Jet Li, Clinton, Blair want your money
INQUIRER.netAgence France-Presse
DAVOS -- Chinese action star Jet Li teamed up with Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and Bill Gates on Thursday to appeal for people to keep giving to good causes despite the world economic crisis.
The "Lethal Weapon 4" and "Shaolin Temple" star, who set up his own foundation after a brush with danger during the 2004 Asian tsunami, went to the Davos forum in Switzerland, to press his case for more giving.
"I am not here to ask you for your money. I am here for your hearts. Even if the economy is down, you still have one yuan a month," he said at a meeting on philanthropy with former British prime minister Blair, ex-US president Clinton and Gates, now the world's richest philanthropist.
"Everyone, whether you're rich or poor, you need to work together to change our world," said Li, whose One Foundation aims to help victims of natural disasters.
"If you don't want to donate one yuan today, you will still say the same when you have a million dollars," added the star who recently teamed up with Jackie Chan in a new blockbuster, "Forbidden Kingdom".
Li and his family were in a Maldives hotel that was hit by the tsunami which swept across the Indian Ocean in December, 2004, killing about 220,000 people.
Blair expressed optimism that donors would keep aid flowing.
"I actually don't believe that philanthropy is in crisis. Philanthropy will be hit like everyone else is hit by the financial crisis, but it's at this moment that we reassert why it's important," he said.
Gates also said he had not noticed cuts by donors to his foundation.
"There had been rumors of reductions planned ... but the cuts considered didn't actually take place," he said.
Clinton and Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus meanwhile also called on governments to remember the poorest in society when designing stimulus packages.
"When President (Barack) Obama passes this stimulus package, I hope a percentage will be devoted to the poorest parts of the United States," said Clinton.
"When we're busy talking about bailout packages... we need to design something for the poor," said Yunus, who was given the Peace Prize in 2006 for his efforts to lift people out of extreme poverty by giving them small loans through his Grameen Bank.
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