Expect lotsa aunties and SPGs to "donate"?
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Jet Li plans charity unit here
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Singapore to serve as a base to train and nurture NGO leaders </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Yang Huiwen
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Action star Jet Li is currently in talks with local corporations for funding support for the branch of One Foundation here, which is likely to be set up later this year. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ACTION star Jet Li has plans to expand his charity and disaster-relief organisation to Singapore.
In town for the Forbes Global CEO Conference, he said he is setting up a branch of One Foundation in Singapore and that it could be up and running later this year.
The Jet Li One Foundation Project was launched in April last year jointly with the Red Cross Society of China to raise funds for victims of natural disasters worldwide.
In China, it also focuses on education, health, environment and poverty issues.
Mr Li, 44, is taking a break from acting to focus on charity work, after a close brush with death in the tsunami-ravaged Maldives in 2004 had changed his perspective on life.
Singapore will serve as a base to train and nurture leaders of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
'It is very difficult to find people who have a wonderful heart yet also a business mind at the same time' who is willing to commit to NGO work, he said.
'Five to 10 years in the future, we really need a lot of leaders.'
He has spent about eight months studying Singapore's culture and legislation in order for the foundation to become a leading NGO here. He is in talks with some local corporations for funding support.
The foundation currently has 15 full-time staff.
Mr Li also spoke of a '21st century NGO', which should be run like a public company in terms of transparency and strict governance, with talented and professional people, in order to earn the trust of the public.
He spent two years travelling around the world to learn the success formula of various established organisations, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Health Organisation as well as the International Red Cross in Geneva.
He expects One Foundation in Singapore to start an education programme.
Speaking to about 20 local and foreign journalists, he said that size does not matter in charity.
'One yuan (20 Singapore cents) is not too little, 100,000 yuan is not too much,' said Mr Li, whose organisation raised about 100 million yuan for victims of the Sichuan earthquake, of which half the proceeds were made up of small donations over the Internet.
His status as an actor - having starred in numerous Hollywood and Chinese gongfu films - has allowed him to publicise his cause in doing charity.
However, one of the challenges was to convince corporations that he is serious about his charity commitments, which have since won the support of many multinationals, including Microsoft.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has set an example in terms of how he uses his influence and wealth to change the way people view wealth and life, said Mr Li, who switched between Mandarin and English. [email protected]
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Jet Li plans charity unit here
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Singapore to serve as a base to train and nurture NGO leaders </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Yang Huiwen
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Action star Jet Li is currently in talks with local corporations for funding support for the branch of One Foundation here, which is likely to be set up later this year. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ACTION star Jet Li has plans to expand his charity and disaster-relief organisation to Singapore.
In town for the Forbes Global CEO Conference, he said he is setting up a branch of One Foundation in Singapore and that it could be up and running later this year.
The Jet Li One Foundation Project was launched in April last year jointly with the Red Cross Society of China to raise funds for victims of natural disasters worldwide.
In China, it also focuses on education, health, environment and poverty issues.
Mr Li, 44, is taking a break from acting to focus on charity work, after a close brush with death in the tsunami-ravaged Maldives in 2004 had changed his perspective on life.
Singapore will serve as a base to train and nurture leaders of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
'It is very difficult to find people who have a wonderful heart yet also a business mind at the same time' who is willing to commit to NGO work, he said.
'Five to 10 years in the future, we really need a lot of leaders.'
He has spent about eight months studying Singapore's culture and legislation in order for the foundation to become a leading NGO here. He is in talks with some local corporations for funding support.
The foundation currently has 15 full-time staff.
Mr Li also spoke of a '21st century NGO', which should be run like a public company in terms of transparency and strict governance, with talented and professional people, in order to earn the trust of the public.
He spent two years travelling around the world to learn the success formula of various established organisations, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Health Organisation as well as the International Red Cross in Geneva.
He expects One Foundation in Singapore to start an education programme.
Speaking to about 20 local and foreign journalists, he said that size does not matter in charity.
'One yuan (20 Singapore cents) is not too little, 100,000 yuan is not too much,' said Mr Li, whose organisation raised about 100 million yuan for victims of the Sichuan earthquake, of which half the proceeds were made up of small donations over the Internet.
His status as an actor - having starred in numerous Hollywood and Chinese gongfu films - has allowed him to publicise his cause in doing charity.
However, one of the challenges was to convince corporations that he is serious about his charity commitments, which have since won the support of many multinationals, including Microsoft.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has set an example in terms of how he uses his influence and wealth to change the way people view wealth and life, said Mr Li, who switched between Mandarin and English. [email protected]
