Source:

12-31-2005 14:00

2004年11月，英國“關心兒童”和建華社會工作者協會在天津發起了為孤兒募捐的活動，兩家慈善機構在繼邀請美籍華人網球明星張德培來北京義演之後，又邀請楊銳作為形象宣傳員，為無助的孩子們做些事情。以下便是楊銳在晚宴上的主題演講：

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honor for me to be part of this noble effort to care for children. This is a defining moment for the media to build a good image. The Chinese are known for face-saving image. But let me tell you my unique personal experience with different implications of image. I visited Shenyang, capital of the industrial province of Liaoning about eight years ago. I interviewed Mr. Mu Shuixin, late mayor of Shengyang. He spent two hours bragging about his vanity project, namely the construction of the city’s image, a so-called face-lift operation. He said more overseas investment would pour in if the city looks good. But in this very old industrial city thousands of jobless people are waiting for help. Leaders of a local neighborhood committee led me to a tiny apartment that houses three generation of an expanded family. The grandparents were seriously ill and the young parents had both lost jobs. Their only child, a boy, had to go to school. But the whole family had to live on less than four hundred yuan each month. Each of the television crew give them a hundred yuan to let them spend a happy Spring Festival, hopefully. But the listless faces told us clearly that they did not know what the future would hold for them. And local social security program was yet to be improved considerably. Ironically, five years later, the mayor was found guilty of a very serious and notorious corruption crime and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died of an advanced cancer in the cell pretty soon.

Help and give instead of taking present a real image of heart and soul instead of the vanity project.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, tonight this is an occasion to share the joy and happiness of giving. Behind your generosity is love for the unfortunate and vulnerable children. Most of us are parents. And the very thing that we all miss is perhaps how it is like to be a happy child.

Now let’s define the happiness of a child. Children should enjoy the equal opportunity of having fun with other kids in the neighborhood. They should always smile a sweet and disarmed smile. They should enjoy the absolute security and peace under the same sun and the blue sky. Children take it for granted to enjoy the love of parents, the care of the society and a decent education opportunity. The happy childhood means their dreams have to be fulfilled with the help of adults and all those who understand love and care.

But each day, there are kids being abandoned or forgotten in the bleak street corners or in dusty rural communities in this biggest developing country. And, due to poverty and perhaps lack of compassion, few can provide immediate help that these young and lonely hearts crave. For a while, their young life seems condemned to the darkness of helplessness and desperation. But children cannot voice anger and protest like adults.

We are not here today to discuss the complicated reasons behind each of the tragic story. Children in their thousands are waiting to be helped in many parts of this country. What we help to do now is to transfer orphaned kids from community care to family care. What we do is to find and help those sleeping rough in the streets and let them know that life is not hunger or illiteracy. Life is not begging or committing crimes. If we fail to reach out to the needy orphans, criminals will step in; and if we fail to provide them with a warm foster family, they are likely to be sent to a detention center. Their future will be ruined and rosy dreams shattered. He who loses the happy childhood may end up rejecting the society and even love.

Now, wealth, of course, ensures a quality life, but it won’t bring true happiness unless part of it is given to the poor. Giving begins with an open heart and ends with an open hand. Unhappiness is the hunger to get but happiness is the hunger to give. In this world it is not what we take up but what we give up that makes us rich.

My program is called Dialogue on CCTV International. I have done over one thousand shows talking to hundreds of rich and powerful guest speakers from around the world. But we got most of the feedback not for the prominence of the speakers but for the compassion and generosity of some of them. Our viewers, most of them, overseas parents, ask for more information about how to help the children and the handicapped after watching our panel discussions that have covered topics on charity. I once interviewed an old and rich American property developer, and a donor of wheelchairs. I asked him what he has done all his life. He says, “I make money, spend money and give money”. I then asked him to tell a touching story since he has traveled extensively, witnessed and felt the misery of hundreds of disabled people. He said he once visited a poor village in Latin America. He donated a wheelchair to a blind boy who had been confined to the bed for years because he had lost his legs. The boy wanted to thank the philanthropist but he could not see the man. When the teenager grasped the hands of the American billionaire, the boy said he wanted to see the old and kind man in paradise. Tears swelled in the eyes of the American donor when he recalled this private moment in our CCTV studio.

Back in 1998, floods hit China. Thousands of children were deprived of textbooks, classrooms and, even parents. I was in Gong’an County, Hubei Province and saw the plight of school children who were left stranded on the dam of a reservoir. A mother with two children was widowed overnight by the ruthless flooding. She fell on her knees in front of us. She had no idea about what the future holds for her and the two kids. Each of us produced what we had in our pockets to alleviate her of pains at the moment. But, I’m afraid; it is ultimately the society and its responsible citizens who should reach out to the unfortunate victims of the odds of life.

Although the growing income disparity in this country has left us very embarrassed, yet we stand united in the determination to use all our resources and call attention to the misery of the poor and especially the unfortunate children. The business community has the strong obligation to help. They are in the forefront of the charity cause and should get saluted for their commitment. Our care for children and our commitment to the decent quality of life should not be restricted to ourselves. The press is not only the eyes but, above all, the soul and conscience of the whole society. The media have a mandate, so does the business community.

It is this strong sense of mission that has brought me here today to share with you the love and care for children. The happiness and future of many children will be decided by your compassion and generosity. God bless you.

Thank you.

Yang Rui

Host and executive producer

Dialogue, Current Affairs Department

English Channel, China Central Television

 

Editor:Chen Zhuo