Jackie Chan was born in Chan Kong-sang, Hong Kong. Raised by parents who were refugees in the Chinese Civil War. During his childhood his father worked as a cook. While his mother worked as a housekeeper in the servants quarter of the French Embassy.
Bob Marley – Famous musician, fled Jamaica to Miami after being shot during political violence. Fritzi Massary – Austrian-Jewish operetta singer, refugee. Norbert Brainin – Austrian-Jewish violinist, refugee. Gloria Estefan – Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman, father was a Cuban refugee.
Chan was born to impoverished parents in Hong Kong. The family moved to Canberra, Australia, when Chan was six, but the following year his parents sent him back to Hong Kong to attend a strict boarding school that trained students for jingxi.
Chan founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation in 1988. It supports young people in various causes, including medical services 🏥, aid to victims of natural disaster or illness 🚨, scholarships 🎓, and youth activities ⚽️. As a UNICEF and UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador 🕊️, Chan is always ready to help 🙏.
He donated $800,000 to help Haiti earthquake victims and $5.2 million to support the Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution. Besides, he raised $29 million for drought relief in China and brought supplies to earthquake victims of Qinghai, China. Currently, Chan serves as UNICEF and UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador.
What does it mean to be a refugee? - Benedetta Berti and Evelien Borgman
What did Jackie Chan struggle with?
As well as this, Jackie struggled with learning difficulties due to his dyslexia, however, he did show a keen interest in fighting, with him improving upon this skill from a very early age despite his academic level falling, which would unfortunately lead to him being kept behind in early schooling.
Since 2013, Chan has been a pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politician, having served two terms as a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and, in 2021, expressing his desire to join the CCP.
“When I went to America to film, my English was terrible… I had to spend a month just to memorize a single line — even when I was sleeping, I would read the line in my dreams,” Chan, 68, recalled, according to Asia One. “Many words that I wanted to say, I couldn't. It was very frustrating.”
He should be remembered as a significant global and cultural figure,” he says. Lee was born in San Francisco to parents from Hong Kong. His father was a noted Cantonese opera singer, and his mother came from one of the then-British colony's wealthiest and most famous Eurasian families.
Take Jackie Chan, for example. The 65-year-old went to Japan on an unannounced personal trip, but he was quickly revealed to be in Tokyo by eagle-eyed netizens who spotted him despite his attempts to go undercover.
Butner argues that Jesus largely satisfies the contemporary legal definition of a refugee, but it's debatable whether the journey to Egypt took him “outside of his country of origin,” since Egypt and Bethlehem were both part of the Roman Empire.
Last year was the deadliest for people fleeing violence, war and persecution, according to the UN's migration agency. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 2023 was the deadliest year on record for refugees and migrants, with at least 8,565 people dying on migration routes across the world.
It was at his first school in Canberra that his teacher decided to give him an English name, 'Steve', as his original name Chan Kong Sang was hard to pronounce. However, he later changed his name to Jack – one that was given to him by a Taiwanese man he befriended and who found him a job at a construction site.
Unfortunately Bruce Lee's career did not last long because of his early demise but Jackie Chan is still going strong. On April 7, 2024 he celebrated his 70th birthday and declared that he has no plans to retire. Jackie Chan's long lasting film career is a testament to his dedication.
During the premiere, he spoke about his decision to leave Hollywood and return to China, suggesting that other actors should follow his lead and stay in the country to develop their careers. “I went there, but nobody said my fighting was good. Nobody cared about my fighting scenes. So, I gave up Hollywood,” Chan said.
Later in his life he was diagnosed with dyslexia, but at the time, he didn't know it. Because Jackie didn't do well in a normal school, his dad took him to the Chinese Opera Research Institute. Jackie was only seven years old.
Jackie writes that for “ten years, I got only six hours of sleep, night after night.” Even when he caught a fever, the teacher still made Jackie practice kung fu, no exceptions.
While many fellow stuntpeople and martial artists have had fight scenes opposite Chan and gone on to great careers themselves, Jackie Chan has also fought quite a few big martial arts movie stars.
