From America, Canada, Australia and South Africa to other parts of the world, you frequently see groups of people wearing blue shirts, white trousers and yellow vests, appearing wherever people need help. Wherever they are, their faces always radiate love.

Free Service Round the Clock

On a sight-seeing voyage to Alaska, 70-year-old Mr. Cheng became seriously ill. The captain hurriedly docked the boat and sent the old man to a hospital. When they heard the bad news, Mr. Cheng's two sons flew in from Taiwan. After two days in the ICU, the old man passed away. Alone in a foreign country, the two bewildered young men didn't know what to do. They called Tzu Chi.

Tzu Chi members in Seattle had the body sent to Seattle for cremation (since there was no crematory in Alaska), and then arranged to have the ashes sent back to Taiwan. The care and help that Tzu Chi people gave during the entire process led the two young men to exclaim gratefully, "It was a good thing that Tzu Chi people were there to help us."

Yu Chih-ming, a volunteer in the Tzu Chi Texas branch office, recalled that a student from Taiwan had a car accident right after graduation and was severely burnt. From the time of the accident up until his recovery, Tzu Chi members in Texas were always with him, caring for both his body and his mind. "Just after the accident, letters of care poured in from everywhere like snowflakes," Yu said. "Then the enthusiasm faded away. Only Tzu Chi people were always by his side. Tzu Chi made me feel proud."

Miss Lai was admitted to Pittsburgh University in Pennsylvania. Since she was going to a totally strange place, she was somewhat nervous. Before her departure, the Chinese Alumni Association of Pittsburgh University in Taiwan gave her the phone number of the Tzu Chi liaison office in Pittsburgh and told her that if she ever needed any help, she could dial that number. "Tzu Chi is a home for overseas Chinese," they reminded her.

With the establishment of Tzu Chi offices in every corner of the world, all overseas Chinese seem to have one more support. When a whole family immigrates to a foreign country or a student goes abroad to study, or even when tourists travel abroad for a short time, they never forget to find out the address and telephone number of a Tzu Chi office at their destination. In their hearts, Tzu Chi has become a "round-the-clock free service station."

Repaying Local Society

In 1992, a race riot in Los Angeles startled the whole world. An Oriental woman was driving into the city when she was stopped by a group of black men. "Are you a Korean, a Japanese or a Chinese?" they asked her. She said she was a Chinese from Taiwan. Unexpectedly, they gave her friendly smiles and told her to avoid that dangerous place.

Not knowing what had happened, she went back home and asked her black maid about it. She finally learned that because Tzu Chi people periodically give relief in Los Angeles slums and scholarships to students from poor black families, most black people have heard of their kindness. The Tzu Chi attitude of repaying local society has won a favorable response from the local people.

From another point of view, "repaying society" means to be concerned with public affairs. Most immigrants simply look on passively at local public affairs. Native residents, especially in those countries which have complete social welfare systems, cannot accept this kind of attitude. They see immigrants (particularly those well-to-do Orientals who have immigrated in recent years) enjoying their social welfare and public facilities without contributing much to local society, as well as depriving natives of job opportunities by hiring only other immigrants. The idea of expelling foreigners is a natural result. The "White Australia" policy in earlier years is one example.

"When you see more garbage on the ground in a foreign country, you know you are close to Chinatown." Whether or not this old joke is strictly true, it is undeniable that to "clear the snow in front of your own door and never mind the frost on other people's roofs" is a common mindset of the Chinese.

The concept of repayment has gradually awakened in the minds of overseas Chinese. In the 90s, Tseng Hsiao-lung, the first Chinese deputy city mayor in Australia, tried very actively to break this old shortcoming of the Chinese by cleaning up Chinatown and by encouraging Chinese to participate in local public affairs. He thought that overseas Chinese should not just enjoy the social welfare, but that they should also do something to repay the local society.

Doing Good Deeds

At noontime on Sundays in Vancouver, Canada, several nursing homes are filled with the fragrance of Chinese cooking. In the afternoon, old songs are played and old men and women clap their hands in time or get up and dance to the music, enraptured by the familiar melodies of their youth.

The old people look forward to the thoughtful visits of Tzu Chi people. According to the staff, the nursing homes used to be filled with lethargy, but they have become much livelier since Tzu Chi people started to visit.

Lin Szu-chi, the first Chinese lieutenant governor in Canada, said that many white people had complained to him that Chinese immigrants only stayed to themselves and never made any contributions to society. After he came in contact with Tzu Chi people, he saw them going out and actively rendering care and help to others. Lin usually delivers more than 300 speeches in a year. Now he talks about Tzu Chi in more than half of his speeches. He himself is a Christian. People ask him whether he has changed his belief. He says he was only touched by what Tzu Chi members have done.

From America, Canada, Australia and South Africa to many other places in the world, you frequently see groups of people wearing blue shirts, white trousers and yellow vests, appearing wherever people need help. You wonder how those people from a small island in the Orient can radiate such universal love. Brother Hsiung Shih-min, a member of the Tzu Chi branch office in Texas, says that not only do many Chinese phone his office to ask for help, but more Americans are calling to find out more about Tzu Chi.

A More Meaningful Life

From yet another point of view, repaying society is affirming your own value and confidence.

Taiwanese who immigrate to other countries are often admired by their friends and relatives, but their lives abroad may not be all that wonderful. If they don't work, they can only mow the grass, water the flowers, or watch rented videotapes. No matter how beautiful their surroundings are, they get bored looking at them. Chinese immigrants may live in beautiful houses in high class residential areas and have good food and clothing, but when their children reach 18 years of age, they leave to study or work somewhere else. The, only the old couples are left at home, counting the passing days. Living in a foreign country, they often don't even have anyone else to visit or talk to.

Then one day they may have the luck to put on the blue and white Tzu Chi uniform and go out to sweep streets, or hang boxes in front of their chests and raise funds for the poor, or make tasty food at a charity bazaar. In this way, they broaden their horizons and get chances to make new friends . What is more important, by doing good deeds and providing help to those in need, they affirm their own value.

"An idle man has no pleasure, a busy man has no disputes." Brother Kang Chung-ya retired at the age of 40 and immigrated to Seattle. Because he had nothing to do each day except eat, he felt very depressed. He would find any little excuse to quarrel with his wife or yell at their children. Since he joined Tzu Chi, there have been no more arguments. However, he said that there was one thing about Tzu Chi that was not very good: "There are too many touching stories in the Tzu Chi world that make me shed too many tears."

Another Tzu Chi member runs a bakery in New York. She said that when she first moved there, she had to work from early morning till late at night. The pressure of life made her relationship with her children very tense. She often wept alone when no one was looking. After joining Tzu Chi, she regained her confidence in life. She not only has Still Thoughts to encourage her, but she also has a group of good friends who like to do good deeds.

"It's such a wonderful big family," one member said with feeling, "In the Tzu Chi community, there are so many outstanding people, such as businessmen, engineers, doctors, teachers, and people in all walks of life scattered throughout the world, all knowing and supporting each other and doing good deeds together. If I had not joined Tzu Chi, I wouldn't have had the chance to make friends with so many nice people."