(LI SHIGONG)

Recently, a picture posted online attracted netizens' attention. Beside a sick girl in bed were piles of money a philanthropist had donated for curing the girl's disease. The picture triggered hot debate over whether high-profile charity should be advocated in China.

Li Chunping, a philanthropist, read in a newspaper the girl needed money for a serious disease as her family was very poor. He ran to the hospital the next day with 300,000 yuan ($46,920) in cash and gave the money directly to the poor girl.

Li is not the first philanthropist widely questioned for ostentatious altruism. Chen Guangbiao, dubbed the "No.1 philanthropist in China," has also been criticized for being a self-publicist when making charitable donations. Each time he donated money, he appeared in the headlines of newspapers and websites. He claimed he was making these donations to directly push forward China's charitable undertakings.

Supporters of high-profile charity think donations should be tangible like this and put directly into the hands of needy people. As long as poor people are helped in time, it should be advocated no matter if the charity is high- or low-profile. Besides, intermediary agencies for charity are suffering from crises of trust. Therefore, people have no choice but to contribute cash directly.

On the other hand, opponents say, high-profile charity is purely self-publicizing behavior and a showing off of wealth. Charity shouldn't be condescending behavior but should establish an equal relationship between donors and the needy.

Supporters

Le Liang (bbs.tiexue.net): The contributions of self-publicizing philanthropists, such as Li and Chen, are unquestionable. Their charitable deeds have brought hope to people in poverty. So we don't have to care about their motives, fame or charity. I wish more people like Li and Chen would stand up to provide greater strength for China's charities.

Hu Juan (www.tianya.cn): High-profile charity is at least better than conscienceless philanthropists who give out only empty promises and rubber checks. Instead of criticizing the style of the charitable deeds, we should think about why their money wasn't given to charity organizations and agencies. Due to the imperfect charity industry in China, philanthropists can only go directly to needy people when they want to extend a helping hand.

Feng Xiaogang (news.dayoo.com): We shouldn't only see the motives of their donation but also see the good results. Do they really donate money or just give out rubber checks? Is the effect of helping poor people achieved? Even if they do display ostentatious altruism, we should allow people to brag about their good deeds.

I don't think there is anything wrong with high-profile charity. Who said charity should only be low-profile?

Nowadays, if rich people don't donate money, they will be criticized as being stingy. If they donate too much money, they will be criticized as being ostentatious. This is really not good for the healthy development of China's charitable undertakings.

People argue the high-profile approach could be used for self-publicity and advertising. I think that donating money to poor people to gain fame and popularity is much better than pouring money into advertisements on TV or the Internet for fame and popularity. If all enterprises poured their money into helping poor people for publicity, poor people would be more than happy to accept it.