Jackie Chan: Learning to be Charitable

Written by Manfred Phua.

Jackie Chan: Actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer... What a mouthful that was.

Jackie did not even realize he was an Internet meme only until 6 months ago! He is also the subject of a common online hoax where people would start claiming he had passed away, but of course none of those are true. In fact, he posted a Facebook message, commenting: “If I died, I would probably tell the world!”

While Jackie is not delivering swift kicks, punches and one-liners in his movies, he spends countless hours helping others, always eager to know how he may be of service, especially after disaster strikes.

Jackie founded two charities, namely the Dragon’s Heart Foundation and the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation to aid the people of Hong Kong and China respectively. According to his website, his first philanthropic project was a donation of HKD$2 million to help provide surgeries for children through Operation Smile. Since then, Jackie has reaped an impressive list of charity works in a myriad causes, ranging from clothing for the elderly to donating to UNICEF. His works inspired his good friend, international superstar Tom Cruise, to donate US$20,000 to his foundation, which funded 10 scholarships.

While researching on Jackie, I was surprised to find out that the extremely benevolent man originally didn’t like charity. According to him, “Before, I didn’t like charity. I just wanted to be famous and to earn more money. My friends taught me and now I like to do charity. Even when I am sleeping, I think how I can help other people. Every human being has to learn how to do charity.”

Recalling my younger days as a kid, I used to give money to the poor regularly. But I never knew why I should give or cared for the poor around me. 

I simply did it because my mother would pass me a dollar every time we chanced upon a beggar and asked me to drop the coin into his bowl. I did not dislike charity, but charity had little or no attraction to me. I completely agree with what Jackie says in the last line: We have to learn how to do charity. It is not something that should be implemented, forced or imposed.

A person who is made to give would not learn the true joy that comes when the heart and action are one, in sync, in doing good voluntarily. But if a person is taught, or in some way on his own learns to do charity, then giving becomes a natural extension of his inner self. It becomes a wellspring of hope and joy to himself and the people around him.

Perhaps this is why Jackie said he thinks about charity at every waking moment (and while asleep as well). He has learnt to be charitable.

I’m on a journey to learn it. Are you?