Tzu Chi has admitted errors; it's time for compassion

Want China Times, Editorial 2015-03-22

The location of Tzu Chi's controversial land
development project in Taipei's Neihu district,
Feb. 5. (Photo/Chao Shuang-chieh)

Under attack for over a month, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation recently announced that it will withdraw a land development project in Taipei's Neihu district, will expand the reorganization of its boards of directors and supervisors, will make public its donations and will take all comments from the general public into consideration. The announcement has still failed however to quench the criticism and doubt from internet users and media outlets.

If the press conference at which the announcement was made is recognized as crisis management by Tzu Chi, the biggest image crisis ever suffered by Taiwan's biggest charity organization has yet to be resolved.

Over the past month, Tzu Chi has come under sustained attack with regard to its Neihu development project and was also ordered by a court to tear down fences it had set up on an industrial plot in of land in New Taipei's Xindian district without prior approval from a competent management committee. Furthermore, the foundation was also accused of violating the Building Administration Act by setting up railings around its dormitory, also in Xindian, disregarding a requirement for reserving an open space as set in a floor area incentive. These scandals became prime news, indicating that local media have reversed their past practice of downplaying negative controversies associated with the charity, which is seen is an international flagbearer among Taiwan's NGOs.

It appears to have become open season for internet users to launch emotional attacks on Tzu Chi with all manner of allegations with not-necessarily reliable information. Seizing on the online allegations, media pundits have piled in to criticize Tzu Chi in a manner akin to a witch hunt. In recent days, there have emerged further internet "revelations" alleging that Tzu Chi has funneled a huge amount of charity donations into buying "barrier funds" from an oil and gas company, a weapons maker and a tobacco supplier, among others.

Tzu Chi clearly has much to reflect upon. Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je recently called it "strange" that Tzu Chi had bought a parcel of land in an environmentally protected zone in Neihu, causing Buddhist Master Shih Chao-hwei to defend the charity and criticize Ko for not knowing the long history of the project. Shih's criticism was deemed an "overreaction" to Ko's remarks and was met with heavy attacks from Ko's supporters on the internet.

It is as if Tzu Chi, long immersed in the admiring praise of its supporters, has been complacent and is stunned by the flak it is now attracting. Tzu Chi has become a multinational NGO with branches around the world, with assets that can match any conglomerate in Taiwan. In addition, the foundation absorbs almost half of social welfare donations on the island, owns media outlets, a hospital and a university as well as related industrial chains; it boasts global financial deployments, all of which have sidestepped supervision by legislative and executive bodies.

When the Ting Hsin tainted cooking oil scandal erupted last year, Tzu Chi came under attack from internet users for its close ties to the Wei family that own the group and for failing to remove its Wei-Chuan foods. Tzu Chi should have sensed then that its public standing was not as good as it had believed.

From a Buddhist viewpoint, this disapproval partly results from the "karma" created by the foundation itself. If Tzu Chi can gratefully accept all the comments and criticisms from the public and carry out adjustments in response, it will mark a new beginning of a goodness cycle.

Tzu Chi's long-term efforts in providing disaster relief worldwide shouldn't be ignored. Although there may be issues concerning its management and operation, it is not necessary to make the charity a public enemy out of cynicism and spite.