140th Anniversary of Kiang Wu Hospital Charitable Association

Kiang Wu Hospital Charitable Association (referred to as Kiang Wu Charitable Association), is one of the relatively large-scale charitable organizations run by the locals in Macao, was established in 1871. It has gone through three centuries of history and reached the age of 140. The purpose of the Charitable Association is to undertake charity activities, provide medical services, and develop education to benefit the general public. The Charitable Association is an administrative public welfare legal entity registered with the Macao SAR Government and has subordinate organizations including Kiang Wu hospital, Kiang Wu Nursing College, Kiang Peng Middle School and social service organizations including the Kiang Wu Funeral Parlour and the Kiang Wu Mourning Garden.

As being the main body of the Charitable Association, at the time of establishment, Kiang Wu Hospital dedicated their efforts into helping the sick by using traditional Chinese medicine. At that time, natural disasters frequently took place in the mainland, which brought continuous misery upon the people in Mainland China, so the directors of the Charitable Association proactively made donation to relieve the people in disasters. In 1893, Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty granted the Association a plaque, with “Built under the Emperor’s Order” as recognition of their contribution. In 1892, Mr. Sun Yat-sen went to Kiang Wu Hospital to undertake the post of voluntary doctor of western medicine and opened up the vanguard of western medicine. ln order to support Mr. Sun Yat-sen in connecting with the society by making use of his medical skills to declare the thoughts of democratic revolution, the Charitable Association offered great amount of funds for subsidy. During the period of the Anti-Japanese War (1937-1945), Kiang Vu Hospital directly supported the frontline, by providing medical treatment to the wounded, relieving the refugees and acting as the chief of Macao Branch of “War Bond Fundraising Committee” to actively raise funds for supporting the Anti-Japanese War. After Hong Kong was occupied by the British, the Association also helped to evacuate a lot of intellectualists and nationalists. Kiang Vu Hospital has always been serving the community with the spirit of practicing medicine to help, heal, and rescue those in need. Since the foundation of New China in 1949, it has been constantly walking towards modernization.

This set of commemorative stamps in the minisheet on the First Day Cover postmarked 25.10.2011 integrates the images such as the emblem, establishment steel hoard, bronze statue of Mr. Sun Yat-sen, pictures of buildings as well as the white marble embossments, etc., indicates the friendship of the Charitable Association with Mr. Sun Yat-sen, the development process of the Charitable Association closely connected with Macao history of 140 years since the establishment and the consistent purpose of serving the society.