Hong Kong action film legend Jackie Chan has vowed to use his fame to raise awareness about the plight of Cambodia's children who battle Aids and landmines.
Speaking after a three-day visit last month to Cambodia, the goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) told how he had been disturbed by what he saw.
``For a week whenever I had a dream, I dreamt about digging landmines,'' he said yesterday.
``A child could go to buy milk and return without legs.''
Unicef said there are between two million and four million landmines remaining in Cambodia.
Chan said that ``after seeing first-hand the conditions of children in Cambodia, I strongly feel that I should do more to help children worldwide - not only Cambodian children.
``I will also globally spread the message to build a world fit for children.''
Chan's pledge came on the same day as a report from police in Cambodia's neighbour, Vietnam, which told how four children were killed and seven others injured last week when ordnance from the Vietnam War exploded.
The children found the ordnance after it was unearthed by bulldozers making a road near their school in the country's central highlands.
The UN said Cambodia has one of the region's highest rates of HIV/Aids, with 2.4 per cent of the country's 13.1 million people infected.
While he was in Cambodia, Chan had lunch with children infected with HIV/Aids and who have been ostracised owing to their conditions.
Former Hong Kong chief secretary for administration, and now Unicef Hong Kong committee vice-chairman Anson Chan, said Jackie Chan is an ideal goodwill ambassador.
He was chosen for ``his compassion, his involvement in global issues, his deep commitment to help children and his appeal to young people all over the world'', Anson Chan said.
Unicef Hong Kong chairman Dr Robert Fung told MetroNews the agency raised about HK$55 million-HK$60 million a year, and he hopes Jackie Chan will help increase that amount.
Among the activities is the Buddy Bear exhibition, which runs from Sunday to June 27 at Victoria Park, and also raises money for Jackie Chan's charity.
The more than 120 glass fibre bears are two metres tall, from an exhibition in Berlin and were painted by overseas and Hong Kong artists. Fung said Unicef's major projects include helping the more than 14 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa who live with HIV/Aids.
Aids has the potential to decimate countries in Asia, and Unicef is expanding its work to combat it, Fung said.
Paris Lord