Chapter 499 A Person Who Benefits the People
Spending money to heal one's mood is probably a wasteful way of doing things that anyone who sees it would condemn, but who made Lin Weimin rich?
In recent years, the most widely circulated rumor about Lin Weimin in the domestic literary circles is his wealth, and even many ordinary people talk about it with relish.
This time, he donated 37 million RMB to the China Youth Education Development Foundation. After being reported by the "Xinwen Broadcast" and many national media, it became a hot topic across the country in just a few days.
Suddenly, someone donated tens of millions of dollars to support education. The general reaction of the people to this matter was amazement and admiration.
Lin Weimin is a well-known writer in China with tens of millions of readers. Even if most Chinese people have not read his works, they have heard of his name.
Especially in recent years, Lin Weimin has won many awards overseas for his works, bringing glory to the country more than once, and making the people at home deeply impressed and full of goodwill towards him.
In many people's minds, there is only one thing that distinguishes Lin Weimin from those world-famous writers.
He became famous too early. In the words of his fans, his blooming period was a bit long.
Other writers live in the hearts of their readers, but it is very likely that he will outlive his readers while still being alive and well.
Now that Lin Weimin has spent 37 million yuan to support the country's education cause, countless ordinary people who have seen the news reports have more than just a favorable impression of him.
With this much money, how many children in poor areas can be helped to go to school?
This is a great and beneficial thing, and everyone who saw the report praised Lin Weimin's contribution.
Buddha comes to every family!
After the first few national media reported on the incident, various local media followed up with reports, and news about the "China Youth Education Development Foundation", "Project Hope" and "Lin Weimin" emerged one after another.
Among them, the Shanghai media praised Lin Weimin's generosity and called him "China's No. 1 Philanthropist". This title was soon reprinted and used by other media and aroused praise and admiration from the general public.
In the 1980s, there was no concept of "public welfare" and "charity" in China, and the only few foundations were all established by government departments.
Since the reform and opening up, wealthy people from Hong Kong and overseas have made donations from time to time.
For example, Hong Kong's "Asian Shipping King" Pao Yue-kong donated 20 million US dollars to the mainland through his acquaintances in 1979. Ten million of them were used to build a modern tourist hotel in BJ, and the other ten million were used to build a modern library at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
There is also Huo Dongge from Hong Kong, who spent nearly 10 million US dollars to build the five-star White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou.
Under the official propaganda, ordinary people are not unfamiliar with these things.
But Lin Weimin's situation is very different from these people.
First of all, in terms of identity, the vast majority of donors in the past were wealthy businessmen from Hong Kong and overseas, capitalists. At that time, whether or not to accept the money donated by these people was a question worthy of discussion by the government and the public.
In the late 1970s, Pao Yue-Kong wanted to donate 20 million US dollars to the country, but it was finally accepted after the approval of that leader.
Lin Weimin is not a wealthy businessman, he is a scholar and a writer. From an ideological point of view, his money is much cleaner than those of the capitalists. Chinese people have always been tolerant and friendly towards such wealth.
Then there is the wealth level of both sides. Those wealthy businessmen who donated money to the country are all extremely wealthy. The amount of their donations is not a drop in the bucket of their own wealth, but it is certainly not something that will break their bones.
In comparison, Lin Weimin's 30 million yuan is likely to be half of his net worth, or even the vast majority of it. Such a donation can be regarded as a charitable act.
Finally, the purpose of the donation is. It is not ruled out that those wealthy businessmen who donate money to the country have patriotic sentiments, but it is difficult to convince the public that they are purely motivated by patriotism. After all, when the country was in the most difficult times, no wealthy businessman was willing to lend a helping hand.
What is Lin Weimin's purpose in donating money?
The common people thought about it for a long time and felt that he could only be named.
But isn’t his fame big enough? Official recognition, media coverage, and the praise of ordinary people are just icing on the cake.
A flood of reports caught the attention of the people. One of the reports in Shanghai's Wenhui Daily quoted words written by the great man.
“A person’s ability may be great or small, but as long as he has this spirit, he is a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, a person who is free from vulgar tastes, and a person who is beneficial to the people.”
Countless people were filled with emotion when they read these words. The words written by the old man in "In Memory of Norman Bethune" probably describe a person like Lin Weimin!
The endless reports from various outside media outlets had little impact on Lin Weimin, other than ordinary people discussing it more. However, the impact on the China Youth Education Development Foundation and Hope Primary Schools was enormous.
This foundation, which was established less than a month ago, and its upcoming charity projects have been reported by many media outlets across the country and have become well known to the general public in a short period of time. After seeing related reports in various media, many people contacted the foundation by writing letters or making phone calls.
Some people inquired in detail about the use of the donated funds, some asked about the construction plan of the Hope Primary School, and some people directly remitted the money...
In the first half month of the media bombardment, the China Youth Education Development Foundation raised more than 3 million yuan in donations.
Although this number is not much compared to the previous fundraising figures, it is of great significance because all of these donations come from ordinary people. This largely represents public opinion and the recognition of the people for the foundation and the Hope Project.
After receiving public approval, the foundation could not wait to hold its first formal meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to formulate various regulations and standards for building Hope Primary Schools and to determine the sites for the first batch of Hope Primary Schools across the country.
Lin Weimin attended the meeting as the honorary president of the foundation. The foundation has drafted a set of standards for the construction of Hope Primary Schools during this period. The more important significance of today's meeting is to set the tone for the construction of Hope Primary Schools in the future.
In addition to Lin Weimin and the cadres and staff of the foundation, also attending the meeting are reporters from many newspapers such as People's Daily, Farmers' Daily, and China Youth Daily. These reporters will witness the entire process of the birth of China's first batch of Hope Primary Schools.
At the meeting, the site selection principles for Hope Primary Schools sparked heated discussions.
China has a land area of 9.6 million square kilometers and a population of 1.1 billion. Among these regions, a considerable part of the economy is still below the poverty line, and a considerable number of people are still worried about food and clothing.
The amount of donations raised by the foundation is limited and it is impossible to give it all in one go. If that were the case, no amount of money would be enough, so the site selection and construction of Hope Primary Schools must be targeted.
Many comrades involved had two different opinions on the choice of Hope Primary School.
One group believes that resources should be allocated as much as possible to truly poor areas, because these areas are the ones that lack and need education the most.
The other group believes that limited resources should be allocated as much as possible to those places that can afford to send their children to school, because only in this way can the establishment of Hope Primary Schools be worthwhile. Otherwise, it would be a joke if the Hope Primary Schools built with the hard-earned money of the people were left vacant because there was no money to attend.
Both sides had their own reasons and the argument was heated.
Finally, with the strong support of Honorary President Lin Weimin, the first batch of sites for Hope Primary Schools were officially determined.
There are a total of 10 Hope Primary Schools in this first batch, all of which are concentrated in the "Three West" regions where economic development is obviously backward and the poor population is relatively concentrated, namely the central arid region represented by Dingxi in GS Province, the Hexi region and the Xihaigu arid region in Ningxia.
“I know some comrades don’t understand. They think we should choose schools in areas with relatively better conditions, where people are more willing to send their children to school, and our Hope Primary Schools will be more valuable.
In the places we chose, the people are so poor that they can barely afford to eat, let alone go to school! How can they afford to go to school? "
In his final summary speech, Lin Weimin's words were a bit vulgar, and laughter broke out in the conference room.
Lin Weimin also showed a cheerful smile on his face, and then his face gradually became serious.
“But, my comrades, it is precisely because we are so poor that we must develop education even more.
Without knowledge and culture, can one get out of poverty and become rich just by strength? Can one live a good life just by hard work?
China has been poor and weak for a hundred years. Is it because our ancestors were not strong enough or hardworking enough? Is there any nation in the world that is more hardworking than the Chinese people? "
Lin Weimin's question was deafening. The smiles on the participants' faces disappeared, replaced by solemn and depressed emotions.
“The worse the conditions are, the poorer they are, the more we need to promote education. We want to enable those children in the mountainous areas, whose ancestors have been worried about having enough food to eat, to learn useful knowledge and use knowledge to broaden their horizons.
Only in this way will they have the opportunity and ability to change poverty in themselves and their hometowns.
Our Hope Primary School aims to give hope and future to those children who cannot even get enough food to eat!
Comrades, no matter how poor we are, we must not be poor in education! "
Lin Weimin's voice was passionate and powerful. As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the conference room spontaneously burst into warm applause. Everyone looked at him with excited expressions and excited eyes.
That’s right, no matter how poor you are, you must not be poor in education!
This is the significance of the birth of Hope Primary School!
The emotions of the foundation staff were completely aroused by Lin Weimin's impassioned speech. This group of people were eager to rush to the poorest and most difficult areas of the motherland to build their ideal Hope Primary School right away.
The reporters were equally excited. They did not even bother to applaud and instead wrote down Lin Weimin's inspiring speech. These words must be published in newspapers so that people all over China can see them.
The applause lasted for a long time, and everyone wanted to clap their hands until they turned red and broken, to show their agreement and recognition of what was said.
Lin Weimin waved his hands several times and finally stopped the applause. He waited for everyone's emotions to calm down. He swept his eyes over everyone and then slowly said a word.
Everyone present looked at him in shock, and the conference room, which had been lively and noisy just a moment ago, suddenly fell silent.
(End of this chapter)
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