Pacquiao receives prestigious 2015 Asia Game Changer Award in New York
By Rich Mazon
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 14 Oct 2015
New York City ? Manny Pacquiao received another accolade in his illustrious career - one that recognized his contribution in making a positive difference for the Asian region and its people.
In a regal dinner held at the United Nations on Tuesday evening, Pacquiao, 36, was presented the ?2015 Game Changer? award from the Asia Society.
?It is a very prestigious award that I have right now. It is a big honor to my family and me, not only to my family but to our whole country and the Filipino people. This honor belongs to us because of their support,? stated Pacquiao after receiving the award alongside nine other notable awardees whose contributions in their fields were honored by the organization.
They include Chinese telecommunications magnate Lei Jun; Indian/American comedian and actor Aasif Mandvi; Emirati fighter pilot Mariam al-Mansouri; Japanese inventors and 2014 Nobel Prize winners, Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura; Chanda Kochhar, the CEO of Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India and Li Cunxin, the Artistic Director of the Queensland Ballet.
Pacquiao rose to global stardom from his native Philippines as a result of his sensational performances in the ring. And as a global sports icon, Pacquiao utilized his star presence to increase awareness on social issues such as human trafficking, poverty and the plight of his countrymen during calamities.
This desire to help others stem from his past, growing up poor in the province of General Santos City before he became a wealthy boxer.
?I experienced the life that you never experienced. I experienced the life that sometimes we have food, sometimes none. I experienced a life that we don?t have shelter. I tried to sleep in the street. That was my life. In my success in life, I will never forget my past when I was young and that is why I am turning back and helping them,? Pacquiao narrated.
Pacquiao was introduced to the audience by another global sports icon, tennis great, John McEnroe in Tuesday?s awards dinner.
"I was fortunate enough to meet Nelson Mandela, and one of the things he said to me was that sports have the potential to change the world, and Manny Pacquiao is one of the individuals who can do that," McEnroe remarked.
Pacquiao encouraged the audience to battle and reduce poverty, even briefly touching on the refugee crisis in the Middle East.
?If you really have love in your heart, show it in action by helping and having compassion to those people who need help. Keep on fighting poverty and reduce poverty and helping our brothers and sisters in the Middle East who are suffering because of the war there.?
Photo: Boxer and congressman Manny Pacquiao receives the 'Game Changer' award from the Asia Society in New York Wednesday night. Photo by Ellen Wallop/ Asia Society
You can reach the author at rrmaze24@aol.com and @Freemazon910 on Twitter.
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