Netizens mock Jackie Chan singing China's anti-drug song
Staff Reporter
2015-06-27
Jackie Chan attends the opening ceremony of the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival in Shanghai, June 13. (File photo/Xinhua)
In spite of the arrest of his son over drug charges, Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan was still one of the celebrities taking part in the recording of an anti-drug song that is scheduled to be aired on major television networks in China on June 26, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. But his participation has triggered Chinese netizens' sarcastic comments, according to the news network Ming Pao.
Chan has been named China's anti-drug ambassador, but his son Jaycee Chan was formally charged last year with the crime of sheltering others to take drugs after testing positive for marijuana and police saying they had found 100 grams of the drug at his Beijing home.
Jaycee Chan, was released from a Chinese jail in February after serving a six-month sentence on drugs charges.
Although Jackie Chan has faced a credibility crisis following his son's detention over drug abuses, he did not stop participating in anti-drug campaigns and instead, hoped to be a life-time anti-drug ambassador.
Chan sang a line in the song "Life," while other celebrities, including Cai Guoqing, Yisa Yu, Cheng Fangyuan, sang the rest. Chan also participated in a video recording of an anti-drug slogan.
There are more than 14 million drug addicts in China, the Chinese media The Paper reported. In 2009, Chan was appointed by China's National Narcotics Control Commission as an anti-drug ambassador.
Chan faced widespread criticism for his son's crime, but "anti-drug ambassador" title has never been removed.
"I felt guilty, ashamed, and thought that I should resign from the anti-drug ambassador. But if I did so, it would mean that I succumb to drug dealers. Now my family and I become victims of narcotics so I will continue my effort and I want to be a life-time anti-drug ambassador," Chan was quoted in a report by China's state media Xinhua News Agency.
He also expressed hope that his son will take part in anti-drug campaign after he was released from jail, sharing his own experience with youth and encouraging them to stay away from narcotics.
Earlier this year, Jackie Chan was also named Singapore's anti-drug ambassador.
According to a report in Sina Entertainment, Chan was asked about his son's case when he attended a TV show in China recently. He said he was grateful to Chinese police, as they turned bad things into good things.
Chan said he has seen several positive changes in his son after he was released from jail. He also revealed that he will take part in the shooting of an anti-drug movie later this year.
Chan's anti-drug efforts, however, did not seem to have won support from people in China. Some netizens in China said that his singing of the anti-drug song was a big joke, while others suggested him to just go home and sing that song to his son.
Others held a more positive view, saying that a father does not need to take the blame for his son's mistake.
