Accents Make English Challenge

Silicon Valley Tech V.P. Dr. Tong Liu was born in 1961 in the countryside near Yangzhou, the southern part of China. (See post one.) He never expected to go to university--not because he didn't want to or because he wasn't intelligent enough--but, the politics of the country made it seem impossible. (See post two.) Liu graduated from Nanjing University, and then--thanks to Professor T. D. Lee of Columbia University--he was given chance to take a physics exam allowing him further study at the University of Virginia in the U.S. (See post three.)

Liu, who had seen some movies, was very excited about exploring the U.S.  He wasn’t quite prepared for the language barrier, though.  While he stayed in the top of his class, English was always a challenge.

“But people are patient. They will laugh at me when I speak something a little funny. But they are patient.”

He had a Singaporean roommate who was a Buddhist monk. “I often confused between monk and monkey. I always told people he was a Buddhist and wanted to be a monkey.”

In fact, Liu had a lot of trouble with that monkey word.   Someone asked him if he had horses in his hometown. He said, "No, cows and monkeys." 

“I said, ‘The monkeys are very helpful to carry things around.’ He said, ‘You must treat them well if you’re able to catch them.’”

That’s when he realized-- Donkey. Donkey. Donkey.  It’s only one letter difference. One small sound.

And then there was the whole nickname issue. 

“First year, I was a T. A., there was some guy William. On the papers (the students turned in), I could not find a William, but a Bill.” 

Liu finally figured out that this William and Bill were one and the same.  

“I said, ‘Hey, William. Why don’t you write your name correctly? When you change it, I get lost.’” 

Finally, there was the store. “The food I could not recognize.” He ended up just picking up some cans of something which had the label, “food “on it. It turned out to be dog food.

“It did not taste that bad,” he recalled laughing until his eyes filled with tears.

To make things even more interesting, as luck would have it, of Liu’s three university professors, one was from Tennessee, one was from Germany, and the other was from Italy.  He was inundated with different accents.

“Interesting part of the story is one of my classmates is Greek. She always complained that the Tennessee professor speaks with a strong accent she could not understand.  I told her, ‘I have difficulty understanding the professor from Italy.’ She said, ‘No. I understand him very well.’"

(To be continued: Liu Learns Valuable Lessons from Another Socialist Country)

Overseas Chinese T.D. Lee Builds a Bridge

Silicon Valley Tech V.P. Dr. Tong Liu was born in 1961 in the countryside near Yangzhou, the southern part of China. (See post one.) He never expected to go to university--not because he didn't want to or because he wasn't intelligent enough--but, the politics of the country made it seem impossible. (See post two.)

When Liu graduated from Nanjing University, China was still just emerging from the Cultural Revolution. Society was still a bit chaotic. Relations with the U.S. had also just begun again. 

At the time, T.D. Lee, a famous Nobel Prize Laureate (and one of the first two Chinese men given such a distinction) was a professor at Columbia University in New York. 

Professor Lee and several people in the Physics community got together and developed a way to identify candidates for study in the  U.S: the CUSPEA (China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application).

“About 40-50 universities joined that program. Through the (Chinese) Educational Minister they gave the exam for all the colleges. It’s not a government-sponsored program, because the government is not spending any money for it.  But the government facilitated it.”

Liu took the exam—given nationwide-- the second year it was offered. Only a hundred students (out of what was already the top 1% of China’s intelligentsia) were chosen to study in the U.S. Liu was one of those. He came to the University of Virginia to get his Ph.D.

(To be continued. Next: Accents Make English Challenge.) 

University--an Unexpected Opportunity

Silicon Valley Tech V.P. Dr. Tong Liu was born in 1961 in the countryside near Yangzhou, the southern part of China. (See post one.)

Although Liu’s parents always stressed education, and he was bright (bright enough that he graduated high school at age 16), everyone was pleasantly shocked when he was able to go to college.

“That was a very important event for me. In my days, I never thought I would go to college, because in the early days (60’s, early 70s) you cannot go to college through the entrance-exam process because of the Cultural Revolution.  In order to go to college you’ve got to go to the countryside (to be re-educated) or go to the military or go to the factory and then be recommended by The People. College was not based on your academic merits, but based on

--How well you live and

--How hard you work and

--How much you follow sincerely the Communist Party’s policy.” 

But in 1977 when Liu was in high school, Chairman Mao died, and Deng Xiao Ping came to power.  Deng believed in order for China to be strong, it was necessary to work on science and technology. It was necessary for college to be based on academic merit. The idea of testing came back.

Sitting for college entrance exam 1977

At the time, less than 1 percent of students were able to pass the merit exams and go onto college.  Liu became a part of that one percent, heading off to Nanjing University.

(To be continued. Next: Overseas Chinese T.D. Lee Builds a Bridge.)

Silicon Valley Tech VP Long Way From Countryside

I first met Dr. Tong Liu (not his real name) at a Chinese New Year gathering in February of 2016. When he heard about my blog, he agreed to be interviewed. But as a Vice President of a well-known Silicon Valley tech company, he’s super busy. So this new-year plan turned into an end-of-the-year interview.  

We met in a relatively quiet café one Friday in October. I’d only planned to spend a couple of hours with him. But, by the time we were done, the waiter had given up on us ever vacating the premises. It’s not that Liu was long-winded; in fact, he spoke in bullet points (I could almost see the power point slides in the air.) But, he had lots to say.

Like our previous guest on Bridge Over the Pacific-- Jason Jianyu Tu-- Liu was born in China’s countryside, albeit in 1961.

“If you visit China, there are two cultures. One is the northern part, represented by Beijing and Xian. The other is the southern, represented by Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou.  The south--my hometown--is along the Yangtze River. I grew up in the countryside and then came to the county of Jiangdu in the district of Yangzhou at age 12.”

From my earlier interview with Tu we heard how difficult it was to move from one location to another. He mentioned that each person needs a hukou—proof of residence—in order to live legitimately in a place. Whereas Tu’s mother spent a decade bribing officials so that they could move out of the countryside, Liu was fortunate. His mother had grown up in Jiangdu and thus still had ties to that county.

“My mother is the daughter of a merchant of a family-owned business.” 

Liu’s parents were not highly educated. (His mother had received a middle school education, while his father only got as far as elementary school.) Still, they believed in schooling their children. Liu’s mother held more than the average sway in the family, and not because of her education. 

“She had six siblings, and she was the only survivor. In China, the girls typically marry to the man’s family. But in our family, my father went to my mother’s place because my mother is the only child surviving the family.”

Typically, explained Liu, women do not change their surnames when they marry. But the children of the marriage take the father’s surname.  

“The first two kids in my family are actually named after my mother.  I’m named after my father. The way the rule works, the first two kids go after the mother’s last name if the man is married into the mother’s family. The rest could be named after the father if there was an agreement before they married.”

(To be continued. Next:  University--an unexpected opportunity.)

China and Martin Luther King

Today many people will gather at the 30-ft Martin Luther King statue in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the life of a man who gave so much to our country and our world. It is interesting to note that even the creation of the statue celebrates what it means to be one people, one world.

In 1996, the United States Congress approved the idea of a statue, appointed a planning commission, and held a competition,  eventually choosing ROMA Design Group's idea. Their design included the use of specific rock that few people could handle, and thus they needed a special sculptor. The years had gone by, and it was now 2006.  

Coincidentally that year Public Art Saint Paul held a Stone-Carving Symposium, called "Minnesota Rocks!" with participants from all over the world. The commission in Washington got wind of this, and three members flew over to find out more, interviewing numerous sculptors. The name that kept being put forth as the master was Lei Yixin from Changsha, China. 

The officials approached the napping Lei on the St. Paul College lawn only to discover that he wasn't fluent in English. Fortunately, a member of US-China People's Friendship Association (Lu Weiming) was nearby and jumped in to help translate. Through Lu the Commission asked Lei to please come to Washington to learn more about the project. That was difficult, as he only had a visa long enough for the "Minnesota Rocks!" event. However he applied to stay in the country longer. When he was refused, he kept trying. It took some finagling, as well as the help of Representative Betty McCollum, to help him get a visa extension.

Lei went to work researching the life of Dr. King, and was inspired to produce a concept. He said that more than 2,000 concepts were considered from more than 52 countries.

The statue which is located at 1964 Independence Avenue SW, referencing the year the Civil Rights Act became law, was scheduled for its unveiling on August 28, 2011--the 40th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. However, Hurricane Irene blew this plan aside. The official dedication was postponed until October 16, 2011. 

Lei said he was moved by Dr. King's eyes, as in his eyes he could see a warrior--but a warrior for peace. And, though Dr. King's struggle had been for Civil Rights in America in the '60's, his message still resonates to people all over the world. 

U.S. and China: One Happy Family

Recent Stanford MBA Grad Jason Jianyu Tu was born in 1989 in a small village 125 miles south of Xian--in what he termed a "sixth-tier city," meaning, "There's a very slim chance you can be successful." (See post one.) His parents, well aware of this, searched for ways out of this small village, and eventually found a path to Xian. (See post two.) The big city of Xian--although only a hop, skip and a jump away--was like a different planet, with buses and fast food and a really tough school. (See post three.) Jason gave up trying to do well in school, instead focusing his energy where his passions lay: guitar and blockbuster movies. (See post four.) While Jason's high school headmaster did not have high hopes that Jason would get a college degree, Jason jumped through hoop after hoop to get accepted to the University of Washington. His only problem? Funding. (See post five.) Thanks, however, to a mass e-mail marketing campaign, Jason found himself accepted to the University of Evansville in Indiana. (See post six.) He was thrilled...until he landed in what felt was the middle of nowhere. (See post seven.) As Jason was one of two Chinese people at the school, he was immediately the expert on anything and everything that had to do with China. (See post eight.) Not only that, but he was soon paired up with an American host family, something he looks back on as a very important part of his life. (See post nine.) Despite the warm welcome in Evansville, he decided he needed to move to a bigger place. (See post ten.) Upon graduating with a degree in Economics from Purdue University, however, Jason still had trouble finding a job. He was initially relieved to get a Research Fellowship at Toulouse School of Economics in France. (See post eleven.) The inefficiency of France drove him nuts. (See post twelve.) When his professor failed to grade an important exam, Jason realized he was in the wrong spot. (post thirteen.) After a two-year stint working in Hong Kong, Jason applied to Stanford MBA program--and was accepted. (post fourteen.) As part of the MBA program, he was charged with leading a group of students to China. (post fifteen.) Upon graduation, Jason decided to start his own company Mioying and  join the ever-changing landscape of China (See post sixteen.) When asked about that landscape, he said that today's young people aren't that political, and not that concerned about the "speech issue." (post seventeen.) Their biggest concerns are Law/Order and Faith (See post eighteen.) As for the U.S., his chief concern is the media, its use and mis-use. (See Post Nineteen.)

As our conversation waned to a close, I asked what Jason thought about future relations between the two countries. (This was well before the November 2016 election.)

“I think the Obama admin did a very good job.  I think compared to a very white traditional president in the past, Obama actually did a lot of things in the Chinese way. George W Bush, before he ever did something he’d say, “I’m gonna do that!” Obama wouldn’t do that."

Instead, according to Jason, Obama just got things done.

“So I hope into the future the leadership in the U.S. can be more geared toward tangible stuff of the two countries, and less about fighting words about territorial stuff and words that don’t make much sense. Getting deals is better than firing words at each other. "

“I think U.S., if it focuses on technology, will keep leading the world for the next century or half century. But if it focuses too much on asserting power on the rest of the world—even some of the strongest allies in the Middle East don’t like when America does something that. ‘You have to do it.’....

"If America focuses on its core technologies and takes a less strong stance on some of these international issues,  and China tries to be open-minded  and to manage the information better (not everything centered to the Communist party), then I think the countries will be so well-integrated we won’t have any major problems.

“A lot of people are saying that China is the biggest debt holder of the U.S. because the savings rate is high, and  a lot of ordinary (Chinese) people hold U.S. assets. (But) similarly, a lot of Americans can buy Chinese investment products. Once the two countries are so interconnected, it’s going to be just like a big family who quarrels from time to time. ‘I’m not happy with you. You’re not happy with me. But we still get along.’"

The Media is NOT the Message

Recent Stanford MBA Grad Jason Jianyu Tu was born in 1989 in a small village 125 miles south of Xian--in what he termed a "sixth-tier city," meaning, "There's a very slim chance you can be successful." (See post one.) His parents, well aware of this, searched for ways out of this small village, and eventually found a path to Xian. (See post two.) The big city of Xian--although only a hop, skip and a jump away--was like a different planet, with buses and fast food and a really tough school. (See post three.) Jason gave up trying to do well in school, instead focusing his energy where his passions lay: guitar and blockbuster movies. (See post four.) While Jason's high school headmaster did not have high hopes that Jason would get a college degree, Jason jumped through hoop after hoop to get accepted to the University of Washington. His only problem? Funding. (See post five.) Thanks, however, to a mass e-mail marketing campaign, Jason found himself accepted to the University of Evansville in Indiana. (See post six.) He was thrilled...until he landed in what felt was the middle of nowhere. (See post seven.) As Jason was one of two Chinese people at the school, he was immediately the expert on anything and everything that had to do with China. (See post eight.) Not only that, but he was soon paired up with an American host family, something he looks back on as a very important part of his life. (See post nine.) Despite the warm welcome in Evansville, he decided he needed to move to a bigger place. (See post ten.) Upon graduating with a degree in Economics from Purdue University, however, Jason still had trouble finding a job. He was initially relieved to get a Research Fellowship at Toulouse School of Economics in France. (See post eleven.) The inefficiency of France drove him nuts. (See post twelve.) When his professor failed to grade an important exam, Jason realized he was in the wrong spot. (post thirteen.) After a two-year stint working in Hong Kong, Jason applied to Stanford MBA program--and was accepted. (post fourteen.) As part of the MBA program, he was charged with leading a group of students to China. (post fifteen.) Upon graduation, Jason decided to start his own company Mioying and  join the ever-changing landscape of China (See post sixteen.) When asked about that landscape, he said that today's young people aren't that political, and not that concerned about the "speech issue." (post seventeen.) Their biggest concerns are Law/Order and Faith (See post eighteen.)

Jason's concern for the U.S? Media. Media. Media. (And we spoke several months before the U.S. election, several months before reports of 'fake news.')

"A major difference between China and America, Chinese people who live in China fundamentally don’t believe in their media. When we hear anything from CCTV we know it’s bullshit.  Right away. But sometimes that frustrates me in other parts of the world—France or the U.S.—the media takes sometimes very extreme perspectives and tries to guide you. But U.S. people believe it. They never try to question."

"I always tell my friends the best way to live in this world is to try and gather as much information as you could from different sources." Jason gets information from newspapers all over the world--China, England, France, U.S, etc.--to help complete a picture of an event. He admitted that it was not an easy task, especially with so many opinions and alternative news sources.

“The internet over the past decade has exploded. But it’s harder and harder to filter it. So people easily get into extremes. Censorship is bad, for sure. But, sometimes you have to manage the information. Think about what happened in Dallas….it happened on live streaming.  Black person being killed by a cop. Then hatred spreads. People start killing white cops. It’s (the reaction is) less severe in the United States only because the population is smart, the education is higher.  The situation can be more severe in China because the education level on average is not that high, and the population can easily be provoked.  China would be in chaos.

"Right now China (the government) is directing the communication--everything is centering off the great pyramid of the Communist Party. I think they need to find a better way. Now it is centered toward Communism. It needs to be centered toward fighting for good things, like life, having good moral values.

“It’s both challenging for the US and China. I think the two governments can manage the information better, even in terms of international relations. Don’t talk too much-- get these random speakers to talk about China’s pollution or get these random speakers to get on the T.V. and talk about the South China Sea. It’s way more complicated than you guys think.

“I just hope that people can be more open-minded and, if the two countries can manage the (flow of) information better and don’t get too extreme on some of the topics, I think we’ll be fine. "

(To be continued. Final excerpt: The U.S. and China--One Happy Family.)