Best Samaritans

Editor's note: The Ministry of Civil Affairs has announced 50 nominees competing for the 2006 China Charity Award, which is the highest level of government award in China for charity. The award is to recognize individuals, organizations and charitable projects for their great contribution toward disaster relief, helping the needy, poverty alleviation, education, environmental protection and so on.

The 50 nominees are divided into five categories: the Most Honorable Charitable Individuals, the Best Charitable Models, the Most Honorable Donors of Domestic Enterprises, the Most Honorable Donors of Overseas Corporations, and the Most Influential Charitable Projects. Ten of the candidates will be crowned with the 2006 China Charity Award. Here are brief introductions for the award of honorable charitable individual, best charitable model and most influential charitable project.

The Most Honorable Charitable Individual

Chen Futang

A Canadian citizen of Chinese origin who was born in Myanmar. After retiring as a doctor, Chen sold his 160,000-square-meter villa in Canada where he had lived for 33 years and moved into an ordinary apartment. In April 2006, Chen brought about 20 million yuan, all the money from the villa's sale, to Beijing and donated it to the Soong Ching Ling Foundation to establish an education grant for poor college students.

Chen Guangbiao

President of Jiangsu Huangpu Investment Co Ltd Chen has donated more than 32 million yuan between October 2005 and October 2006. In Chen's eyes, charity is much more than donations, but an expression of true love to society from the bottom of one's heart. Chen regards charity as part of his corporation's development strategy and each year, Huangpu Investment allocates a certain amount of money from its net profit to set up charity funds.

Sukanto Tanoto

Chairman of Singapore Raja Garuda Mas International, Tanoto has donated nearly 49 million yuan between October 2005 and December 2006. Chen's donations during the period include: 5 million yuan to a poverty-alleviation project in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province; 3 million yuan to Chinese Language Education Foundation; 5 million yuan to Jiangsu Charity Foundation; 1 million yuan to Jiangsu Overseas Exchanges Association; 1.34 million yuan to Overseas Hearts Project; 658,000 yuan to China Foundation For Poverty Alleviation; 800,000 yuan to disaster-hit area in South China's Guangdong Province; 1 million yuan to typhoon-hit areas in East China's Fujian Province. Until now, Tanoto has donated more than 130 million yuan to the mainland. He says it is his duty to do something for his motherland and as an overseas Chinese, he feels proud as China becomes stronger.

Huang Rulun

President of Century Jin Yuan Group, is among the most generous philanthropists in China. Huang's donations from October 2005 to present accounting for 300 million yuan in total include: 3 million yuan to typhoon-stricken areas in East China's Fujian Province; 3 million yuan to Chinese Workers Development Foundation; 100 million to Jiangxia Medical Relief Fund in Fujian Province; 5 million yuan to Overseas Chinese History Museum; 1 million yuan to Education Foundation of Xiamen No 1 Middle School; 150,000 yuan to a primary school in Lianjiang, Fujian Province; 3.8 million yuan to drought-hit areas in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality; 120 million yuan to Century Jinyuan School in Southwest China's Yunnan Province; 28 million yuan to education projects; 4.6 million yuan to disaster relief projects in Fujian Province; 1 million yuan to China Youth University for Political Sciences.

Li Chunping

Li is regarded as the most legendary and mysterious philanthropist in China. Li says he wants to return the favor he gained from society with donations. Li has donated more than 16.5 million yuan between October 2005 and December 2006. His major donations over the period include: 5.5 million yuan to Beijing Charity Association; 1 million yuan to Beijing Youth Foundation; 10 million yuan to China Red Cross Society; 118,000 yuan to poverty-stricken college students in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province.

Jet Li

After experiencing the tsunami in Southeast Asia in December 2004, action movie star Jet Li started to rethink the value of life. He believes that the value of life lies in what one contributes to others. To him, charity has now become his whole life and acting is just a job. Li has donated 1 million yuan to China Red Cross Society between October 2005 and April 2006 to support the Soul Sunshine Project, which is designed to promote the psychological health of young Chinese people. In December 2006, Li launched the Jet Li One Foundation Project with the Red Cross Society, with the purpose of raising funds for the benefit of those affected by natural disasters. Li encourages each person, each month, to contribute at least 1 yuan to help those people who truly need assistance.

Niu Gensheng

Chairman of Mengniu Diary Group, Niu set up Laoniu Special Foundation in 2005 and has infused 15 million yuan into the foundation. By the end of 2005, the foundation has carried out 11 charity projects in education and poverty alleviation. Niu has announced that he will donate all the shares he owns in Hong Kong-listed Mengniu Diary Group to the foundation after his death. The price of shares that Niu owns is currently 2.5 billion yuan.

Tien Chia-Ping

Tien, who is called the Leatherette King of Hong Kong, is a renowned man of charity. He has donated 76 million yuan since October 2005. Actually, Tien has donated more than 1 billion yuan to the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao over the past two decades. In 1982, Tien donated four office buildings and set up the Tien Chia-Ping Foundation. In 1997, Tien sold out his villa where he had lived for 37 years and moved into a rented apartment. The HK$560 million from the villa's sale has financed a score of middle schools.

Yang Xiu

President of Nanjing Tiandi Group, Yang has been engaged in charity activities for more than 10 years. Yang has financed a large number of education and disaster relief projects. In August 2008, Yang donated 60 million yuan to the Jiangsu Red Cross Society. Yang's company has also taken part in many charity projects and has donated 120 million yuan over the past decade.

Zhu Yulin

Head of Yulin Orphanage in Baishan, a city in Northeast China's Jilin Province. In 1994, Zhu sold out his luxury sedan and several houses and put the money from the sales into the construction of the orphanage. The institution is the largest private-run orphanage in China. Between October 2005 and December 2006, Zhu has supported 56 college students and 269 orphans, and invested nearly 17 million yuan in the operation of the orphanage.

The Best Charitable Model

Albulizi Nulaike

Ten years ago, 64-year-old Abulizi Nulaike in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region found an abandoned baby girl on the side of the road. After failing to find her parents, he took the baby home. Nulaike gave the baby girl to a farmer in his village who wanted to adopt. However, a couple of days later, the farmer gave the baby girl back to Nulaike because the girl did not have an anus. Nulaike, in spite of objections from his family, decided to take care of the poor girl and named her Ayibulake, which means holy and pure in Uygur. Nulaike took the girl to the hospital but doctors could do nothing at that time but create a temporary hole for the release of excrement. Nulaike, with just a small income, endured many difficulties to care for the girl. Finally, in February 2006, the girl had a successful operation at Xinjiang No 2 People's Hospital with the help of the local government. Nulaike was nominated as one of the Most Moving Figures of Xinjiang in 2006.

Fang Jinmei

Fang Jinmei suffers from paraplegia and has had six operations. She cannot stand up and has had to lie in bed since 1988. Fang made 100 bags by herself for 100 children in poverty-stricken regions in 1996 and helped the children find people who wanted to finance their education. In order to help more disabled people, Fang set up a school in Yangpu District, Shanghai, in 1999 to provide free education to children of disabled people. More than 7,000 volunteers from nine universities have taken part in the school and nearly 1,900 children of disabled people have benefited from the project.

Up to now, 1,000-plus children have graduated from Fang's school and entered into colleges and universities.

137 postmen at Rugao Post Office in East China's Jiangsu Province

The group of postmen have helped 216 elderly people without support living in their postal network over the past eight years. They treat the old people as their own parents and help them with daily life. Each of the postmen has taken care of at least one aged person.

Lin Xiuzhen

Lin Xiuzhen is a farmer and runs a small business in Zaoqiang County in North China's Hebei Province. She has taken care of six elderly people without support and adopted a mentally disabled baby who suffers from congenital heart disease. Lin has provided job opportunities to a large number of disabled people and given them faith in living a happy life.

Sun Maofang

Sun Maofang has vowed to do good things in his life and has kept his word in the past 40 years. Sun has taken care of nine elderly people without support and nine disabled people. He has also helped more than 40 strangers who suffer from severe diseases. Every month since 1995, Sun takes 250 yuan from his income to help poor families. He has donated more than 80,000 yuan over the past years.

Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation Taiwan

Tzu Chi Foundation was set up in 1966 in Hualian County in Taiwan Province, East China. It has been engaged in health care, education, environmental protection, bone marrow donation and disaster relief. The funds of Tzu Chi come from public donations; the foundation enjoys a high reputation in the public.

Party branch of armed police in Jiuzhi County, Qinghai Province, Northwest China

The Party branch encouraged its members to finance a local primary school. Armed police of the branch have donated 200,000 yuan in the past years and purchased desks, computers, bags and pencils for the school and its students. They have helped 60 children who had to drop out of school due to financial difficulties go back to school.

Yang Hai

Yang Hai graduated from the English Department of Hunan Normal University and once worked at the US Embassy to China. But 10 years ago, he decided to devote all his time to charity projects. He has raised donations every year from overseas.

He has provided free training for village doctors and built a number of preliminary schools in poor areas. Yang has helped more than 10,000 people. He still lives in a rented, shabby house.

Yu Haibo

Yu Haibo suffers from congenial fragilitas ossium. Her height is just 86 centimeters and her weight is merely 18 kilograms, though she is more than 30 years old. However, she has not only overcome the difficulties brought by her disease, but financed 570 poor children in education over the past seven years. In 1995, Yu set up the first free psychological consulting hotline in Northeast China's Jilin Province. She also offers free lectures and training for disabled people and children from poor families.

Anonymous donators

Jiao Da Party member:Shanghai Charity Foundation has been receiving constant donations with the sign of "Jiao Da Party member" since 1996. The donations by the anonymous donor have reached 191,000 yuan in total over the past decade.

Ping An lady:The lady donated 1.13 million yuan to Shanxi Charity Foundation in 2006 but refused to leave any personal information.

I wish:The man donated 1.58 million yuan to Zhenhai Charity Foundation between 2005 and 2006 without leaving any personal information.

Shunqi Ziran:The person donated 21,000 yuan in 2006 to Zhejiang, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces that were hit by a typhoon. He/she has donated 1.17 million yuan in total to a charity project in Ningbo over the past seven years.

(China Daily 01/20/2007 page8)