The Generous Vegetable Seller.’ This story is very inspiring I hope the story will move people to do their part for the less fortunate of our society.
After the morning hustle and bustle, the atmosphere at Taitung county’s Central Market quietens as every stall shuts for the day and their owners return to the comfort of their homes.
. With head bowed, the other stall owners have fondly given her the title of “market manager”.
In the dark and damp market, Ms Chen, nearing her 60s, holds the stall her father left her dearly. Yuan-Jin Vegetables
With her vegetables selling at “a bundle for NT$30 ($1.30), three bundles for NT$50 ($2.15)″, she earns only marginal profits.
Yet, her frugality has allowed her to donate about NT$10 million ($4321,550) towards various charitable causes, including helping schools, orphanages and poor children.
The selfless generosity of a woman with such humble income has placed her under the international spotlight.
she emerged under the Heroes of Philanthropy category.
Fellow Taiwanese and Oscar- winning director Lee Ang wrote her entry personally.“Money is worthy only if given to those in need,” he quoted Ms Chen. He also wrote: “Amazing, but of all she has given away, her greatest gift is leading by example.”
The local authorities decorated her stall with congratulatory posters and banners hailing her as the Pride of Taitung and the Model of Philanthropy.
There are fans who turn up at the stall with a vegetable basket and a camera, hoping for a picture with Ms Chen.
Despite all the attention, she remains humble. “I have done nothing extraordinary and anyone who wants to can do it. There are many other charitable people; we just don’t know about them,” she said. Ms Chen, who is unmarried, added: “I do not place great importance on money. When I donate to help others, I feel at peace and happy, and I can sleep well at night.”
She also feels for the poor, having experienced hardship in her younger days.
Born in 1950, Ms Chen lost her mother after completing her primary-school education.
Ms Chen saw her father asking their neighbours for money, but it was too late to save her mother. She gave up her studies and dedicated her life to helping at the vegetable stall.
When she was 18, her younger brother fell sick and the illness dragged on for over a year, gradually depleting the family’s savings.
Doctors suggested that the family send her brother to Taiwan National University Hospital, but they could not afford the fees.
SIMPLE LIFE WITHOUT LUXURIES
Assisting in the setting up and maintenance of the fund is Mr Li Guo-rong, who teaches Ms Chen’s nephew.
In 2001,
When he approached Ms Chen, in the hope that she might contribute NT$50,000, Li was shocked when she said she would fund the entire project. The school was sceptical, but Ms Chen was determined.
In May 2005, the two-storey library was completed and named Chen Shu-chu Library in honour of the “Vegetable Market heroine” alumnus.
Ms Chen’s ability to donate such large sums of money has led many to ask: How can a mere vegetable seller earn so much?
“Spend only what you need, and you’ll be able to save up a lot of money!” said Ms Chen.
Since 1996,
To achieve this, she explained that
“This is a simple act that anyone can do, isn’t it?” she said.
Ms Chen leads a very simple life without any luxuries. She does not have any desire for material gain nor any form of enjoyment.
Work, she said, is her enjoyment. “I love my work. If I didn’t, would I be able to work 16 hours a day?”
Everything else is a luxury. She does not buy expensive clothes as “I do not socialise much, hence, there is no need for such beautiful clothes. The clothes from the roadside stalls are good enough for me, and, even then, I like to bargain”.
a bowl of vegetarian rice and a bowl of noodles for NT NT$55. Freeze whatever that cannot be finished, spend another NT$20 on a can of gluten and add that to the rice with some hot water.
“This becomes porridge and is very tasty,” she said.
Since her return from New York, Ms Chen has been working even longer hours. She has a new goal: To collect NT$10 million to set up a Chen Shu-chu Bursary aimed at helping poor children pay for school fees and medical bills, things she could not afford as a child.
“All I need is to sell a few more vegetables, save a little more money, in addition to a number of insurance policies that are near the end of their term. A lot of people are also willing to donate. I am sure there won’t be any problems,” she said.
Mr Li, who treats Ms Chen like a sister, said that setting up the bursary is actually a good way to let her retire from selling vegetables and start influencing society with her reputation, in the hope that there will be more generous “Chen Shu-chus”.
As for Ms Chen, she said: “My philosophy in life is simple: What others say is not important.”
She is content with what she has and feels that as long as she “lives a life she wishes for and does the things she wants, that is good enough”.
The family survived on the parents’ meager income as vegetable vendors.
she became the youngest vendor in Taitung City’s Central Market, selling vegetables ever since for nearly five decades.
. Her brother told Taiwan’s Liberty Times that , and Chen’s sweetheart eventually married someone else. From then, working at her stall in the market to sell vegetables became the main priority of her life.
She said because she had been helped by others in the past, she vowed to also help the poor. She says that’s how she has found happiness, and even when physically challenged, she perseveres to sell vegetables at the market.
“Money serves when it is used for those who need it,” she said in a newspaper account.
When asked why she was so generous in donating her hard-earned money, she said, Life is short, and you don’t know when you will die. I don’t have a son, so what would I do with all the money I have saved? ”
Although Chen has become one of Taiwan’s hottest media stars since she was chosen as a Time magazine 2010 role model, success has not spoiled her. She has asked the media not to hang around, as she wants to get back to her usual routine of selling vegetables in the market right away.
“The point of Chen’s story is that all of 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.
inspired by Chen, . Hu is 88 years old, explaining to reporters that he no longer needs the money.
Chen Shu-chu’s story has great lessons for all of us. It is possible for on the world. Money serves its purpose only when it is used for those who need it.
I am very inspired and humbled by this vegetable seller’s frugality, generosity and most of all her humanity. Her spirit and kindness is what we human beings should aspire to.
