Perpetual hunger and starvation will never cease in the world until people realise that love is meant to be dispersed. This reality is yet to eat deep into the world but a number of persons have already begun to run with this mindset.
Speaking of those with this unique mindset, Taiwanese model and actress Lin Chi-ling once said “I have grown up in love, it would be a wonderful thing if I could give love and care to those who are ill.”
These are not just mere words put together to create an emotional feeling but an expression of a burning desire which is already being expressed through acts of goodwill. Lin Chi-ling is the only celebrity who made it to Forbes Magazine’s list of 40 Asian “Heroes of Philanthropy” for 2018. Her emergence on the list was hinged on her selfless donations to help humanity including building homes for the less fortunate.
According to Forbes, it had been looking for individual philanthropists who gave from their own personal fortune, not through company funds, and out of the 40 Asians chosen, Lin Chi-ling stood out as one of the persons who gave their personal funds.
Chi-ling was born on the 29 November 1974 in Taipei, Taiwan, she had her early education at Taipei Municipal Zhongzheng Junior High School. She later attended Bishop Strachan School in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and then attended the University of Toronto.
After graduating from the university, Lin returned to Taiwan to pursue a career in fine art in order to get a position at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Unfortunately, she was not given because she did not have a postgraduate degree in the field. However, when she was 15 years she was discovered by model talent scout Lin Chien-huan. So she continued to model part-time before leaving the industry and working as an administrative assistant for the Fubon Cultural and Educational Foundation. In 2000, Lin left Fubon and spent three months studying in Japan, then returned to Taiwan and modeling, with Catwalk Production House.
She was invited to model in a television advertisement in Hong Kong in 2002, which blew the internet and attracted attention and interest on Chi-ling. In 2003, a notable television producer Ge Hongfu offered Chi-ling a position as hostess of a fashion program on Shanghai Oriental Television. In 2004, she starred in a broad series of advertisements in Taiwan that included big giant building-size posters, billboards, and television commercials. And in a twinkle of an eye, rose to the top of the industry and became an instant celebrity model. Her rise to fame initiated a Taiwanese craze for supermodels, an effect commentators named “The Lin Chi-ling Phenomenon”
Her popularity grew throughout the rest of 2004, as she began modeling in Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese advertisements, and continued when she began doing Japanese advertisements in 2005. From 2004 to 2006, Chi-ling served as Taiwan’s goodwill ambassador to the Japan Tourism Association. She has had numerous roles in television over her time as a model, being the host of TVBS-G LA Mode News, TVBS-G Fashion Track, the Golden Melody Awards and the Top Chinese Music Chart Awards in 2005.
After a long period of time of engaging in showbiz, the Taiwanese charity angel has now dedicating part of her life to giving back to society. In 2011, she established a charity organization called the Chiling Charity Foundation which supports child welfare through its provision of access to quality education and medication.
According to Forbes, Lin has given at least US$3.2 million (NT$98.8 million) for charity purposes. About half went to disadvantaged children or emergency relief projects in Taiwan, with Lin auctioning off her used wardrobe and selling charity calendars to raise the funds. she has donated the other half of the total to China’s Nest-Building Fund to build dormitories for schoolchildren in remote parts of the country, Forbes reported. Recently, she told the media about her intentions to build more dormitories.
She claims to be imprinting a mark that will continue to exist after she is gone which was inspired from the words of a cancer-stricken friend, who asked her, “How would you like to be remembered after you’re gone?”
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