'That's cool,' Chad tells kind President Clinton

By Theresa Garner

"Say 'hi' to President Clinton," Chad Van Zyl's mother Daryl told him as a joke, as she sent him off to the city for a friend's birthday party.

But the 10-year-old from Half Moon Bay did as he was told, and is still near bursting with excitement at the memory of a chance encounter in Parnell.

The confident youngster, pictured on the front page of yesterday's New Zealand Herald with the hands of the most powerful man in the world on his shoulders wasn't daunted, but reckons he asked a "stupid" question.

"I said, 'Do you like New Zealand?' and he said, 'Very much.' Then I said, 'What do you prefer, New Zealand or America?'"

Bill Clinton gave a diplomatic reply, telling Chad that New Zealand was very green, and the people very nice. But it was also small, whereas America was big. "I said, 'That's cool'," Chad shrugged. "The best thing about him was his voice, which was so deep, and his accent."

Chad was with five friends, who split up and strategically positioned themselves in the crowd. "Then he popped out of nowhere, because of all the bodyguards."

Chad decided TV was deceptive, as "he's actually very big."

"He's not like very posh, either.

"He was meant to have a meeting with the Chinese guy, but he uses his time for the public. He's actually very kind."

The experience had elated the young boy, who came to New Zealand from South Africa two years ago.