On her show last Tuesday, television mega-host Oprah Winfrey donated five million dollars to the wrong Asian country in the wake of the tropical storm and earthquakes that devastated the Pacific Rim last week. Winfrey gave the large donation to Mongolia, a country located in between Russia and China, which was not affected at all by the natural disasters. Jerry Rozin, head producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show, said “we thought
it was one of those Asian countries and unfortunately we donated to the wrong one.” On the show, Oprah shared the story of Septiania Lenianingsih (whose name was shortened to Sept Lenian so Oprah could pronounce it) who lost her father, mother and two siblings in a flood that not only took her family’s lives, but ruined the family’s small banana plantation. Oprah, in tears while listening to the story, said she mourned for September’s suffering and all those in China and Japan suffering from the Asian tropical storm. She sent her personal condolences to prime minister of Japan Yukio Hatoyama which stated that on behalf of all the American women, even though she feels Tibetan rights should be stressed in that country, she sends “her condolences for those dead from the tsunami.” Although no formal reason for the blunder was given, Kerry Geraldine, one of the chief editors of O Magazine, suspects that the mistake happened because of Oprah’s quick briefing before the show due to heavy traffic she faced in getting to the studio. In making up for her blunder, Oprah will send free convertibles to every person in Samoa, Indonesia and Vietnam who lost their houses, which will gratefully be used after the government builds roads.
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