Thursday,
August
31,
2006
Clark
Field
(Reuters):
A
teenager
from
Ghana
stranded
in
a
Philippine
airport
is
living
out
a
role
played
by
Tom
Hanks
in
the
Hollywood
film,
The
Terminal.
Ayi
Nii
Aryee,
an
18-year-old
football
player,
has
been
stuck
in
Clark
airport,
a
former
U
S
airbase
70
kilometres
north
of
Manila,
for
more
than
six
weeks
since
Singapore
refused
to
let
him
back
into
the
country
after
a
short
break
in
the
Philippines.
''I'm
fine.
I'm
being
treated
well,''
said
Aryee,
dressed
in
a
yellow
football
jersey
and
blue
jogging
pants.
''But
it's
very
boring.''
Aryee
visited
a
cousin
in
the
Philippines
while
waiting
for
his
student
visa
in
Singapore
to
be
processed.
But
the
application
failed
and
Singapore
sent
him
back
to
his
last
embarkation
point,
the
Philippines.
Without
proof
of
a
return
flight,
the
Philippines
will
not
issue
Aryee
with
a
tourist
visa
and
will
not
allow
him
to
leave
the
airport
building.
Aryee
has
appealed
to
Singapore
to
reconsider
his
visa
application.
He
has
refused
an
offer
to
fly
back
to
Ghana.
In
the
Steven
Spielberg
film,
Tom
Hanks
plays
Viktor
Navorski,
a
traveller
from
a
fictional
East
European
country
stuck
in
New
York's
JFK
airport
terminal
after
his
passport
is
revoked
following
a
coup
back
home.
In
the
big
screen
version,
Hanks'
character
romances
a
glamorous
stewardess
played
by
Catherine
Zeta-Jones.
Aryee,
who
has
seen
the
movie,
said
so
far
he
hadn't
had
any
airport
romances.
''Nothing
yet,''
he
laughed.