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UPDATED: June 14, 2008 NO. 25 JUN. 19, 2008
Do Public Lists Showing Quake Donations by the Rich Serve a Purpose?
No price on love
 
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The dust is slowly settling after the Sichuan quake and as restructuring work gets into full swing, the billions of yuan in donations is slowly finding their way to the victims on the ground. Along with the money, has come a new phenomenon. A ream of lists showing how much money Chinese celebrities and wealthy business people have donated are now freely available on the Internet and the subject of much attention by a critical public, seemingly eager to pass judgment.

Rockets star center Yao Ming, who has topped the Forbes' list of Chinese celebrity earners for five consecutive years, is said in the listing to have earned $55 million in 2007, but his first donation to the quake-hit zone was 500,000 yuan ($72,000), a figure that was immediately pounced upon by Internet users for being inadequate in relation to his earnings. Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang, along with his coach, together donated 500,000 yuan ($72,480) and were also criticized.

It seems that well-known domestic estate magnates are also being criticized as anything but generous philanthropists. Vanke, a leading Chinese property developer, contributed 2.2 million yuan ($317,878), far less than its 4.8 billion yuan ($694 million) net profits of 2007, say critics.

The growing number of people in favor of the exposure of what was donated by the rich and famous believe the more people earn, the more they should give.

Pressured by intensive media exposure, Vanke Group announced an additional investment worth 1 billion yuan ($145 million) in public funds for the affected areas, while Yao raised his donation to 2 million yuan ($289,000), and Liu contributed another 3 million yuan ($433,500).

Some strongly oppose the lists, which, in their view, can be major tools for "moral blackmail." They argued that love should never be measured by money. It may be true that star celebrities are wealthier than average workers, but as far as charity is concerned, how much you own has no direct link with how much you give, say opponents.

More importantly, the spreading of incorrect donation lists will ruin the reputation of celebrities or taint well-known brands. For example, some foreign-funded companies, listed as small donors, are later proved to have donated tens of millions of yuan. Worse still, lists that were not regularly updated do not include additional contributions of entrepreneurs and celebrities.

The more, the better

Chun Hua (Zhujiang Evening News): People's love, no matter big or small, should be cherished, rather than measured. But larger relief funds can help more. At least in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, it demands much more to bridge the huge financial gap for massive relief and rebuilding work.

Lists of comparison are not certainly wrong, but could highly boost donation efforts to help more affected, and in turn bring in more donations.

If love and care continue, and charity is rewarded, active social response will be seen. If the Chinese had not been moved and inspired, how could we receive civilian donations amounting to almost tens of billions in less than half a month.

Song Guifang (hlj.rednet.cn): In a society ruled by law, compelling charity or moral blackmail is not allowed. The authorities and media supervision are attaching growing significance to protecting the enthusiasm of people in engaging in charity or volunteer work.

Though all donations are of equal value, no matter how large or small, it is improper to use this principle when facing enormous disasters, particularly the one in Sichuan. Some say that, being charitable brings a spiritual joy, which cannot be measured by money. The first and the last runner in a race deserve equal respect. But it is not the same in Sichuan, where rebuilding of devastated homes demands much more relief funds.

Ye Tan (Jiefang Daily): So far, several donation lists have been set up to assess earthquake relief efforts among the rich, entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Though donation is voluntary, at this hard time when Sichuan is severely damaged, lists of such kind will inspire more donations to help victims overcome difficulties.

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