By Lai Li-chun
Translated by Teresa Chang
Photos by Lin Feng-chi


They offered to clean the restrooms in the company so as to earn money to sponsor a hospital. Over the years, their persistence has won them acclaim from the company and attention from the media.


Janitors in Taiwan are usually middle-aged women. But in the case of the Land Administration Office in Nantze, Kaohsiung County, the janitors are two gentlemen, Chen Tsung-che and Yeh Chiu-sung.

Actually, they are also land surveyors at the Land Administration Office. For four years, they have been cleaning the restrooms on the fourth and fifth floors during lunch breaks every day. Their deeds have been much praised by everyone in the office.

Let us clean the toilets

Four years ago, Chen and Yeh learned that Tzu Chi needed funds for the construction of the Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital. Coincidentally, the janitor of this office building resigned, so Chen and Yeh went to the director of general affairs and said enthusiastically, "Please let us have this job. We want to donate the money we earn to Tzu Chi and to serve our colleagues at the same time."

"Are you serious?" exclaimed the director. "Yes, we're very serious, we will definitely try our best!" Seeing their determination, the director finally consented.

Indeed, they did need to try their best because the restrooms had not been thoroughly cleaned for a long time. Thick layers of yellow grime, which Chen described as stalactites, stuck to the toilet bowl. It took them a great deal of effort and time to finally scrub the restrooms clean and shiny. Yeh said that sometimes when people did not aim accurately, they had to pinch their noses, tolerate the stench, and sweep the "objects" into the toilet bowl.

Their effort paid off. "These can't be our restrooms," exclaimed some colleagues. Many thought that they had walked into the wrong place when they saw the unfamiliarly clean restroom. After learning that Chen and Yeh were the men behind the scenes, some asked out of curiosity, "Are you two in financial difficulty?" After hearing their story, many gave them a thumbs-up.

Yeh said that cleaning a restroom sounds like an easy task, but it takes much courage to do such work, especially for male professionals like them. "When we clean the lady's room, we always worry that people might suspect that we are peeping Toms. So we clean during lunchtime, when fewer people are using the room. If we see ladies coming, we leave the room before they even enter."

"Hey you, I need toilet paper. Give me a roll!" Visitors often mistake them for janitors, and some yell at them rudely. "Hey, watch what you're doing with that water! Don't get my shoes wet." Once Yeh received a bad tongue-lashing from a ferocious woman. "I really wanted to yell back at her, but I swallowed my anger for I reminded myself that I'm doing this job for Tzu Chi."

Their daily tasks include scrubbing toilet bowls and urinals, mopping the floor and clearing away the trash, yet their combined monthly pay for this work is only NT$6,000 [US$200]. And they need to pay NT$1,000 to the janitor who hauls away the trash at night. Although they receive so little and must still face so many setbacks, the ideas of sponsoring a hospital and serving their colleagues keep them going.

Recycling

They have also been mindfully promoting resource recycling in the seven-story building. They put labeled recycling bins on each floor and handed out promotion fliers. Despite their efforts, many people still treat the recycling bins as ordinary trash cans. Some even spit in the bins, so that Chen and Yeh have to wash them after work. However they still say, "As long as we continue our work, we're sure more people will understand the importance of recycling. Then, fewer resources in the world will be wasted."

Every day after cleaning the restrooms, they push a baby carriage to each floor, collect recyclable items, push them to a Tzu Chi recycling station nearby, and help sort the materials. Only then do they go home and have dinner.

Not only do Chen and Yeh clean restrooms, they have tried to make the working environment a more pleasant place. They asked friends to write inspiring quotes with beautiful Chinese calligraphy to hang in the restrooms and outside the elevator.

Their years of charitable acts have impressed and motivated many colleagues. For example one colleague, Meng Hsien-ju, volunteered to helped at the Tzu Chi recycling station and to visit households to collect recyclable items. "The first few times I saw them hustling around in the building, I thought it rather weird. But later when I heard they were promoting environmental protection and donating all the income to Tzu Chi, I decided to join them."

Colleagues have joined them and supervisors have praised them, and Cheng Chuan-lin, chief director of the office, has encouraged workers to learn from them.

A better person

In the eyes of their colleagues, they are really good guys. They clean restrooms and do recycling, and they even bought raincoats and umbrellas for colleagues who often went out to visit clients.

Chen said Tzu Chi turned him into a Mr. Good Guy. His partner Yeh joked, "The truth is, in the eyes of colleagues he used to be Mr. Bad Guy." Chen confessed that he used to see smoking, drinking and gambling as his best pals. He often stayed out all night and would skip work in order to play mahjong. His wife had asked him to change, but he always turned a deaf ear to her, which enraged his wife. Because he paid no heed to her, she often phoned the police to try to talk some sense into him. One day a friend introduced him to Yang Mei-jen, a Tzu Chi commissioner. She asked him whether he wanted to do good deeds or not. Cheng replied offhandedly, Sure, why not?"

"Just by donating NT$500 to Tzu Chi every month, you'll be able to help many poor people."

"Tzu Chi? What is Tzu Chi?" asked Chen. After hearing Mei-jen's explanation and reading an article on environmental protection in the Tzu Chi biweekly newsletter, he began to participate in the foundation's recycling activities. The more he participated, the more he learned, and the more he identified with Tzu Chi. Then he began thinking of becoming a member.

One day he went to the house of Tzu Chi member Shih Yu-yi to see if he could apply to join. That day was a blazing hot mid-summer day, and Chen expected Shih to be in his air-conditioned home. To his surprise, Shih's wife said he had gone out to collect recyclable items. Chen looked at his watch--it was two o'clock, the hottest moment of the day! Shih's devotion to the foundation made Chen more determined to join.

Spread the good word

Chen also invited his friend Yeh to join Tzu Chi. Yeh, who identified with Tzu Chi's beliefs, agreed right away. In 1993, they both became Tzu Chi members. Since then, they have been doing recycling during their spare time after work and on days off.

Chen used to see house chores as women's work, but after he joined Tzu Chi he started to help his wife do the dishes and laundry every day. One day his mother-in-law saw him doing the chores, and she could not believe her eyes. As for Chen's wife, who used to hold grudges against her husband, she can now proudly say, "My husband does the dishes for me every day!" The two children are also happy, because their father quit smoking and the air at home is no longer polluted. At work Chen changed his bad habit of frequently taking time off, and he became a very diligent worker. His change won recognition from his supervisor.

Yeh used to be very introverted and unsociable. Now he has made a lot of good friends, and because of his hard work he has become fit and is no longer always on medicine.

A while ago, reporters lined up to interview the two men on their famous cleaning story. The were surprised by the media attention and said, "Actually, compared to what other Tzu Chi people are doing, what we do is nothing. We're very thankful for this opportunity to contribute." Having said that, they smiled, rolled up their sleeves, and resumed their cleaning.