"too ostentatious" charity

• sinweiy

  1 Mar 11, 09:26

  what u think of "too ostentatious" charity ?

  about "high profile" and "low profile" charity?

   

  Chen Guangbiao, China's top philanthropist,
  and over 50 mainland entrepreneurs are in Taiwan,
  distributing 500 million New Taiwan dollars to the poor.
  His red envelops set off an uproar on the entire island.
  Taiwan's Pan-Green Coalition questions them for
  not helping out their poor fellow mainlanders.
  Their coming to Taiwan to donate money in a
  high-profile way is obviously
  for the Communist Party's united front.
  
  The ex-chair of the Taiwan Bar Association,
  Attorney Tsang Shiu Cheong said, in mainland China,
  150 million live below the poverty line,
  the regime should raise national income for them.
  DPP legislators criticize Chen's high-profile trip
  as part of the implementation of the "Three-In" policy
  promoted by Hu Jintao on United Front, i.e.
  "into the island, into homes and into the brain."
  
  Legislator Huang Sue-Ying pointed out,
  Chinese regime is using the united front
  to win over low-incomers, by giving small benefits.
  Low-income families are misled into believing that
  if Taiwan is reunified with China, they may get rich.
  Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities will say in China
  that Taiwan's economy is bad and people are poor.
  
  Legislator Wu Yu-Sheng pointed out that
  out of all Taiwanese philanthropists, charities,
  businesses and religious groups donating to China,
  for disaster relief, school construction or poverty relief,
  no one has ever been in such a high-profile way.
  
  Legislator Chen Ting-Fei:
  Taiwanese people do good deeds almost every day,
  but have we heard their names? Do we know them?
  No. They are doing good deeds quietly.
  
  Chen went to Taoyuan County to donate on Jan 30,
  but didn't see throngs of residents asking for money.
  Previously, many residents sparked controversies
  by blocking the road to ask for his red envelopes.
  Chen gave 10 million Taiwanese dollars to
  the Taoyuan County Bureau of Social Affairs.
  However, Chen said low-key philanthropy is like
  "suffering in silence without sympathy."
  
  Legislator Shuai Hua-ming: I think the local charities
  and governments should know who needs help.
  It is good to distribute systematically through them.
  
  Taiwanese news network Southern News reported,
  Hurun Research Institute, well-known for its
  "China Rich Report," just released its 2nd report.
  12 years after its release of its first China Rich List,
  24 "problematic rich people" have been sacked,
  including the former richest man, Huang Guangyu.
  Most of them were arrested for bribery and/or fraud.
  
  The publisher Hoogewerf doesn't think there is
  a causal relationship between being listed or sacked.
  The report reads: "The pigs that are doomed will die,
  regardless of being listed or not."
  However, "the important question is,
  what did these fat pigs eat,
  which made them so fragile in the end? "
  
  South News says, in China, politics is everything.
  The so-called tax evasion, capital market problems
  or bribery are just excuses to strike down the rich,
  who don't obey the Chinese government's orders.
  The real reason behind their arrests is
  not maintaining proper political relations,
  not sharing wealth with the powerful
  or not serving the powerful people's political needs.
  Chen's distributing money in Taiwan is for united front
  and serving the political needs of the Communist Party.
  
  NTD reporter Wang Ziqi
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3phMQCRFnRw

• realization

  1 Mar 11, 11:55

  High profile deeds of charity have the benefit of encouraging more people to also contribute in their own way.  It further gives publicity to the needs of the less fortunate in society.  And, in a twisted way, it breeds competition among the rich to give more than their contemporaries *lol*.  I suppose this would benefit those at the receiving end of the donations.

  The disadvantages of ostentatious charity are that it breeds vanity and calculativeness.  "If I do good deeds, I want it to be in the public eye, because otherwise, how will people know that I'm magnanimous?"  If good deeds are not done from the heart, it's intent is discounted.

  In the above scenario - but not really within the scope of our discussion - it seems as if the high profile donations are politically motivated as well.  It serves the Chinese Communist Party's needs to highlight China's increasing affluence vis-à-vis Taiwan's declining/stagnating economic situation.  Charity in this case has become a political tool. 

• sinweiy

  1 Mar 11, 14:44

  yea there's some politic involve there in the example.

  �德 - yes, 功德 - no, unless there's really no self involve even if it's high profile.

  QUOTE:

  On the 1st October, 527, at the invitation of Emperor Liang Wu Di, Bodhidharma went to his capital in Nanjing. Emperor Wu Di was very fond of Buddhism and often wore Buddhist garments, ate vegetarian food and recited Buddhist prayers. However, he was proud of his great support for Buddhism in his kingdom.
  Proud of his knowledge in Buddhism and the contributions he had towards the Sangha, he asked the sage, "Since I came to the throne, I have built many temples, published numerous scriptures and supported countless monks and nuns. How great is the merit in all these?"
  "No merit to speak of" was the shocking reply of Bodhidharma.
  Now, the emperor thought, he had often heard teachings from renowned masters who said, "Do good, and you will receive good; do bad and you will receive bad. The Law of Cause and Effect is unchangeable, effects follow causes as shadows follow figures." But now, this sage declared that he had earned no merit at all. Thus, the emperor was thoroughly perplexed.
  The emperor had failed to understand the sage's words which means that one is not really practising the Buddhadharma if one does good with the desire to gain merit for oneself. It will be more like satisfying one's own ego, or promoting one's own welfare, or even for the sake of being recognised and appreciated by the public.
  http://www.purifymind.com/BodhiDharmaChan.htm

   

  /\

• Amitayus48

  1 Mar 11, 14:55

  Any volunteers of donations in kind that benefit the less fortunate in any society are strongly encouraged and kudos examples.

  

   

• realization

  1 Mar 11, 14:58

  Originally posted by Amitayus48:

  Any volunteers of donations in kind that benefit the less fortunate in any society are strongly encouraged and kudos examples.

  

   

  Can you elaborate on this?

• Wiser

  1 Mar 11, 15:37

  aiya...Taiwan loses face , is it ? make so much noise about the poor in China.

   

  Then Taiwanese should return the favour and go to China to help the poverty there.  Any Taiwanese millionaires to do that?

  In this case, those who benefited directly from the China millionares ang pows will be grateful for any help.

  The rest shouting beside the deeds are just bringing in Politics, PRs, China-Taiwan Relations for empty talks.  And an obvious lost of face case.

   

  The poor only worry about tomorrow, their next meal and daily expenses, why should they bother is this a political hidden motive or not.

  Try asking Taiwanese millionares to hand out ang pows and then ask the China nationals poor to vote for independant Taiwan, do you think they will do so ?

   

   

   

• realization

  3 Mar 11, 20:58

  Originally posted by sinweiy:

   

  �德 - yes, 功德 - no, unless there's really no self involve even if it's high profile.

  So would you say that a person like Liao Fan gained �德, but not 功德 because he was doing good deeds for the purpose of changing his own destiny?
  

• Wiser

  4 Mar 11, 02:25

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  永�楼�笔之五──《术数与异象》

  more stories from

  http://www.fosss.org/fengfeng/Index.html

   

• sinweiy

  4 Mar 11, 08:55

  Originally posted by realization:

  So would you say that a person like Liao Fan gained �德, but not 功德 because he was doing good deeds for the purpose of changing his own destiny?
  

   

  in the beginning, yea, as he gain career and family...but later, when he start to understand more, and start to think less of himself, it became 功德. think he at the later part of his life, he practice Nianfo and reborn in PL.

  /\

• sinweiy

  4 Mar 11, 09:05

  recently i heard in radio, Chen Guangbiao change the name of his family to advocate saving the environment .His name change to Chen Di Tan(less charcoal), his wife and children all change to environment friendly name, but i cannot recall. he said he's going to ride bicycle to work and if people caught him drove a car, and told a photo as an evidence, he would pay him/her 10000rmb.

• realization

  4 Mar 11, 10:34

  Originally posted by sinweiy:

   

  in the beginning, yea, as he gain career and family...but later, when he start to understand more, and start to think less of himself, it became 功德. think he at the later part of his life, he practice Nianfo and reborn in PL.

  /\

  OK.