New Southbound Policy Portal
CMT Foundation CEO Chao Te-ren visits the newly-completed classrooms of the Morning Star School in Shan State June 17, 2022.
The 3 orphanage dormitories funded by a loving Taiwanese couple. (Photos courtesy of Mr. Chao Te-ren, CEO of the Chit Myit Tar Foundation)
A retired couple in Taiwan, who did not want to be named, has since 2019 funded the construction of school buildings in Myanmar through the Chit Myit Tar Foundation (CMT Foundation), a charitable organization in Myanmar. The total number of schools they have funded so far has reached four, including building dormitories for three orphanages in the Yangon suburb, Care to the Least Center, Grace Children’s Home, and House of Prayer, and building classrooms at the “Morning Star School” in Shan State.
Morning Star School is located in Panglong Township, about 100 kilometers east of Taunggyi City, Shan State in northern Myanmar. It was the location where the historic Panglong Agreement was signed in 1947 when Myanmar fought for independence and agreed to establish a unified Union of Myanmar with ethnic minorities. The Panglong Agreement Monument Park is only about a five-minute walk from the school. The school building was completed in October 2021 with a total cost of 86 million kyats. CMT Foundation donated 58 million kyats on behalf of the Taiwanese couple, and the Morning Star School Board raised the rest.
The 3 orphanage dormitories funded by a loving Taiwanese couple. (Photos courtesy of Mr. Chao Te-ren, CEO of the Chit Myit Tar Foundation)
The 3 orphanage dormitories funded by a loving Taiwanese couple. (Photos courtesy of Mr. Chao Te-ren, CEO of the Chit Myit Tar Foundation)
Established in 2015, the CMT Foundation is a charitable organization registered with the Ministry of the Interior of Myanmar. Its founder, Wang Chien-shien, a well-known philanthropist in Taiwan, emphasizes the principle of doing good deeds regardless of ethnicity, religion or politics. The Foundation has earned approval and support in Myanmar and abroad. Its charity projects are currently implemented in many regions and states, including building classrooms, helping orphanages, subsidizing school children’s meals, building bridges, digging wells, offering vocational training, etc. Since 2017, it has been led by Chao Te-ren as its CEO.
In addition, a couple other Taiwanese NGOs have continued to focus on Myanmar in recent years. Zhi-Shan Foundation Taiwan worked with “Plan International” (INGO) in child care programs in Mandalay Province, and cooperated with Meikswe Myanmar (local NGO) in northern Myanmar to help communities build kindergartens. Eden Social Welfare Foundation has just completed implementing a 3-year project of “Prosthetic Limb Donation and Occupational Therapy Training,” working closely with the Leprosy Mission Myanmar (local NGO) to take care of those injured by landmines and their families.