Thursday, December 20th 2007
By DENISE ROMANO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER (New York, USA)
The Daily News gets action once more - this time a world away!
After a year-long logjam, a treasure-trove of soccer gear will finally make it into the hands of destitute Cambodian orphans Friday.
"Oh my goodness. I am speechless," said Paula Shirk, founder of Brooklyn Bridge to Cambodia, after learning of the holiday delivery. "This is a wonderful Christmas story."
In October 2006, Shirk was inspired to send soccer equipment to Phnom Penh, the home city of her adopted son Rudi, 6. Corrupt port officials held the package hostage, demanding to be paid off before they'd let the goodies get to the kids.
After reading in The News about the standoff last week, U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton turned up the heat, e-mailing and phoning officials in Cambodia. Their persistence paid off.
"Like Ebenezer Scrooge and the Grinch, the port officials blocking this gift had a miraculous change of heart," Schumer said.
After a year-long logjam, a treasure-trove of soccer gear will finally make it into the hands of destitute Cambodian orphans Friday.
"Oh my goodness. I am speechless," said Paula Shirk, founder of Brooklyn Bridge to Cambodia, after learning of the holiday delivery. "This is a wonderful Christmas story."
In October 2006, Shirk was inspired to send soccer equipment to Phnom Penh, the home city of her adopted son Rudi, 6. Corrupt port officials held the package hostage, demanding to be paid off before they'd let the goodies get to the kids.
After reading in The News about the standoff last week, U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton turned up the heat, e-mailing and phoning officials in Cambodia. Their persistence paid off.
"Like Ebenezer Scrooge and the Grinch, the port officials blocking this gift had a miraculous change of heart," Schumer said.
6 comments:
It's ashamed that Khmer leaders have no brains on their own to care about doing something to benefit our citizen. Without pressure from outsiders Khmers never care about Khmers.
Oh well! AH HUN SEN Vietcong slave government never fails to embarrass Cambodian people in front of international community!
Just shaking my head!
When a frog is in a pond, it is hard to see what is out there. Their ethic and moral values are not the same to those of us that is living abroad seeing from the outside. Therefore, blaming them, is as much as we need to sympathize with them of their ignorance. Having said that, I am not saying that all Khmer leaders or all Khmer people who are living in Cambodia are ignorance. Through love and educaton is the only solution to resolve the mentality of these Khmer leaders and the country as a whole.
I Love Khmer Very Much
That's all they know - take, take and take - do they have any humanity for the unfortunates?
10:20 It's people like you who enable people like those aliis hominus lupus to prey mankind. As the girl is being raped and honour-murdered, "oh they just have a different way of viewing the world, and what that monster needs is huggy-buggys and understanding". There was a scientific study done recently. babies as young as four months can tell a "good samaritan" and furthermore they identify with that person. Right and wrong are universal.
1:56AM
I'm not 10:20. I see what you're saying. But perception of right and wrong for a person is only relevant to the environment in which he or she has grown in, not like what you claimed,"universal right and wrong." It is a pretty superficial thinking to say that right and wrong are universal. We don't know what the universal right and wrong you were talking about will be like in fifty years or so. Throughout human civilization, right and wrong have been altered all the times. I think in order to judge a person we have to look at how his or her upbringing and root are like. I bet your right and wrong might be able to change too if you are to live in Cambodia for a long period of time; although the transition will be painful.
However i do agree with 10:20.
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