After the devastating earthquakes in China, I’ve heard that Yao has been catching some flack about the insane proposition that he hasn’t donated enough money to relief efforts.

Yao is too classy of a guy to speak out and defend himself, but I will (as have others). This is a blog where I can express my opinion every once in awhile, and I’m going to do that right now.

First, I can’t believe some people – in the aftermath of this tragedy – have nothing else better to do than criticize how much someone else donates. There are thousands of people who have died, and are dying, under rubble…and that’s the main thing they want to bring up? Ridiculous.

If these people really cared about having lots of money donated to relief efforts, they should go to their local Red Cross office and volunteer to raise money, not throw stones at donators like Yao Ming. I’m so disturbed about what has happened over there, I can’t even think about blogging about the Rockets’ off-season moves, the NBA playoffs, or the upcoming Olympics games. Those topics all seem so insignificant right now. So how can anyone with a heart even criticize someone who has offered to help, no matter how much time or money that person has committed.

Today, I personally learned through Yao’s people that he is so deeply saddened from what has happened in China, it’s the only thing he is thinking about (other than his health). But if people really want to talk about his donation, then let’s talk about that for a minute. I know for a fact he has contributed 2 million RMB, which is close to $300,000 U.S., and with more likely to come. And that’s not to mention that HE approached the NBA, not the other way around, about doing the public service announcement that’s now airing during NBA telecasts. He also reached out to other NBA players to donate. In both cases, he made these requests within hours of the tragedy. There was no indecision. I am also told it’s not the end to what he’ll contribute and do with his time to support the cause.

I just don’t get how people can question that Yao isn’t committed to the problems within his own country. How quickly they forget about his efforts to combat SARS, his dedication to being a global ambassador for the Special Olympics in China (even paying a team fine to the Rockets so that he could participate in last October’s Opening Ceremonies), his work in trying to preserve endangered species in China, trying to help children in China afflicted with the HIV virus, teaming up with Steve Nash last year to raise money for poor school children in rural China. The list is virtually endless.

It’s important to point out that if Yao were to donate all the income he’s ever earned in his life, there’s no way it could come close to replacing what has been lost through this earthquake tragedy. How much money is enough for each one of us to donate? 1% of our income, 5%, 20%? Even if we all donated all we could, there’s no way it can rebuild all the devastation and heal all the wounds, both emotional and physical. The fact is that all of us should donate something, no matter how small it is. If we were in their shoes, we would wonder how could the world just watch without offering something like Yao has done?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 1:07 am and is filed under Charity work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.