|
Friends launch fundraiser for Chin
Heng-wei
Staff writer, with CNA
Taiwan Hakka Society chairman Chang Yeh-shen
speaks at a press conference in Taipei yesterday to raise funds for columnist
and political commentator Chin Heng-wei.
Photo: CNA
A fundraising initiative was launched yesterday to help
columnist and political commentator Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), who was recently
diagnosed with cancer, fight the illness.
The initiative, which hopes to raise NT$5 million (US$160,000), was launched by
a group of friends to help Chin cover his medical and administrative bills.
Chin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in August and is undergoing treatment.
Friends and acquaintances, including former presidential office
secretary-general Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), Taiwan Association of University
Professors president Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), Northern Taiwan Society director Janice
Chen (陳昭姿), Taiwan Hakka Society chairman Chang Yeh-shen (張葉森), Michelle Wang
(王美琇), an official at the Taiwan Rescue Action Alliance, and Lu Shih-hsiang
(盧世祥), executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Media
Excellence, held a joint press conference in the morning to make the
announcement.
According to Chen Shih-meng, Chin has been involved in publishing the
intellectual magazine Contemporary Monthly and has invested much of his money
keeping the publication in circulation, even selling his house to finance it.
Chin began to feel physically tired in June, but it was not until August that he
was diagnosed with cancer.
Chin had often been criticized for his political views and has been subject in
the past to unimaginable pressure from the pan-blue camp, Chen Shih-meng said.
He has also refused to pay compensation in a court case against him and has had
his credit cards and bank accounts frozen as a result.
Chen Shih-meng said that in the many years the two had worked together, Chin has
always proven to be a selfless individual who has devoted himself to making
Taiwan a freer, more democratic country.
Wang said that Chin was a very strong character and that she fully expected him
to fight the illness all the way.
|
