Education/Newsletter/May 2015/Chinese students commemorate deceased philanthropist Run Run Shaw
By Addis Wang (Wikimedia User Group China) and Anna Koval (WMF)
Snippet: Chinese students honor deceased philanthropist in a photo campaign.
Wikimedia User Group China organized a photo campaign to honor the memory of deceased philanthropist Sir Run Run Shaw and used the opportunity to teach a new generation of young people about his legacy. The participants were Chinese students -- mostly university level but also some from secondary schools. They photographed monuments -- some of the 6,013 schools and university buildings, public hospitals, and public theaters that Shaw donated during his lifetime.[1]
Run Run Shaw was, by all accounts, a great man. He was an advocate for and financial sponsor of both education and the arts.[2] Called "a colorful media mogul" by the New York Times, Shaw's name was synonymous with action movies and horror films, especially of the kung fu genre, which is is widely credited with inventing.[3] He used his influence and his ample wealth to better his world, his homeland, and his people. He was a very generous philanthropist. According to China News, he donated over 4.7 billion Hong Kong dollars to education.[1] Shaw passed away at the age of 106 last year.
The photo campaign ran for one month from 13 January through 15 February 2014. It was an online event only. It was the intention of the organizers to make this campaign a contest with prizes. However, because of limitations on volunteer time and capacity, it was not possible to do that this year. Nevertheless, the contributions were impressive! 81 participants from 24 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and special administrative regions uploaded 293 high quality photos to Wikimedia Commons. The photos can be seen at Commons:Category:Shaw Memory Campaign.
This small sized photo campaign was easy to organize. And it was effective at recruiting new content contributors. Wikimedia User Group China plans to do other similar projects like this one in the future.
Read more about the photo campaign on Chinese Wikipedia here.
View the students' photos on Wikimedia Commons here.
Read more about the Wikipedia Education Program in China here.
- References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "教育界缅怀邵逸夫 全国共建逸夫楼6013个." China News. 21 February 2015. <http://www.chinanews.com/edu/2014/02-21/5868599.shtml>.
- ↑ "Run Run Shaw." Wikipedia. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Run_Run_Shaw&oldid=660858931>.
- ↑ "Run Run Shaw, Chinese-Movie Giant of the Kung Fu Genre, Dies at 106." New York Times. 6 January 2014.<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/movies/run-run-shaw-movie-mogul-seen-as-creator-of-kung-fu-genre-dies-at-106.html?_r=1>.