Happiness found in charity
By Enid Chen
Photos by Yao Fan

圣诞平安夜, 厦门海景皇冠假日酒店举行了一场慈善爱心活动, 酒店此次购买了价值两万元人民币的联合国儿童基金会贺卡, 儿基会中国办事处贺卡业务销售拓展官钟德新先生(Thomas Chung)为酒店颁发了荣誉证书. 此次活动是继厦门日报社贺卡义卖活动后在厦的第二次较大规模义卖, 钟先生在新闻发布会后接受了本报记者的专访.

On Christmas Eve, a charity party was held at the Crowne Plaza Harbourview Xiamen. Thomas Chung, Sales Development Officer of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) granted a certificate of honor from UNICEF to the General Manager of the hotel Mr. Simon Jim, in honor of their contributions to UNICEF.

Crowne Plaza Harbourview Xiamen expressed their intention to support UNICEF by buying UNICEF cards for three consecutive years, starting this year. "Unlike other supporters, Crowne Plaza Harbourview Xiamen will support us for the three coming years. We hope through our cooperation in the years to come, more people in Xiamen will get to know about UNICEF." Said Mr. Thomas Chung.



About UNICEF in China

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was established by the United Nations in 1946. UNICEF has been working for and with children in China for over 25 years. In recent years, UNICEF has been spending more than USD 10 million per year on health and nutrition, education, child protection, and water and environmental sanitation projects. UNICEF's projects are in the poorest areas of China. Proceeds from the sales of the greeting cards in China go to UNICEF projects directly and account for 10 percent of the total fund.

From a business man to a UN officer

Born and brought up in Malaysia, Thomas Chung attended a university in Canada afterwards. Before he was a UN officer, he worked for six different foreign companies for over 20 years. Before he came to China, he was the president of an American company in Southeast Asia headquartered in Hong Kong. As Thomas was fluent in both Chinese and English, he was often invited to China to meet with customers. "It was at that time that I started to get a closer look into China and think of working here some day." Mr. Chung reminisced.

"When you reach a certain period in your life, you are likely to look forward to some changes and something entirely new," Mr. Chung said, "I had always kept an American saying as my working motto - there is nothing better than working for your hobby. And I actually did that over the past 20 years."

In 2002, Thomas came across an advertisement for UNICEF, which was looking for a person to work in China with acquisition of both English and Chinese skills and a rich business background as well. Mr. Chung thought to himself that this would be the best chance for him. "There is nothing better than working for charity." The idea occurred to him. After rigorous examinations and interviews, he was luckily recruited and began working as a UN sales development officer for the cards in China.



Tough start

At the beginning, he went through times of adversity and was faced with problems that came out thick and fast when the launching of card sales confronted tremendous difficulties. Before Mr. Chung came to China in 2002, card sales had been in China for about 8 years and people in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou had already known quite a lot about UNICEF and their projects in China. Due to shortage of staff and other resources, their influence did not go deep into other cities. "Later on, UNICEF in Asia appropriated more funds to China so that we could extend sales to some coastal cities and open up new markets."

Mr. Chung made a crucial decision to recruit UNICEF volunteers throughout China. So far, there are more than 100 volunteers in 14 Chinese cities working free for the sales of UNICEF cards. In 2004, the number of UNICEF cards sold reached more than 320,000. "We are very happy about that, since there has been a 20% increase compared to the year before. The sales have been growing at a 20% increase for two years in a row since 2002 when I began to take charge of the sale of cards. This is very inspiring and encouraging, for more and more citizens and enterprises are becoming increasingly aware of their social responsibilities and giving more of their helping hands."

"I have been in China for more than two years so far and this job has always been fascinating and attractive, never losing its charm to me. I never regard the experience of working as a UN officer in China as simply adding more brilliance to my life, but instead it marks a milestone in my life."

"Two years ago, when I first came to China working as a UN officer, I was considered too young for my job. So as to make myself more mature and mellow, I began to grow a beard." Nonetheless, Thomas doesn't have to do that any more and has since chopped off the beard. After putting all his heart and soul into UNICEF's work, his hair is shot with gray now, making him look more rich in years and sound of judgment.

Blood is thicker than water

"My father immigrated to Malaysia from Canton at an early age and his longing and love for China has never ceased. There were plenty of Chinese books, newspapers and magazines at home in Malaysia. Therefore, I had the chance to learn about Chinese literature as well as films. This intrigued me and aroused my curiosity in Chinese culture." Besides the great interest in China and its culture, Thomas said his affinity with China was also an important reason that should not be under noted. "My father misses China a lot and has visited China from time to time. Now he is very proud that I can come back to live and work in China and help the Chinese children."

Mr. Chung said he used the phrase "come back" because he is now back in China where his roots are. "It's hard to describe in words your feelings when you are personally on the scene which you have only read about in books." He still remembers vividly the first day he arrived in Beijing. "I had a walk along a river in Beijing. I could hardly describe my feelings at that moment. I fell in love with Beijing and China at that very moment. When I saw a kind of cake which I read about from the famous martial arts novelist -Jin Yong's ‘Royal Tramp(《鹿鼎记》)', I bought so many that I couldn't eat them all up."

My Xiamen


Daisy Huang is a student currently studying at Xiamen University.

1. How long have you been in Xiamen?
I've been in Xiamen for more than two years.

2. What do you like best about life here?
The city, with its transparent sky, its seraphic sea, its golden beach and its slight head-on sea wind, fascinates me.

3. How do you spend your spare time in Xiamen?
Going cycling on the road around the island, strolling along the beach at dusk, phoning my friends and doing some reading in the library.

4. If there was one thing that you could change about Xiamen, what would that be?
Well, then I'd like to enlarge its landscape. Beautiful as it is, this paradise should be larger.

5. What's your favorite restaurant?
Liyumen Restaurant on the Island Ring Road, close to the Pearl Harbor Villa Resort. I love sitting inside, overlooking the horizon and enjoying the sunset during summer dusks there.

6. What do you like best about Xiamen?
I love the locals. They impress outsiders with hospitality and politeness, which provides us a homelike feeling.

7. Compared with other big cities in China, what do you think are the differences between Xiamen and them?
The air is clear and the environment is excellent here. However, due to the geographical disadvantage and local industry's characteristics, Xiamen offers fewer alluring career opportunities.

8. What's the last great book you read?
Straight from the Gut, a bibliography of GE's former CEO, Jack Welch. The book inspires me with its enterprise management and communication skills.

9. What's your favorite quotation or piece of advice?
Life is nothing but a walking shadow, by Shakespeare.