Hundreds of Asian Games volunteers sift through mountains of trash to help girl find lost phone
By Bryan Ke
September 28, 2023
Hundreds of volunteers at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, teamed up to sift through mountains of trash to help a 12-year-old Hong Kong chess player find her lost phone.
What happened: Liu Tian-yi realized she was missing her phone while attending the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on Saturday night.
She recalled leaving her phone, which was turned off at the time, inside an abandoned bag after dinner at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Tennis Center, where players spent their time before the ceremony.
Much-needed support: Liu immediately notified her team leader, Geoffrey Edward Kao, about the incident. Hesitant to ask for help at first, Kao eventually sought assistance after realizing that the girl needed support, as helping her would also keep her anxiety at bay so she could focus on her game, with her final chess match scheduled for Thursday evening.
After informing a volunteer team of what happened, they immediately contacted other staff at the tennis center to help them look for the phone.
“No one had an ounce of optimism for getting the phone back,” Kao reportedly said.
Finding the phone: It turned out that looking for a phone in a 523,000-square-meter stadium that can accommodate 10,000 spectators was actually possible. The volunteers managed to find Liu’s phone from mountains of trash and return it to her on Sunday afternoon.
A picture of the volunteers sifting through garbage bags was shared by the Asian Games’ official X account on Wednesday.
Reactions: Thankful for their sacrifice, Kao reportedly called the volunteers “unsung heroes,” while Liu expressed her gratitude in a video, saying, “Your enthusiasm makes me feel at home. I can feel the warmth from Hangzhou.”
The head of the Hong Kong delegation, Kenneth Folk, added, “I admire the professionalism and sincerity shown by the operation team and volunteers. So many volunteers spent a lot of time on this hunt, their dedicated service moves me a lot, and I salute them.”
Share this Article
Share this Article
