According to the news on Wednesday night, Former President Kim Young Sam will donate his wealth to the society. He was the president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998, succeeded by Kim Dae Jung.
The former president’s wealth is said to be worth 5 billion won (about 4.4 million USD or 195 million PHP). In the article by Korea Times, he was quoted “Everything ends when we die, and we don’t live infinitely. I don’t see the need to pass on what I have to my children and I think it’s best to donate to society.†He surely reminds me of someone I know very well who donated part of his wealth to a university almost two years ago (and yet he wouldn’t even use the heater at his home in the winter!)
The current president, Lee Myung Bak also donated about 33 billion won (about 29 million USD or 1.3 billion PHP) to society. South Korean presidents are provided with lifetime pension upon retirement. The state also provides them with a home of their choice.
wow~!!
I hope we also have the same presidents.
truely kingpins of their nation…
In developed countries, you see more people doing this… because without their too much money, their family can still live in comfort party due to the 101 opportunities available out there. But in countries like RP, if you lose your money, it will be difficult to live in comfort. It will be hard to find a good paying job, it will be difficult to establish a small enterprise, it will be difficult to secure the future of your family. Hopefully come 2050, when we become developed, we can see more rich people giving up their wealth to the society…
So many of our kababayans, pag nakaranas ng comfortable life, ayaw ng mawala pa yun. We see many Filipina for example doing everything they can to marry foreigners so they can escape lack of opportunities back home and to secure their future. We see our rich politicians, continuously clinging to power so they can continue to live in comfort and secure their family’s future. Even Cory, when she died, never donated a significant amount of her wealth to a worthy cause… why? of course she wanted her kids to have a SECURED future in a country where everything is still a matter of fate. Now we see why these billionaires can’t give up Hacienda Luisita in favor of the lowly farmers. ^^
anlupet naman ng pres n iyan. hehehe. parang kabaliktaran saten e, sa halip na magdonate e nangungulimbat.. 🙄