2012 Ramon Magsaysay Awards: Vendor from Taiwan turns philanthropist

MANILA, Philippines - From her daily earnings as a vegetable vendor, Taiwanese Chen Shu Jiu has given away over seven million Taiwanese dollars or roughly $320,000 to various charities, particularly for the care and education of children.

She works 17 hours a day, lives frugally and is content with the simplest necessities in life. Afraid that she might get too comfortable and sleep late, Chen makes her bed on the floor.

Chen, along with five other Asians, is this year’s recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award. They will be honored in a ceremony tomorrow at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City. Each awardee will receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the late President Ramon Magsaysay and a cash prize.

The foundation recognized Chen’s pure altruism, which reflects a deep, quiet compassion that transformed the lives of numerous Taiwanese she has unselfishly helped.

Recipients of her generosity include a Buddhist monastery to help fund a school, a non-profit Christian organization that rescues children-at-risk and provide them with food, shelter, clothing, medical care and education.

Chen, whose parents were both vegetable vendors, experienced poverty at a young age. When she was 13 years old, her mother fell gravely ill, and she recalled how her father desperately asked money from neighbors so her mother could be treated in a hospital. Unfortunately, the financial aid was not enough to save her mother’s life.

As the eldest daughter, she had to stop schooling to help her father run their vegetable stall in the market. Five years later, one of her brothers died of a chronic disease.

Despite her misfortunes, she witnessed kindness from other people that served as her inspiration to help those in need.

At 62, Chen continues to sell vegetables from a stall she inherited from her parents at the Taitung central market in Taiwan.

Chen was named one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” by Time Magazine in 2010. Other awards she received in the same year include Forbes Asia magazine’s “48 Heroes of Philanthropy,” and “Asian of the Year” by Reader’s Digest. She was also the recipient of the Class Professional Education-Culture medal by the Taiwan Ministry of Education.

Despite the recognition she has received from different international bodies, she remains humble whenever she hears praise for her accomplishments.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) lauded Chen’s spirit of love, care and sharing, which she had unselfishly dedicated to rekindle the humanitarian spirit in this overly pragmatic society.

“She may still be an ordinary person, but after the presentation of this year’s award, her virtue and generosity will be an inspiration to stir our conscience and to awaken us from our selfish slumber,” TECO said in a statement.

She resists having a foundation set up in her name and refuses to receive donations from others, saying she prefers to help using the money that she earned herself.

When asked about what she has done, Chen said: “Money serves its purpose only when it is used for those who need it.”