education and health to culture and science, with education being the popular choice among featured philanthropists this year.
Among the most striking honorees is Taiwanese Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊), a 59-year-old who the magazine said has been selling vegetables in Taitung’s central market since 1963. She dropped out of school to support her seven-member family after her mother died.
Chen’s donations include US$32,000 for a children’s fund in 2004 and US$144,000 to help build a library at the school she once attended. She gave US$31,000 in 2006 to the city’s Kids Alive International orphanage and has spent US$11,000 to support three orphans there. She also plans to set up a US$313,000 fund this year to help the poor with education and healthcare, the magazine said.
Three other Taiwanese made it onto the list: Thomas Lin (林宏裕), a professor at National Taipei University of Technology and chairman of Sunlight Electronics Laboratory; Pan Shi Yuen (潘思源), chairman of the San Francisco-based developer Pan Pacific Ocean; and Tsai Hong-tu (蔡宏圖), chairman of Cathay Financial Holding Co.
Lin donated his first US$50 in the mid-1970s, the magazine said. The recovery of his five-year old daughter from a mysterious illness led him to give away US$15,000 and since then his donations have totaled US$8 million, the magazine said. He reportedly plans to give away US$1.9 million a year
Pan gave US$3 million to his alma mater, National Chengchi University, the largest donation the university has ever received, to fund journalism and Chinese literature lectures in the name of his mother, Forbes said. He has also promised the school US$6 million to help it build a mass communications building and said he would make US$300 million in charitable contributions over his lifetime.
Tsai was honored for donating US$3 million to post Typhoon Morakot-relief efforts and for giving US$7.8 million to National Taiwan University’s College of Law in 2003 to construct two energy-efficient buildings containing a library and classrooms.
Australian Elisabeth Murdoch, the 101-year-old mother of News Corp’s chief Rupert Murdoch, was honored for supporting cultural, social, medical and children’s causes for more than 75 years.
Chinese basketball star Yao Ming (姚明) was honored for backing efforts to stop people from eating shark’s fin soup and for setting up the Yao Ming Fund, which helped Sichuan earthquake victims.
For the full list, check www.forbes.com/altruists.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the