No kidding around

While filming an MTV documentary in Nepal, singer Wang Lee Hom bought street urchins dictionaries, met an HIV-stricken former child prostitute and, erm, was head-butted by a goat. MELISSA THAM spent five days with him and captured these moments on camera

May 3, 2002
LIVING the charmed life of a celebrity, American-Taiwanese singer Wang Lee Hom's usual itinerary includes travelling to trendy cities, performing at jam-packed concerts, and schmoozing at cocktail parties.

None of that would've prepared Lee Hom for his five-day off-the-beaten-track Nepal trip.

Lee Hom was there, together with Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala, in mid-April as Unicef-MTV-Levi's Speak Your Mind Youth Ambassadors.

On his first day, the 25-year-old pop idol attracted a swarm of street kids who spent more than an hour following him around the famous Durbar Square.

QUIZ TIME!

Scruffy and wearing tattered clothes, they were incredibly endearing.

When Lee Hom tested the children on their general knowledge - for example, on capitals in the world - not only did they answer correctly, they even challenged him back.

So when five of them asked the singer to buy them a book, Lee Hom immediately bought a thick English-Nepalese Dictionary for about $10.

This, in spite of prior warnings that the street children are usually hired by bookstore owners to prey on tourists' sympathies.

First, they'll claim that they are too poor to afford books, but then they resell the books to the shop for a cut of the commission.

Lee Hom said even though he might have been cheated, the hunky star hoped that the children were sincere about learning. He made it harder for them to return the book by scribbling their names on the cover.

Later that day, Lee Hom and Manisha, 31, visited a remote village located in the mountainous region of Kauve to see the Out-of-School (OSP) programme in action. The OSP teaches Nepalese children living in inaccessible places.

Both stars spent the afternoon cooped up with the children in the already tight classroom, built from mud and cow dung like all the other houses.

Lee Hom joked: "I was looking at the cracks on the floor and wondering how long it was going to hold!"
The teacher - a 19-year-old teenager not much older than her students - seemed smitten by our shaggy-haired pretty boy.

When we blasted some local Nepali music from our Unicef jeep, she got up and started dancing with him while everyone in the village looked on in amusement.

Females aside, Lee Hom also attracted attention from the village goats.

While singing and playing the drums for the children, one goat decided to get into the act by ramming its head against his shoulder and bleating along to the music.

So Lee Hom stopped to playfully butt heads with the goat, drawing chuckles from the crowd.

CHILD TRAFFICKING

On a more serious note, Lee Hom also met Chhakali, 24, a reserved, demure Nepalese girl who had been lured out of her village, sold and forced to work in a brothel in India at 11.

Child trafficking is a big problem, and both Chhakali and her husband have contracted HIV.

Lee Hom, who used to serve in the Peace Corps back in the US, was genuinely concerned about Chhakali's plight and sunk into a reflective mood after the interview.

Manisha, a native of Nepal who now lives in India, seemed more aware of the problems, whereas for the New York-born Lee Hom, it was indeed an eye-opener.

He said: "This trip has been a life-changing experience for me.

"And I hope that the documentary will in turn help to highlight problems and issues that need to be tackled... and change the lives of these people to secure a better future for them."

On their last day, Lee Hom and Manisha stopped by a special school and housing project funded by Rugmark, an international trademark system set up to eliminate child labour from carpet industries.

CHILD LABOUR

About 2.6 million Nepalese children aged six to 14 are forced to work in farms and factories.

One in three have never been to school, of which three-quarters are girls.

Most work in farms or factories, care for their siblings or do housework.

The lack of money and distance - some kids have to walk two hours to the nearest school - are prohibitive.

Manisha felt that one way of stopping such exploitation is to emphasise how important education is.

She said: "My heart aches each time I meet these kids... I get inspired meeting these children because you can see they're all so eager to learn, so enthusiastic despite their circumstances.

"You fall in love with every one of these children. You want to take them all home."

Even though the Nepalese had no idea who Lee Hom is, he has definitely won over more fans with his easy-going manner and sunny personality.

Obviously savouring the chance of not being recognised or mobbed, Lee Hom got on well with the locals. He tried "buff" (a Nepali delicacy of fried buffalo meat) that they offered him, and would break into song to entertain them.

And at night, Lee Hom did research on the Internet about the problems in Nepal and Asia , emerging the next day with questions on child trafficking or the situation in East Timor.

"He is an absolute angel!" gushed Mr Dutta T Roy, the Unicef liaison officer assigned to Lee Hom. Then, a little embarrassed by his outburst, he made me promise not to repeat that to Lee Hom.

Melissa Tham is a network communications manager at MTV Asia.

Can't wait for Lee Hom's concert here in July? The documentary, Nepal Speak Your Mind, will be shown over MTV (SCV Ch 20), on May 17, 8.30pm

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