Person of the Year: Chen Shu-chu
Taiwan made headline news across the globe when a local citizen was chosen for a spot in both Time magazine's 2010 list of the world's 100 most influential people and Forbes Asia's 48-person annual list of "the region's most prominent altruists."
She is 59-year-old Chen Shu-chu, a vegetable seller at the Central Market in Taitung, where she has worked since 1963, having left school at 13 to support her seven-member family following the death of her mother.
Chen was not among the largest donors, of course. But as Forbes Asia Associate Editor John Koppisch explained, the magazine aimed to highlight a varied group of generous people. Chen shows that the spirit of giving is not limited to a financial definition.
Listing her as number eight on its list, Time magazine stated that, "out of her modest living, Chen has managed to donate nearly NT$10 million (US$320,000) to various causes, including US$32,000 for a children's fund, US$144,000 to help build a library at a school she attended and another US$32,000 for the local orphanage, where she also gives financial support to three children."
"What's so wonderful about Chen's achievement is not its extraordinariness but that it is so simple and matter of fact in its generosity," according to the citation in the magazine, which was written by Taiwanese film director Ang Lee. "Amazing, but of all she has given away, her greatest gift is her example."
"The point of Chen's story is that all of a sudden many people found that even though they may not be rich, their tiny but persistent small donations may come as a great help to some people," said Hu Yu-fang of United Way.
