HERO CHAN JOINS
JOLIE AS UN AMBASSADOR
Copyright 2004 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ April 26th 2004 ]
Action
hero Jackie Chan has been appointed a goodwill
ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) and the organisation's AIDS agency UNAIDS.
Chan, probably the most successful Asian star
in Hollywood, arrived in Phnom Penh Monday for
a three-day visit which will be the first in his
new capacity. "I want to stop the spread of HIV-AIDS
and the discrimination of HIV-AIDS victims, and
protect children who are affected by landmines,"
Chan told a press conference in the capital that
formally announced his latest role. "I always
think I'm lucky. God gave me a lot of fame and
money. So I called UNICEF to ask what I can do
to help," said the star of movies such as "Rush
Hour", "Rumble in the Bronx" and a string of martial
arts hits.
UNICEF
executive director Carol Bellamy said in a statement
that the agency was delighted that Chan had signed
up as an ambassador. "His worldwide fame and popularity
will assist UNICEF enormously in its work for
children," she said. UNAIDS chief Peter Piot also
said that Chan would help in the battle against
HIV-AIDS, especially in Asia where the epidemic
is spreading rapidly. At the start of his trip
to Cambodia, Chan on Monday had lunch with young
HIV-positive people and inspected an exhibition
of their life-size self-portraits created to raise
awareness of the issue. "I saw the children this
morning and was very touched," he said.
On Tuesday
he is to visit the northern town of Siem Reap
to visit a Buddhist temple where monks are helping
children and families with HIV-AIDS. In Siem Reap,
the gateway to the fabled temples of Angkor, he
will also visit a centre for the rehabilitation
of landmine victims, before returning to the capital
Phnom Penh on Wednesday to wrap up his trip. Cambodia
has the highest HIV infection rate in Southeast
Asia. The kingdom is also one of the most heavily
mined countries in the world following nearly
three decades of civil war that ended in 1998.
The Angkor
temple complex was brought to the silver screen
by another UN goodwill ambassador, Angelina Jolie,
in the action movie "Tomb Raider". Chan hinted
that he too could star in a film set in the kingdom.
"Right now I'm thinking about a script about landmines.
After this visit, I will come back and bring a
scriptwriter," he said.
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