Upon hearing the “terrible news” about eight of his fellow citizens getting killed during the Quirino Grandstand hostage drama last Aug. 23, Asian action star Jackie Chan took to Twitter to express his grief.
 
“I come back to hk & I hear terrible news about what happened in filippines (sic). A lot of things don’t happen to your own country you don’t pay attention,” he posted.
 
Chan had just returned from Korea to Hong Kong when the hostage drama happened. Though grieving, the “Karate Kid” star noted that the hostage taking could have happened elsewhere, yet, and more sadly for him, it had to be his people.
 
“This kind of things always happen around the world (sic). It happened to hk’s people, the whole hk is talking about it. It’s really sad,” Chan said.
 
Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed police captain, hostage a bus full of Hong Kong tourists on their way to Manila Ocean Park. The 12-hour hostage drama ended when Mendoza got hit by a sniper’s bullet.
 
Chan also acknowledged the authorities who were put in a difficult position during the crisis. “If they killed the guy sooner, they will say why not negotiate first? If they negotiate first, they ask why not kill the guy sooner? So sad,” he said.
 
The action star assured that his country will not encourage hate.
 
“HK is a nation built by a lot of different people..don’t worry! We do not hate!”
 
He added: “I remember the day before in korea we talked about how people should love each other. We already have so many natural disasters..typhoon, tsunami, everything. Humans should be united and not kill or hate each other.”
 
Following the tragic incident, Hong Kong as well as six other countries (Pakistan, Nepal, Iran, Russia, Thailand, and Indonesia) issued a travel ban against the Philippines.