DAY 4, JUNE 26, 2008

by Katharine Schroeder

In the morning we woke early, packed up all our belongings, and brought our luggage down to the lobby. It would soon be time to leave Timor-Leste, but before we did, Jackie had a few more important things to do.

First on the agenda was a trip to the UNMIT PIO (United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste Public Information Office) where Jackie was scheduled to record several public service announcements for radio and television. He began with the radio spots; thankfully they were over quickly because it was incredibly hot in the tiny room. Next we walked over to the conference room where Jackie would meet with UN and UNICEF staff. While we waited for everyone to assemble in meeting room, Jackie, Jun, and I talked about some of the difficulties facing the Timorese children. In many places in the world, there are long-standing traditions relating to the raising of children and not all of them are best for kids. Some cultures accept the use of physical violence against children; in fact, 7 out of 10 children in Timor-Leste have reported being slapped or beaten by their own teachers. Children learn from example; the adults around them are responsible for demonstrating acceptable behavīor. The best way to put an end to racism and violence is to teach our children to be tolerant and peaceful.

Recording the public service announcements for UNICEF.

"What will you do for peace?" written in Tetum. Jackie recorded one PSA using this phrase.

Before we walked over to the UNMIT conference room, Jackie took photos with some of the office staff. Wow! They were really big fans and all of them were trying to get next to Jackie for the group photo until finally Jackie said that he could solve the problem....he would move around to different parts of the group for separate photos so everyone would be happy. Each time Jackie moved, everyone began tripping over each other to rearrange themselves until they were all overcome with laughter. After this very funny photo session, Jackie was presented with a special tais – a much larger one that wraps around the waist – and a crown adorned with the symbols of Timor-Leste.

"Wait!" says Jackie. "I have a better idea."

First this group.

Then this group.

In the middle.

Everyone was laughing.

A special tais for Jackie.

Jun shows Jackie the map of Timor-Leste.

When Jackie arrived in the conference hall, everyone applauded as he made his way up to the little stage, where he joined Jun Kukita, Atul Khare, and Special Representative Finn Reske-Nielsen. Jun introduced Jackie with a very elegant and heartfelt speech and thanked him for coming to Timor-Leste. Jun said they were always so happy to have visits from celebrity ambassadors, but he was especially grateful for Jackie because, he said, no other celebrity could speak the language of martial arts the way Jackie could. He talked about Jackie’s commitment to helping children and young people, saying that good role models were hard to find and the children were lucky to have Jackie to look up to. Jun commented on Jackie’s “look of confidence” and warm smile which made everyone feel happy and loved. After Jackie spoke to the UN and UNICEF staff it was time to leave.

On the schedule was a press conference for local reporters to be held back at the hotel. Jun Kukita once again introduced Jackie and then reporters took turns asking him questions. One of the first questions Jackie was asked was about a comment he’d made the day before. He’d mentioned that he’d like to come back to Timor-Leste to make a film. Reporters wanted to know if his words were sincere and Jackie told them that yes, he had spoken from the heart. He thought Timor-Leste was quite interesting; it had a fascinating history, beautiful people, and gorgeous landscapes. However, he said, these things were not enough to make a successful film. The thing that he needed most was a good story. He told the reporters that they should go out into the villages of Timor-Leste to find the stories, then make short documentaries and send them to him. He pleaded with the press not to waste their talents writing “meaningless gossip” and to focus on the important issues in the world.

The reporters asked Jackie question after question on a wide variety of subjects. He talked about the importance of education, about how sports can give kids a focus and build their self-esteem, about how and why he chose the cast members for Rumble in the Bronx (he was trying to avoid stereotypical casting of the bad guys; he wanted to show a mixed-race couple, etc.), about his vision of the world in the future (everyone will live together peacefully and instead of Chinese, Australian, or European, we would all be “Earth People”). He said that in Timor-Leste, the problem was not martial arts; it was they were being used. He expressed his sorrow that the beautiful sport was being used in the name of violence.

After about half an hour, the press conference was over and it was time to get ready to leave the Hotel Timor and head for the airport. Upstairs Jackie was busy signing autographs and taking photos with the security team that had done such a good job in keeping him safe. He also signed the hotel’s guest book, which had a number of famous signatures in it, including Paul Simon’s. Once all the bags were packed, Jackie did a final room check and it was time to go.

As Jackie drove by waving, there were lots of surprised and happy faces.

Jackie thought you might like to see some of the paintings that were hanging in the Hotel Timor:

This is a portrait of the President.

When we arrived at the small airport, Jackie was in for a big surprise. The President had come to say goodbye to him! Jackie was visibly delighted and honored, and the two of them had a nice visit right up until the time that our flight was ready to board.

Our time in Timor-Leste had come to an end and we had to say goodbye to everyone we’d met over the past few days. It’s really heartwarming to see so many dedicated people living and working in this faraway place, trying to make life better for the Timorese.

On the left is Mary Ann Maglipon. She is a Communications Specialist for UNICEF and part of the team that made all the arrangements for Jackie's visit to Timor-Leste. Next is Josh Estey. He is a professional photographer who was hired by UNICEF to document Jackie's trip. He was a great person to work with and of all the professional photographers I've ever met, he was the most generous in sharing all his little inside tips and tricks. On the right is Lely Djuhari, who also works for UNICEF. She was in charge of about a million details of Jackie's trip and she did a great job.

When we got on the plane, it was completely empty, so we thought we had the whole plane to ourselves. However, this turned out not to be the case. The airport personnel had let Jackie and the rest of us board first, thinking that this would be the best way to avoid the commotion that Jackie’s presence would cause. (Usually Jackie is the very last person to board.) The plan backfired because by the time all the people were ready to get on the plane, every one of them knew that Jackie was on it. To avoid the commotion, Jackie came and sat in the seat next to me and then asked Dorothy and I to block him from the view of the hundred or so people who passed by. The little boy sitting in the window seat next to Jackie was so excited he could barely contain himself. Jackie Chan sitting right next to him! I asked him to keep it a secret and to his credit, he did. Every single person who got on the plane was looking around to see if they could find Jackie, but with Dorothy kneeling on the seat in front of us and me sitting forward, Jackie was able to successfully hide. Everyone knows that he loves his fans, but Jackie also knows the kind of chaos that can occur in a situation like this, so that is why he hid from view.

We flew back to Bali, where there was a layover of about an hour and a half. While we were in the lounge, Jackie was still filled with excitement from the trip and wanted to record his diary immediately while everything was fresh in his mind. (I had no mp3 recorder with me, so I had to write really fast as he spoke.)  He talked for quite a long time about all his feelings and impressions of Timor-Leste, its people, and the UNICEF and UN staff he’d met. You can read what he said in his diaries from the trip.

When we were boarding the flight from Bali to Hong Kong, we got a great surprise – we’d been upgraded! This happens occasionally; don’t forget that Jackie and his staff do a lot of traveling and sometimes getting shuffled around is a good thing. I expected that Jackie would fall asleep immediately, but he said that since he’d be taking a flight to Korea later that evening, he wanted to stay awake for this flight. So how does Jackie Chan entertain himself for a four hour and forty-five minute flight? He started off by taking photos out the window as we passed over several volcanoes.

When he was through with that, he read the newspapers and magazines. Then I showed him hundreds of photos I’d taken over the last three days and listened to his comments and critiques.

“Why didn’t you delete this one? It’s out of focus!”

I told him that this was my first viewing of the pictures; I hadn’t had any time to look at them yet.

“You should have taken a tight shot here.”

“I did take tight shots with the second camera.”

“That was good thinking,” he said.

“Wow! This one is beautiful!” he commented on one of the shots from the helicopter.

“You took it,” I answered.

“Oh…”

He smiled at every single photo of the children; Jackie has such a soft spot in his heart for kids.

After we looked at the photos, we went through a stack of catalogues and Jackie did his version of window shopping. Since he can’t really go into malls and stores, he uses catalogs. One catalog he had was full of innovative and unique things and despite reading the descrīptions, we had a hard time figuring out exactly who would need such things or even what some of the items were supposed to be! As you probably know, Jackie is very interested in design and in new ideas and products, but some of these things were just crazy.

After shopping there was dinner, and then dessert. When the flight attendant presented Jackie with a choice of desserts, his eyes lit up. Although he eats a well-balanced and healthy diet, he’s completely helpless when it comes to saying no to things like chocolate-chip cheesecake (his choice on the plane). He ate one piece and before the flight attendant could disappear, he asked her for another (“but only half this time”). He demonstrated great discipline by only taking two bites of the second piece. Not wanting to waste the rest of it, he tried to give it to me, and when I refused he said, “Dorothy will finish it.” And sure enough she did. "Never waste food," says Jackie.

When we arrived at the airport in Hong Kong, we met up with Solon, did a bit of shifting and repacking of Jackie’s luggage, and then Jackie and Solon headed off for their flight to Korea.

I will never forget the people that I met in Timor-Leste. It wasn’t just the beautiful children or the colorfully dressed local dancers. It was also the hundreds of dedicated UNICEF and United Nations staff, the soldiers and teachers from all corners of the Earth, the Nobel Prize winning President, the charismatic and charming Prime Minister. All of these dedicated people are on the same mission: to help rebuild a country devastated by war, famine, and destruction. Although there is much to be done in Timor-Leste, I came away feeling that there was hope for its future. Seeing the excitement and pleasure on everyone’s faces when they saw Jackie was very moving. His visit was certainly a positive one and I hope that his message of “Discipline, Respect, and Unity” is one that will reverberate throughout the country for a long time. 

YOU CAN READ ABOUT DAYS ONE THROUGH THREE HERE

JACKIE'S DIARIES FROM TIMOR-LESTE HERE

Text and photos ©2008 The Jackie Chan Group. All Rights Reserved.

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