November 9, 2009

International School of Thailand

After completing the Operation Smile trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, I immediately flew to Thailand to participate in an event for the International Peace Foundation called Bridges: Dialogues Toward a Culture of Peace. I was very honored to be asked to participate in this event. 

My first stop was to give a speech at the International School of Thailand. I was there as a representative of the entertainment world and it was my job to talk to the students about using art and culture to encourage peace. I am not a professional speaker, especially in English, and because of that, when I’m invited to speak at different places, I usually decline. But when I found out that this invitation was to talk about peace, I immediately agreed to go. 

The International Peace Foundation wanted me to talk about “Arts and culture as a pathway towards peace.” I thought about it a long time; I thought about what I could say to these students. I am just a regular person, I’m not a scholar or a diplomat. What could I tell them? Finally, I decided to talk about how I use my movies to try to send positive messages. I told them that when I was filming Rumble in the Bronx, I was very worried when I heard that the casting department wanted to use black people as the bad guys in the film. I told them no; that I wanted the bad guys to be Asian, white, black, all races. I did not want to perpetuate the stereotypes that we always see in films. I want people to realize that anyone can be a bad guy and anyone can be good guy so they will not build up prejudices and hatred. 

I know that when I began making movies, I was sending the wrong message to the fans. After I made Drunken Master, I saw some little kids imitating me, pretending to get drunk and fight. I knew that I was sending the wrong message, so I corrected myself in my later movies. I made a mistake with Drunken Master, and I tried to show this when I made Drunken Master 2. I wanted the fans to know that getting drunk and fighting is wrong. For every movie I’ve made since the early days, I have added in some kind of message, either in the dialogue or in the action of the characters. In fact, we are beginning to gather together all of my “movie messages” and plan to put them into one film reel. I hope that someday I will be able to show that to people so they will see that my films are not just about comedy or big stunts.

As a celebrity, I feel that I have a responsibility to use my fame to spread the word about human suffering. I told the students about my frustration with journalists who only report gossip and stories about the personal lives of celebrities. Who cares!? I hope that if there are any young people who are thinking about becoming reporters, they will remember what I said. Report on the real issues in our world; take a camera and go find the sad stories and the inspiring stories. Never mind the gossip.

I truly hope that through the influence of being a celebrity and also through the fans, we’ll be able to spread the message of love from one person to another. Some famous people might say that their influence isn’t very big, but if one person influences another or just one person helps another person, then why can’t 100 million people influence another 100 million people, and then 200 million people influence 200 million other people? If this happens, the whole world will be at peace and there will be no more hatred. The world is one big family. 

I believe that if we all help each other, we can have peaceful world. Hatred and war are things that I will just never understand. Countries that are too poor to feed or educate their people are fighting wars. How can this be? It makes no sense to me that we spend countless hours and millions of dollars to help people in need, only to have them wiped out by bombs because of some political issue that they probably know nothing much about. 

Why can’t we take this violence and warfare and turn it into love, care, and compassion for each other? Make Earth our home with no need for borders between countries, no cares about differences in race or skin color? We love our home. What we need to do is unite and fight against natural disasters, pollution, and disease; not fight against each other. Whenever there is a huge natural disaster like a tsunami or an earthquake, people seem to be able to put aside their differences and run to help. Why can’t it be this way all the time? Why does it take a disaster to bring people together and forget what they were fighting about?

I travel all over the world urging people to donate and raise funds for victims who have lost their homes because of war or natural disasters so they can start over; for the children who have lost their limbs in a disaster so they can have artificial limbs; for the visually impaired so they can see light again; for the cleft lipped children so they can regain their dignity and self-respect. We all live on the same planet called Earth, we’re basically one family. Why do we have to kill each other? 

One of the students at the International School asked me what she, as a student, could do to help. I told her that right now the most important thing she could do was to study hard and learn as much as possible. Then, when she was able to, go to a place like Vietnam or China and volunteer for a few months or a year. If everyone did that, think of all the people that could be helped!

The Mercy Center

After my speech at the International School, I went to a place called the Mercy Center. The Mercy Center is a shelter for street kids and orphans, a hospice, and a home for mothers and children with HIV/AIDS. It also has a kindergarten and a community meeting place. I met the founder of the Mercy Center, Father Joe Maier. What an amazing man! He is an American priest who came to Bangkok over 30 years ago and has been working to help the poor and destitute for all the years since then. He saves children from horrible lives living on the streets, being bought and sold for sex, or dying from starvation or abuse. He provides them with an education and a home. When I look at someone like him, I think, “There’s a real hero.” He’s someone who has devoted his whole life to caring for others, and to the people who live in the slums of Bangkok, he is a savior and a true hero.

Meeting Father Joe

During my visit, I spent time with AIDS patients, drew some pictures with the children, and sang and danced with them. I was so happy to see the children in a safe and clean place, surrounded by people who cared about them. I found out that some of these kids had experienced horrors that you or I can only imagine. Some of them were even sold to sex traders by their own parents! When I see a situation like this, it makes me want to work even harder to make sure that not one child anywhere in the world ever has to suffer. As I was leaving, I saw a little girl standing on the side of the road. I stopped the car and gave her my garland of flowers. Her face lit up and she was so happy. I only wish that I could do more for her and all the children like her. I think that if everyone could go to a place like the Mercy Center and see these children, they would never again complain about not having the latest computer or the best designer sneakers. They would give anything they had to help these innocent kids. 

Here are photos of my visit at the Mercy Center:

Governor of Bangkok

Here are two videos you can watch to learn more about the place that Jackie visited:

Text and photos copyright 2009 The JC Group

All Rights Reserved

11月9日 (星期一)

曼谷之行:

在越南河內完成了微笑行動的活動後﹐馬上起程飛去泰國﹐參與國際和平國際和平基金會主辦的“橋梁:邁向和平文化的對話”。他們邀請我來這兒參與活動﹐我也感到非常榮幸。

到達泰國後﹐第一站是去國際金邊學校進行演講﹐作為演藝界的代表﹐跟當地學生進行溝通交流﹐講解怎樣用文化和藝術宣揚和平。不瞞你說﹐我不是一演講專家﹐尤其用英語演講﹐我覺得自己講得不太好。因此﹐當我被邀請去不同的地方演講﹐我通常都會拒絕。但是當我知道﹐這次的邀請是關於和平的論題﹐我馬上答應他們。

國際和平基金會希望我可以演講“邁向和平文化的對話”的話題。我想了很久﹐想想自己跟學生們可以說什麼。坦白說﹐我只是一個普通人﹐不是什麼大學生或是外交官﹐我能告訴他們什麼呢? 最終﹐我決定跟他們講解我怎樣通過自己的電影﹐傳播一些正面的訊息。我跟他們說﹐當年拍攝“紅番區”的時候﹐選角部門想使用黑人飾演電影裡的壞角色。知道這件事之後﹐我真是很擔心。我跟他們說不可以﹐還說我想華人﹐白人﹐黑人﹐什麼人都好﹐他們也可以飾壞角色﹐因為我不想把大家經常在電影裡看到的公式化角色﹐永遠在電影裡出現。我想大家都知道﹐除了當好人之外﹐任何人也可以當壞人﹐我不想他們累積任何偏見或者憎恨的思想。

我知道以前開始拍電影的時候﹐電影裡傳播給影迷的訊息是錯的。當年拍完醉拳後﹐我看見小朋友在模仿我戲裡的動作﹐假裝喝醉酒然後打交。看到這種情況發生﹐我知道自己電影裡的信息是錯的﹐所以決定改善之後所拍的電影。拍醉拳的時候﹐我已經做錯了﹐後來拍醉拳II﹐我有一些改變。通過電影裡的信息﹐我想影迷知道﹐喝酒打交是不對的。從早期開始拍的每一部電影﹐通過角色的對白或動作的表態﹐盡量加入一些正面的信息。其實﹐我們現在正在收集我所有的“電影信息”﹐然後計畫把它放在一個膠卷裡。希望有一天﹐我能夠播放這個給人看﹐那他們就會明白到﹐我的電影不僅是笑片或大動作片。

作為一個藝人﹐我覺得我是有責任利用自己的影響力﹐令更多人知道和關注人類所受的痛苦。我跟學生說﹐我真是感到很惘然﹐看見傳媒記者朋友只報導一些八卦新聞或明星的私生活或是無聊的炒作﹐誰會理會這些!? 如果你們之中有年輕人在讀我的日記﹐還日後想做記者的話﹐我希望你們會記住我說的一切﹐就是報導世界上的事實真相﹐拿起相機去找一些令人感動和鼓舞的故事﹐不要報導八卦新聞。

真是衷心是希望藉著我們藝人與影迷的影響力，將愛的訊息一個傳一個，不需要說自己能力不夠只要一個影響一個，或是只需要一個人去幫一個人，那就一億人影響一億人, 變成兩億人影響兩億人，那全世就會和平，再沒有仇恨，世界就是一家人。

如果我們能夠互相幫助﹐我相信世界會和平的。坦白說﹐我真是不明白為什麼有仇恨和戰爭。為什麼那些國家﹐已經沒有能力去飼養和教育自己的子民﹐但是還在打仗﹐這是什麼回事? 真是不明白﹐我們可以付出無數的時間﹐努力和上千萬的資金給需要幫助的人﹐但是一個炸彈就破壞一切了﹐因為有一些連他們都不清楚的政治問題出現。

點解唔可以將這些戰爭殺戮變成愛和互相關懷、地球是我們的家，沒有國界，沒有種族，沒有膚色區別，我們愛我們的家，我們要聯手對抗的是天災、污染、 疾病、而唔係互相殘殺。

每當有天災發生的時候﹐例如海嘯或是地震﹐大家都能夠放下私人因怨﹐毫無疑問地去幫助別人﹐為什麼我們不可以時時都這樣? 為什麼要等到災禍發生後﹐大家才可以聯結一起﹐還忘記戰爭的原因?

今天我們努力走向各國各地的宣傳和平互助互愛，走遍世界勸人捐款、籌款、為那些因戰火或天災的災民重建家園，為災難中斷肢的小孩換上義肢，為弱視再見光明，為兔唇小孩重拾尊嚴，花上很長的時間去恢復。大家都是地球上的人類﹐ 本是一家人﹐為何要誤傷殘殺？

跟國際金邊學校演講時﹐有一位女學生問我﹐作為一個學生﹐如果想幫助別人﹐她可以做什麼。我就跟她說﹐現在最重要的事情您可以做的就是努力讀書﹐盡力去好好學習﹐然後有足夠能力的時候﹐去那些需要我們幫助的地方﹐如越南和中國﹐做志願者幫他們幾個月或者一年。如果人人都可以這樣做的話﹐大家想一想﹐我們可以幫助多少人!

跟國際金邊學校演講後﹐就出發去“Mercy Center”(慈悲中心)。這個地方專是收留街頭兒童和孤兒的保護所﹐是一間收容所﹐還有是收留被愛滋病感染的母親和孩兒。這裡也有幼兒園和社會聚集的地方。到達這裡﹐認識了Joe Maier牧師。他真是一個了不起的人物! 他是來自美國的牧師﹐三十多年前來到曼谷﹐自此為貧窮缺乏的人服務。他拯救很多街頭的兒童﹐他們在街頭過很艱苦的生活﹐有些為性賣身買身﹐有些被虐待在街頭餓死或等死。牧師給他們一個家和教育他們。每次我看著像他這樣的人﹐我會想“他是個真英雄”。他奉獻了自己的一生去照顧和關心別人﹐還盡心盡力地去幫助住在曼谷的貧民區﹐他是真正的救星和英雄。

我探望這裡的愛滋病患者﹐跟孩子們一起劃畫﹐還跟他們唱歌跳舞。見到這小朋友生活在一個乾淨和安全的地方﹐被關心的人圍住﹐真是感到很開心和安慰。之後得知﹐這些小朋友所經歷的惡夢﹐你我也難以想象。他們有些是被自己的父母賣身入性行業! 見到這樣的事情﹐真是很心痛﹐也激發我要更努力去做工作﹐確保以後不會再有一個小朋友受苦。當我離開的時候﹐見到一位小女孩站在路邊。我停了車﹐然後送花環給她。我看著他的臉亮起來﹐看到她非常高興。我只希望可以為她和像她一樣的兒童做更多事情。如大家可以探訪如Mercy Center這樣的地方﹐看看這裡的孩兒﹐我想大家都不會抱怨沒有最新的電腦或是最新潮的球鞋﹐還會捐出任何事物去幫助這些無辜的孩子。