00:00:00.240 - 00:00:16.120

...kind of question? You didn't give me any uh question first. So I have to uh... give you answer right away, right? Oh, you can take as much time as you need to think about it! Um, the first thing we wanted to learn

00:00:16.120 - 00:00:30.850

was just how has your life been during COVID-19? Like, has anything changed? Has anything stayed the same? Um... of course I mean, life changed, you know, because we never experienced this kind of

00:00:31.260 - 00:00:43.950

COVID- 19 right. So um I think life changes, the uh, you know, the stay home policy. We have to stay home most

00:00:43.950 - 00:00:56.550

of the time, and then as a small business owner, we have to let the employee to stay home. So um, the way we are doing business is a people business right.

00:00:56.580 - 00:01:13.230

Real estate, uh property management. So um yeah especially during the first two to four weeks, actually uh, the office is almost

00:01:13.540 - 00:01:27.800

shut down. And uh as the owner of the business, I have to still have to come to the office to do some paperwork, uh to enter in some calls. Uh but I think uh since

00:01:29.790 - 00:01:43.230

end—beginning of the May, uh reopen the business, especially real estate as essential business. So I allow my uh employee to work more like limited

00:01:43.830 - 00:01:55.080

assets, you know, rotate. Uh you know, not too many people in the same office at one time. Uh it change, you know. And then uh we also

00:01:55.080 - 00:02:11.590

manage a lot of commercial business tenants. Most of them they're restaurants, restaurants in Chinatown. So 90% are closed down. So you can see that um the parking lot used to be fully packed.

00:02:12.370 - 00:02:23.110

Now it's uh you know almost vacant. Right. And then we have to deal with the uh, a lot of uh business owner they couldn't

00:02:23.220 - 00:02:34.440

have their business open. So they are also in a difficult time. Yeah. So uh all in all, many people lost their

00:02:34.440 - 00:02:54.130

jobs. And they either have to live on their savings, or they have to take some employ—unemployment benefits. And so um yeah, I think everybody has a hard time right now.

00:02:54.130 - 00:03:12.000

Yeah. Thank you for sharing. You mentioned how um, so you kind of mentioned two things. Like the first thing is that you're working in real estate and you're having to rotate between um your agents, right?

00:03:12.360 - 00:03:26.030

So are you guys mostly relying on technology right now? Or are you still doing some in person work? With technology definitely help. Right, just like uh, before you have to show properties.

00:03:27.360 - 00:03:43.660

Now you have to use the technology to do the virtual showing. And even for for traditional retail like a restaurant. Uh you had to do it online ordering uh you know to catch up because most people right now, they order

00:03:44.080 - 00:03:56.680

online and the food delivery instead of uh, you know, just dine in in the restaurant. So uh you can see the technology is playing a more important role.

00:03:56.830 - 00:04:10.290

You know, for people who doesn't know about the technology. They have a difficult time to adapt on that, for sure. Yeah And another thing you mentioned too, was how a lot of

00:04:10.330 - 00:04:24.320

businesses in Chinatown, restaurants in particular, um have had to close down. So Tian-Tian and I were actually talking about how it was sort of as early as January that we heard rumors, like false rumors about

00:04:24.400 - 00:04:39.700

outbreaks um in Chinatown. So could you talk a little bit about, you know, your reactions to the public's response? Um specific—like maybe some of the anti Asian racism, how restaurants have been coping, all of

00:04:39.960 - 00:04:50.440

that. Yeah. I think the first rumors start uh within the Chinese community. Because I think the first rumors start from WeChat.

00:04:52.030 - 00:05:09.100

You know, and then uh somebody spread the rumor say, oh, there's a positive uh COVID-19 happening to one of the employees, who is from Wuhan, in one of the Chinese grocery

00:05:09.120 - 00:05:24.730

store. I think that starts to spread. Uh and then there's uh one American guy put on Twitter after that. So there's a lot of rumors, you know, people just heard

00:05:24.730 - 00:05:37.890

about the news. They don't even verify. They just pass the message out. So I remember that was a Saturday. And then the next day, that grocery store business

00:05:38.640 - 00:05:51.650

dropped 90%. And then all the restaurants just drop, you know, uh 70 to 80%. So we lost millions dollars. You know especially to the small business owner.

00:05:52.520 - 00:06:10.290

So people didn't realize, you know, a rumor can cause that damage. So what we did is uh, we, we have uh, we have the congressman Al Green, we have uh Mayor Turner, we have uh Harris County Judge Hidalgo.

00:06:11.910 - 00:06:27.770

Uh . They all step forward to have a press conference. We have the health department director to say, at that time is no single case, you know, found in Houston. That's back in January, tried to clarify

00:06:29.830 - 00:06:44.880

that. You know, so and then we start to uh encourage people still continue to shop in Chinatown. So during that time, a lot of Chinese, uh they they heard that what happened in—in Asia.

00:06:46.440 - 00:07:02.120

So they are afraid to come to Chinatown to shop because they thought it's dangerous. And a lot of non Chinese you know, they actually, they come to shop in Chinatown because they just feel you know, just a rumor.

00:07:03.570 - 00:07:17.370

Right, so uh, I can see you know, and then uh of course, then the COVID-19 spread out in US. You can see in Chinatown, we are the first place.

00:07:19.030 - 00:07:30.920

All the people are cautious about that. So everybody, everyone wearing a mask. So we became—we actually become the safest place in Houston. Right because almost

00:07:30.960 - 00:07:48.450

everyone, the banker, the restaurant, uh all the people work in Chinatown, they all wear masks. Uh and then uh just be cautious because we're thinking that is a—a good way to uh you know, uh to protect

00:07:48.450 - 00:08:01.990

ourselves. Even today uh, reopen order, you can see still I mean you go to a... I went to a restaurant today and then they have to test your temperature.

00:08:02.390 - 00:08:13.770

You have to hand—sanitize your hand. And of course, with the mask, you know. And then keep social distance even within the restaurant. So, so it's really you know,

00:08:14.020 - 00:08:28.750

how you're going to prepare yourself to do that. Other than that, you know uh, Mayor Turner. And then we also invite uh you know, some celebrity to eat

00:08:28.750 - 00:08:45.930

in Chinatown and then let the public know that Chinatown is safe. You know this restaurant you know, is okay. Of course when this uh, stay home policy enforced, uh all the business have to close down for, for

00:08:45.930 - 00:09:02.480

about a month. And then they can only uh, when they reopen uh most of the restaurant, they still have to do a uh, more like a uh to go order. You know, even though I think—I think only about 30% of the

00:09:02.480 - 00:09:19.900

restaurant, they open uh for the dine in right now. But most of it is still just to uh, order to go, you know. Not, not—do not have any dine in service. So that's uh you know, and a lot of uh like uh spa, uh nail

00:09:19.900 - 00:09:34.850

shops, salon, most of them—most of them, they probably they're going to close down to the end of May. Yeah. So that's a situation right now. So we, we still try to promote the business in Chinatown.

00:09:35.660 - 00:09:49.490

You know, and then uh, and then we o... and also uh we supporting the Mayor Turner. He said uh, since the business reopen, we need to support our local business.

00:09:50.680 - 00:10:10.360

So uh then I uh, so I started a campaign called Asian Americans uh salute to the frontline heroes, by donating 10,000 meals to the, to the frontline heroes. Like uh nurse, doctors, uh health care

00:10:10.580 - 00:10:26.050

people, um policemen... and firefighters, even bus drivers. Uh because they are the frontline heroes, they still have to provide the services. So uh we raised money.

00:10:27.200 - 00:10:42.490

Uh over 100,000 dollars. Uh 10 dollars a meal, we buy them the meals from a different restaurant to support them, and then send it to uh you know the hospitals and to every agencies.

00:10:43.250 - 00:10:59.570

And then uh, and then we also put uh an ad on Houston Chronicle. The reason we're doing that is we want to let the uh let the Houston community know that Asian Americans, you know, we're Americans, we also

00:10:59.570 - 00:11:11.230

care about our community. We do a lot of contributions. According to the data we collected, uh you know, in the past two months, we, we donated close

00:11:13.080 - 00:11:31.240

to 1.7 million pieces of the PPE, personal protective equipment. Uh value is over three millions, you know. So uh, you know, that's from the data we collected. And I believe there's a lot of people doing that on their own, you know.

00:11:31.620 - 00:11:42.290

So we just want to let people know that you know we are, we're not only uh suffer you know. And we are, we are also helping you know. We uh, we...

00:11:43.530 - 00:11:57.990

Of course we saw this anti Asian... uh how do you say that? Sentiment? It's not right. Uh you know, we advocate, we uh, you know, we against any anti

00:11:57.990 - 00:12:13.300

discrimination act, against any racist, not just Asian. You know, so uh, you know so that's what we do in the, in the past month. And uh keep

00:12:13.300 - 00:12:27.690

me busy. Yeah we have a lot of volunteers to work on that. There's uh I think the donation we collected, uh the data is from, I think uh, 69 organization.

00:12:28.500 - 00:12:41.290

And we donated to 155 institution. So everyone is busy, just do... we just, I think uh yeah, in uh, from uh March and April and this month.

00:12:42.960 - 00:12:56.880

Yeah. So for you, is this also uh volunteer work? Yes. All volunteer. Yeah, I didn't get paid, you know. I, I normally uh volunteer. I also donate a lot.

00:12:57.050 - 00:13:12.440

Yes. Yes. Just to follow up on that too, um have you work—have—have you sort of collaborated with groups that you've never collaborated before?

00:13:13.370 - 00:13:28.310

For all of work? You know, I uh, I'm a businessman, so normally on my activities with the chambers, you know, or uh, with uh, with the government that I management

00:13:28.920 - 00:13:43.520

district, uh they all volunteer work. You know uh, my only full time job is real estate, I own a real estate company. But um you know I spend most of my uh leisure time on volunteers.

00:13:43.580 - 00:13:59.970

You know, enjoying that. But uh, I think uh, about two months ago, uh I saw uh, I saw an article, or a political—political ad from a political

00:14:02.620 - 00:14:19.450

uh candidate, saying something about like uh China poison our people, something like that. And then that statement, you know uh, just

00:14:19.450 - 00:14:37.870

make me uncomfortable because uh it sounds like you know, she's against all the Chinese, you know. And then you can see that across the nation is a lot of anti Asian. Because a lot of people, they don't—

00:14:37.870 - 00:14:51.860

they cannot tell you're Chinese or non Chinese. As long as you're Asian they just assume you're Chinese, right? Some—uh my friend, they are, they are Vietnamese, they are Thai, Cambodian, and then they all

00:14:51.860 - 00:15:03.500

got threatened. So, so uh I just feel that's, that's not right. And then uh, and then some of our friends, they

00:15:03.500 - 00:15:18.630

are, they are more with the advocacy group. Which I, I was not very active involved in the past. Like OCA in Houston, uh CACA, you know, all this advocacy group.

00:15:19.410 - 00:15:31.590

And then I just feel you know, we need to do something together. So when I do my campaign on the uh, salute to the heroes, uh you know, it's not a permanent

00:15:32.070 - 00:15:45.240

organization. It's just a more like alliances. So I—I group about... almost 10 organizations. And then we

00:15:45.240 - 00:15:58.050

divide into groups, some, they are concentrated, they're all volunteers, by the way. Some concentrate on the uh fundraising, 'cause we need the money to buy the food.

00:15:58.900 - 00:16:10.290

Second part would be uh you know, logistic. You know, how can you--how do you get the, the restaurants, right, to work with you. And deliver the food, you know?

00:16:11.120 - 00:16:24.490

And number three is advocacy. Advocacy is why want to do that. You know, why, why we want to do this action is we want to tell the community, we care, and then we donate.

00:16:25.100 - 00:16:44.590

We are just like everybody, you know, in uh, in Houston. And so that's why uh the advocacy is probably uh, those organization is a uh, normally—I mean, that's the first time I work with them for, for something like

00:16:44.670 - 00:17:01.360

this. That's really great to hear. Do you think that this is something that will continue on for the long term? Or do you see it as sort of um just for now,

00:17:02.010 - 00:17:12.680

during the pandemic? Yeah, I think, I think uh, you will never—I mean, you know, Chinese will say whenever there's a crisis, there's opportunity right.

00:17:13.520 - 00:17:31.720

Uh, uh, when Asian Chamber uh is part of this alliances we were working on, and they—when they contact the uh, those Asian restaurant to join our program in the past,

00:17:32.200 - 00:17:45.530

we tried to promote Asian restaurant. Asian restaurant week or whatever. Uh normally, the reaction, the response from the owners, restaurant owners are not very enthusiastic.

00:17:46.720 - 00:17:58.390

But this time we got over a hundred restaurants join the program. You know, which is I think a tremendous—it's a, it's a network, you know.

00:17:58.460 - 00:18:12.880

And they all offer at least 10% discount to this front line heroes. To show, you know, uh you know, of course they want their business, but they also want to show they, you know, they show the apprecia--the

00:18:12.880 - 00:18:26.440

appreciation. Yeah, so uh, it wouldn't be a long term organization because my goal is to start with is just donating 10,000 meals. And then uh let people know what we're doing.

00:18:27.610 - 00:18:42.060

But uh with our advocacy group, uh you know, I have uh, I have an organization called the UCA, it's called the United—UCA—Chinese

00:18:42.060 - 00:18:58.050

Americans. It's a nationwide organizations. Uh they're going to work with us. Uh we're going to invite uh, a uh, a case—maybe you heard about that. The Midland—is it Midland,

00:18:59.740 - 00:19:16.980

Midland, Texas, right? There's a Burmese uh family, was a stabbed by uh, by, by a Caucasian, anti Asian guy. And then there's two heroes. Uh one work for the highway patrol,

00:19:18.120 - 00:19:31.610

or the other one work for, I think uh Walmart security. And then they try to defend the families and they got really badly injured. So we

00:19:31.610 - 00:19:43.270

want to invite them, you know, to honor them, you know. So this kind of thing, you know. And then uh I watched the show, uh the PBS show it's called Asian Americans.

00:19:43.390 - 00:19:58.370

Uh, that's a good show, you know. And then, and then uh, they mentioned there's a, there's a victim. Uh Vincent, Vincent, Vincent... Chen. Uh

00:19:59.400 - 00:20:18.260

and then uh you know, it is a uh, you know—and then we're going to invite uh, I think his family you know. And then uh because we want people to remember the Vincent Chen case, right.

00:20:18.920 - 00:20:27.450

Uh even though in Houston you can see that we have a Tracy Gee. You know Tracy Gee? Uh there's a community center called Tracy Gee.

00:20:28.550 - 00:20:43.070

We make research on that, uh the Gee—the Tracy Gee was also killed, you know because of this uh anti Asian thing. So we want people to remember that especially the newcomers you know, we cannot take everything for granted.

00:20:43.540 - 00:20:57.370

So we're going to uh, wrap our campaign by by this uh, more like a advocacy meeting. And then uh... yeah, this will be probably, mm...

00:20:59.920 - 00:21:13.700

I think, I think the thing we want to do, want to achieve. So hopefully in the future if we do need to do something else, uh we can always do that, you know, with uh project basis or whatever necessary that we should do.

00:21:14.130 - 00:21:27.380

Because uh I think uh the community leaders are always available, when there's a need, uh they will always work on that. You know, and, and then sometimes you don't need to really form a, an organization.

00:21:29.170 - 00:21:41.030

Uh you know, just because of that you had to form the organization. You know, whenever there's a need, uh then it will come out. Uh, because uh we

00:21:41.030 - 00:21:57.370

are very local based, you know, we don't have any national support. Uh everything was from local and then you can see, if you go to our donor list, you know, we're using CCC, Chinese Community Center uh

00:21:57.870 - 00:22:14.550

website. Uh the organization because that is a 301 , uh 301 . So every donation you can do a tax deductible. So using their website

00:22:14.550 - 00:22:26.930

as huh more like a foundation. So you go to their website, you can see all the donor list. You know, when I say donor list, we—we—we are counting like ten dollars

00:22:27.030 - 00:22:41.370

a meal. So you can donate one meal, that's ten dollars. You can donate a hundred meals, that's a thousand, you know. So, so people donate from two meals to

00:22:42.860 - 00:22:53.260

one thousand meals. You can see it's really everybody. You know, you can see those names and we're going to recognize all these names you know and uh, for their,

00:22:53.380 - 00:23:07.830

for their donations. Yeah. Another question we had, sort of about if the situation or if this pandemic were to last longer, are

00:23:07.830 - 00:23:21.460

there any sort of lessons that businesses in Chinatown have learned that could prepare them for this longer period if that should happen? Yeah, I uh...

00:23:25.000 - 00:23:43.970

I think uh, you have to keep the environment the—and your, your facility uh clean, right. You have to make sure that uh, this is always updated. Like uh, trend is more people want

00:23:43.970 - 00:23:56.750

to order online, then you have to, you have to learn more technology to, to see that. You know, you know, I think I remember uh Channel 13, uh

00:23:57.630 - 00:24:11.570

ABC they have a Asian American town hall meeting. Right, there's one, there's one uh person mentioned that, "Oh I love go to Bellaire, go to Chinatown. But there's sometime I just don't know where to eat.

00:24:12.150 - 00:24:29.790

And then uh, you didn't really promote yourself to the general public. You only--only the people living in the southwest Houston know you." When I talk to the uh, the City of Houston, the uh, convention and businesses

00:24:30.750 - 00:24:48.930

bureau. Uh they have a website to promote different parts of Houston. Uh 75% of the Houstonian never been to Chinatown. So there--if you are in Woodland. If you are in Katy, or in Cypress, you've never been to southwest part of

00:24:48.960 - 00:25:00.240

town. Probably you'll never experience the diversity of Houston. Houston is like uh Dallas, like any other major uh metro area, right?

00:25:00.810 - 00:25:15.550

And actually Houston has uh, by the, by the size of that we have the largest Chinatown in America. Uh we have a you know, a very clean uh you know, street.

00:25:15.620 - 00:25:29.560

And then uh many new buildings. Uh so for business wise I think you need—we need more to promote as a destination point to attract more people, not just uh the Asian, not just the Chinese.

00:25:30.740 - 00:25:44.470

Uh you know, non Chinese, non Asian, to let the Houstonians and all newcomers experience uh the Asian culture, right. You don't have to go, travel to

00:25:44.470 - 00:26:01.120

Asia. You have to know... So what—what uh... I keep on talking, but then I found out--I found out the power was gone. So what uh, so what else, what else I mean you want to know?

00:26:01.900 - 00:26:18.700

Oh, we wanted to know more about—so like you mentioned how you think promotion is a very important part of sort of the recovery that Chinatown would need. So do you think the

00:26:18.700 - 00:26:35.860

recovery in Chinatown would sort of proceed differently from other parts of Houston? Uh, I think, I think the business would not come back to normal, uh pretty soon. It slowly would

00:26:35.860 - 00:26:52.580

recover. Uh and people are still very cautious, right. Even the business owner, uh they are cautious. And then uh like I said, some of the employee, uh they don't even come back—want to come back to work.

00:26:53.580 - 00:27:13.600

So, uh when, when you, when you lose your business, uh it takes time to get the business back because uh, you know, the consumer, the shopping pattern will—will change, right. And then uh so, so I think that's

00:27:13.600 - 00:27:32.890

why we have to first of all, recover our uh, the business we lost and then to increase the business, the new business, and that's why I said uh Chinatown is uh attractive to a lot of

00:27:33.150 - 00:27:50.390

people because, uh you know, the food is always available, you know, the restaurant, and then a lot of business still attract to a lot of people. And then this is the best place you can experience.

00:27:51.590 - 00:28:10.180

Uh it's more—so, so we should, we should be... I think uh obviously that we should, we should promote the area, the general area that attract people to come. And then uh to increase a new uh customer

00:28:10.850 - 00:28:23.510

base. So that's what we should do. And then uh, and then I think you know, we need to set a plan for that. And we have to work together, yeah.

00:28:26.390 - 00:28:38.960

Yeah, and another thing that we were also interested in learning a little more about. So you mentioned how you saw a lot of your friends, some of them were Cambodian, some of them—basically like non Chinese Asians right.

00:28:40.740 - 00:28:56.310

Sort of like all placed into a single group, um and being sort of targeted in that way. So do you know of any like experiences or do you know how like each group might have been affected by the pandemic?

00:28:56.340 - 00:29:15.490

Like is it different across groups or is it similar across groups? Well, you know, uh... I, I can say that southwest Houston,

00:29:16.580 - 00:29:33.900

uh Chinatown district. We have over, 90 counties in because we have a highest density of apartment units. You know within a limited amount over

00:29:34.100 - 00:29:51.570

20,000 units of apartments. Plus the houses, right, plus a lot of business. It's very densely populated. So uh, and they mix well, you know.

00:29:51.570 - 00:30:08.250

So uh, because you can found out, in the bigger Asian grocery store, even like a Fiesta they carry all... ... I cannot hear you. Can you hear me now?

00:30:08.780 - 00:30:20.200

Yeah, I can hear you now. Okay, cool. Yeah, um my Wi-Fi kind of went out before—I think you were getting into it but then, like, once you got into it I think...

00:30:21.700 - 00:30:34.630

So okay, uh let me continue. So did I mention that we have a... a densely populated, and then a lot of immigrants group, refugee group,

00:30:35.520 - 00:30:53.730

you know. And then so uh, and then we have the CCC, uh Chinese Community Center, they always have a program through United Way to uh help like ESL... you know, second--teach English, or job training

00:30:54.260 - 00:31:05.180

for, for the newcomers. You know, so we all work together. And of course I mean uh when I say we all work together I mean still, I mean, you know we have to do a

00:31:05.180 - 00:31:15.900

lot of things. Like uh the census, right? Census 2020. It doesn't mean that you have a... legal or illegal status, they don't check on that.

00:31:16.960 - 00:31:33.760

But 77036, the zip code, within our area. It is the lowest participation rate. So we need to have more—recruit more people to fill out the census,

00:31:34.160 - 00:31:44.260

so we can get more resource. Yeah. So that's something that we need to work on, yeah. To help ourselves, right.

00:31:44.260 - 00:32:00.190

I hope that answer your question, yeah. So, so we need to, we need to work within—help each other. I have seen that a lot of a volunteer group, they try to help those uh, their own

00:32:00.190 - 00:32:17.520

people. Unfortunately, some people are um misu--I think uh, misuse their power. They're using their people to do some bad things, you know, so but anyway. Overall, we do have, I think we have a lot of uh

00:32:18.410 - 00:32:34.070

help and assistance from the community, you know, so it's uh, it's better—so that's why people like to move to Houston, because if you in a rural area, you don't have that kind of support, and you'll be more isolated.

00:32:39.060 - 00:32:54.260

And another thing we wanted to learn about was just your own experiences. So have you ever been through anything that would be comparable to the COVID-19 pandemic? No, No, I've been in Houston since the 80s.

00:32:55.300 - 00:33:12.270

Uh the, the only experience I have is the SARS. But that's in Asia, you know, but I—I'm in America so I don't feel that. But all my friends in Asia, they, they uh, you know, the scale of that, and that's why we are more prepared this time.

00:33:14.850 - 00:33:28.030

Well I remember we learned from a previous interview that you were born in Taiwan and you grew up in—or you moved to Hong Kong as a teenager. So, have you been able to keep in contact with anyone

00:33:28.160 - 00:33:41.270

there recently, like do you know about like how their experiences might compare with your own in Houston? Um, sure. I mean uh...

00:33:42.780 - 00:33:57.570

I mean I still, I still go back to Taiwan, because my mom still lives there. You know, and my sister, my brother. Uh but the Hong Kong uh, all my relatives in Hong Kong, they

00:33:57.570 - 00:34:12.940

already immigrate to Canada or other parts of the country. After—before 1997. So I'm more like a tourist to Hong Kong right now. You know, and uh, but...

00:34:14.560 - 00:34:28.100

so if you ask me you know, it's a... Is there any, any difference? Uh I can see the change in Taiwan and see the change in Hong Kong.

00:34:30.540 - 00:34:44.010

Especially after the China takeover. You know, some are good, some are bad, but to me I feel I'm more like, I'm American, you know. And then uh so

00:34:47.710 - 00:35:02.350

Taiwan and Hong Kong, I think I see that differently. I actually, I also uh go to China, a lot, you know. Uh two years ago I have a trip with Mayor Turner.

00:35:05.440 - 00:35:20.080

on that trip to uh 78 people. A big delegation to China, to visit. When we are traveling to other countries, we try to promote Houston. I would try to promote Houston as international city.

00:35:21.100 - 00:35:37.540

Uh how international we are, you know it's a... that's, that's our effort, you know. We-we pay on our own money, which I like that people know Houston is a, it's a, it's a good place for, for, for new commerce.

00:35:38.680 - 00:35:54.490

25% of the Houston—Houstonian were born outside the USA, you know, we are the city of the future because none of the uh, the metro area in America are so

00:35:54.490 - 00:36:06.130

diversify as Houston. When I say so diversify because, you see New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles—we're different.

00:36:07.160 - 00:36:18.740

Yeah, so that's that's unique about Houston. And that's why—which I think in Houston, uh should keep on growing and should become uh, one of the gateway city you know to

00:36:18.870 - 00:36:36.290

America. Um and then one of the last questions we have is, you talked about the future, do you think the outbreak or the pandemic has changed your perspective about the

00:36:36.290 - 00:36:53.390

future you had in mind? Either your own future or the future of Houston? I think the epidemic, uh... I think the future is uncertain.

00:36:54.480 - 00:37:09.660

Right, in the short run, right. In the long run, definitely. People have to change their mind, because uh I told many of American, including myself.

00:37:11.870 - 00:37:28.580

17% of the uh medical professional are Asians. And we, the Asian American, are not—are not the origin of the

00:37:28.580 - 00:37:42.050

disease, but we are part of the solution. Like Andrew Yang said, right? Because we are helping people. And then we're trying to resolve that.

00:37:42.560 - 00:37:54.820

And we're the solution. Don't blame on us because you don't know us. And then why Asian American is always treated as foreigners? That's what I heard from many

00:37:55.340 - 00:38:06.710

American born Asian or Chinese. Because they say, I'm American. But why—you know, I have no accent, I—you know, I just, I'm just like a regular American.

00:38:07.000 - 00:38:18.410

My son, my son says, I'm American. But why the Americans didn't treat us as American. You know, they treat African American, they're American. Right.

00:38:19.460 - 00:38:33.520

But why is Asian Americans they say, Oh, you're not—it's like we are not American. Which is, you know, we are—we are here over a hundred years. Right. And then that's why I think we

00:38:33.520 - 00:38:44.510

need to, to be more uh... how to say that. We shouldn't be... we shouldn't be humble, and then uh, low

00:38:44.550 - 00:39:00.080

profile. So that's why uh this time when I say, I need to find out how much money we donate. Normally it's like a secret. You know, you don't want to let people know you donate or not, right.

00:39:00.570 - 00:39:18.670

This time I want to tell you how much I donate—over 3 million. You know I won't show people, say, Hey, we didn't donate the most, but at least you know we did. Right. And then you have--we have to voice out, we have to show that people,

00:39:19.210 - 00:39:32.170

we are part of a community. You know, I want the mayor to make a speech saying Asian American, you know, also a good citizen. We need the uh, we are all together.

00:39:32.610 - 00:39:45.020

Right, so you need those people who has power to voice for us. And then we need to vote, we need to uh, to be more involved with the politics, even though we don't like politics.

00:39:46.110 - 00:39:56.730

So I thought, I suppose, all the uh candidates are—are not Asian. You know I don't, I don't care what party he or she is.

00:39:57.230 - 00:40:11.830

Uh if he want to run, uh I'm going to support this candidate—or, or he, or this candidate is really pro Asian, then I'll support. You know that's the attitude, we need to uh, you know we need to

00:40:12.190 - 00:40:23.600

advocate more people to do that. So, so this this uh, you know this how do you call that, epidemic, has created anti Asian.

00:40:24.280 - 00:40:37.000

Uh and this gives us an opportunity to see, uh you know, we cannot take everything we have as granted. We need to keep on fighting, you know keep on working to let—to

00:40:37.150 - 00:40:49.250

get our rights. You know it's not only for us, but for the future, you know. And then, so like when Andrew Yang came to Houston.

00:40:49.410 - 00:40:59.330

I—I don't know him but I still support him you know. Because, and that's the only candidate I know, Asian candidate to run for president. Right. And he did well.

00:40:59.700 - 00:41:11.820

So I just say we need more people like that, you know, yeah. So, so it's a, it's one of the lesson I learned you know. You cannot just, uh you know, everybody is a king

00:41:12.320 - 00:41:27.010

within I mean the small ponds right. There's no use, you have to voice out, you have to let people know you know, we are here you know, don't, don't neglect us. Yeah, I think that's, that's a that's a thing I

00:41:27.080 - 00:41:41.750

learned, you know. Uh you're too young, but you remember we used to have an old Chinatown in Downtown. And that was history. The, there's no trace you can find out the old Chinatown.

00:41:43.580 - 00:42:01.120

Right. And I don't want this new Chinatown becoming history. Right. Where can we go, if Chinatown was not here anymore, where can you go, right? Which... That is our history, you know, how, why

00:42:01.420 - 00:42:15.430

we have to come here and how we can keep this. So I think this uh archive library is really important because, at least you know you're—hopefully people will go into the library and find out uh

00:42:15.810 - 00:42:34.460

why, you know. How it happened. Otherwise, uh it was a history nobody remember, yeah. Yeah. Um I don't know if this will be too off topic but I was wondering, why do you think um Asians haven't been so involved in politics in the past?

00:42:36.010 - 00:42:51.520

I think, I think, uh to me, I'm the first generation. Uh we are here because we don't like politics, right. We think--we don't want to be—I mean politics is, is dirty, corrupted.

00:42:52.020 - 00:43:03.850

You know, and then uh all these people are selfish, only think about themselves. Right. One... the uh, most of them.

00:43:04.520 - 00:43:18.520

And then when we came here, we don't trust—not we. A lot of people don't trust their, the government they were from. We just say, I mean government and people are different, you know.

00:43:19.040 - 00:43:32.820

And then uh most of the Asian culture they were uh more like a self centered, you take care of yourself. And everybody, you know, uh and then nobody will bother you, you just keep a very low profile.

00:43:33.460 - 00:43:49.560

Nobody wants to know you and then you'll be okay. I think, I think, I think uh, and then, okay. And then we have to also... and our parents... normally

00:43:49.560 - 00:44:02.620

will say—will teach—will educate us, okay. You have to be either an engineer or a doctor, or, or whatever, you know has to be a professional.

00:44:03.580 - 00:44:20.470

You know, don't do those things and nonsense, like voting politics or whatever. So, so, and then uh, so that, that, you know, that makes--that didn't

00:44:21.020 - 00:44:34.420

educate--so we didn't educate our kids, you know. You have—you can—you should go uh some other fields. Want you to be a lawyer, want you to be a, you know, to be a good politician, you

00:44:34.420 - 00:44:43.800

know, all work for the people. Well, and then the parent will say, oh they don't make money. Yeah, not worth it, right? You have to do something that makes money.

00:44:44.030 - 00:44:59.960

We are very practical. That's one thing, you know, and I think they--another reason is uh, for first generation, we're working hard. You know like in Chinatown, everybody working seven days a week, day and night.

00:45:00.590 - 00:45:11.160

Especially restaurant people. If he was robbed, okay. You say uh, well you should call the police. They will say, so

00:45:11.160 - 00:45:25.190

what? You know, wasting my time, I have to wait two hours, you know, talk to the policeman. And then luckily if they caught the criminals, I have to be the witness. You know, and then that's another waste of

00:45:25.190 - 00:45:33.560

my time. I can make my money back. Even worse it's dangerous. What happens if they found me and then they, they're gonna kill me, you know.

00:45:34.630 - 00:45:44.700

Because these are bad people. So all this reason, cause that, you know we always are the victims. Right. And we don't have a voice, right.

00:45:46.180 - 00:45:59.610

And we just keep our quiet, you know. Always my uh, you know it's not my lucky day. So, you know, just next time should be more careful. So all this, you know I—I dealing with all

00:45:59.610 - 00:46:15.910

this crimes issue, the uh economic reason. But uh, but that's the reason, you know. And then for our younger people, I mean uh, I think they didn't uh, they don't have to uh... I don't know, I

00:46:15.910 - 00:46:31.620

just say, maybe we didn't uh, we didn't, we didn't do a good job to uh educate our younger generation how to, how to keep the both your Asian—your, your

00:46:32.400 - 00:46:43.770

heritage, right. Your own culture, and then with a, with American culture. But who is better, who is bad. You never know. Because right now you can see that

00:46:44.900 - 00:46:57.900

even though I—even though I sometimes question the American uh know you know, the value system, you know, is it true? By all the world, used to be number one.

00:46:58.520 - 00:47:10.190

You know why we're not number one anymore, must be a reason, right? Why Asia is starting to rise, it's not just that it can be the economic power. There's a lot of reasons for that.

00:47:10.190 - 00:47:23.890

But uh we cannot change. And this one I think that's, that's a greatness of America is a melting pot. You have to absorb all the goodness, I think we have, we have the

00:47:24.720 - 00:47:34.100

virtue, you know. And then you can not just using your own thought to judge every—and then... So we have to be open.

00:47:34.700 - 00:47:49.120

So that's why I think it is important for us to uh, we need to tell, we need to voice out to tell people, you know, and then learn from each other. And open mind. Otherwise, how can we improve

00:47:49.120 - 00:48:08.400

ourselves. Yeah, so my, my expectation, I think Houston, uh is still probably the best place for immigrants. Because if you're new immigrants, uh like you two. You're lucky to be in the right time, in the right place.

00:48:09.120 - 00:48:20.570

Because uh if you're a hundred years uh before, earlier, you should be in New York. If you are 50 years earlier, you should be in San Francisco.

00:48:21.200 - 00:48:35.800

If you're 30 years earlier, you should be in Los Angeles. But now you're in Houston, because we are going up, and the other city is saturated. There's uh some opportunities, but

00:48:36.660 - 00:48:51.310

uh there's uh more, I think, more opportunity for young people. Then probably Houston is one—is one of the best place for young people. And that's why, uh you can see the growth of the immigrants, and then

00:48:51.310 - 00:49:06.480

we have room to expand. Yeah, we have so much land, you know so much uh opportunities. So that I think that's uh, you can see, people thinking there's a disadvantage, actually it's uh, a advantage.

00:49:13.910 - 00:49:27.510

So welcome to Houston, you should stay! Yeah. Do you plan to stay, can you stay? I know you're from uh, one from Singapore right? Singapore is great, is a great country, yeah.

00:49:29.020 - 00:49:39.870

You have to go back to serve your country? Uh no, I don't have to go back. So I'm—I have a green card. Um so I actually, I grew up in the Bay

00:49:39.870 - 00:49:54.290

Area and I came to Houston to attend Rice. Uh but I have plans to stay here for another year. Um not really sure what will happen. Yeah I have another friend live in Bay Area, you know.

00:49:54.880 - 00:50:08.650

So that's a, that's a good place. But very expensive yeah. So how about you, are you--are you from Houston? Yeah, I'm a Houston native.

00:50:09.390 - 00:50:23.100

Oh you born in Houston? A native, I see, so you know these are pretty well then. Yeah. Okay. So your parents are from China or from uh, other country?

00:50:24.680 - 00:50:38.190

Uh, they're from Shanghai. Shanghai, okay. My uh, yeah my parents were born in Shanghai. Yeah, they went to China—uh Taiwan in 1949.

00:50:38.190 - 00:50:52.390

I actually realized we were supposed to introduce ourselves ... pressed the record button. But yeah thank you so much for just sharing your thoughts with us. I think especially the

00:50:52.520 - 00:51:06.730

advocacy piece was really interesting, um— Yeah, that's new to me. Because I, you know I don't care—no, no, I didn't say—I just say, I don't think advocacy is my expertise.

00:51:06.750 - 00:51:20.650

But I just say there's no expertise, you have to just get involved, you know. So yeah, so I think uh if the time comes, uh you have the opportunity, you just have to act on that. You know with the right people.

00:51:21.280 - 00:51:37.050

Then you have a, hopefully that's a ripple effect, you know can affect more people. Right. So then, then, then, that will serve the purpose. Okay. So uh, you're more than

00:51:37.050 - 00:51:51.710

welcome to uh, to talk to me again if necessary. You know, or we can, I can invite you to a lunch, in Chinatown. Tell me which which is your most favorite restaurant, okay?

00:51:52.510 - 00:52:07.290

Uh which one is yours? Tell me which—what's your favorite restaurant? I feel like I haven't been to all of them but I really liked dim sum. So I think the dim sum place

00:52:07.780 - 00:52:22.570

that I enjoyed the most was Golden Dim Sum, I think it was called. That's a good one. Next try uh, HK Dim Sum. Ohh, okay. Yeah, the owner is from Guangzhou. It's very authentic, yeah.

00:52:22.570 - 00:52:29.210

Dim sum only, yeah. How about you? What's your name? Uh, Tian-Tian. Tian-Tian, Tian-Tian, okay yeah.

00:52:29.250 - 00:52:42.710

Yeah. What's your favorite restaurant? Um I think my favorite is like next to the, it's now an H-Mart, it used to be like a Golden Market, and it's the Shanghai Cafe.

00:52:43.510 - 00:52:54.470

Taste of China or that... you like the soup dumpling? Uh Su Zhe Hui? Like—I don't know the Chinese name, I'm very bad with Chinese. Is it like a uh...

00:52:55.010 - 00:53:07.910

It's like Chi—Shanghainese breakfast. I remember you brought us there once! Yes, with you tiao and... You tiao, ohh, the one next— Yeah right next to—it's a

00:53:07.910 - 00:53:18.910

breakfast area. Yeah. Okay, that's a traditional one. Xin Cheng. And then, but there's a new one. Try the

00:53:18.910 - 00:53:32.370

soup dumpling it's very good. It's the most famous uh Shanghai dim sum. Soup dumpling, xiao long bao. Okay. Yeah, I know every restaurant.

00:53:32.660 - 00:53:44.880

What is uh the best you know. Yeah. How about you, do you have any favorite restaurants? My favorite restaurant? Uh... no,

00:53:44.880 - 00:53:58.160

because uh every restaurant just have two or three famous dish. Not all the dish are good. So, so you have to know what to order. You know, but uh, my uh,

00:53:58.380 - 00:54:10.600

the restaurant I go is used to be uh my tenant's , or I've been there for a long time. Like, there's one called Shanghai, but it's not Shanghai. The name is Shanghai it's Cantonese style.

00:54:11.640 - 00:54:19.810

Yeah, it's Fu Zai Ji they've been here for 40 years. The owner is the cook. So uh, he make a really traditional Hong Kong

00:54:20.590 - 00:54:37.700

style. Yeah, Hong Kong Cafe is good for the barbecued duck. That's one of the best. Yeah, in—in Houston. Yeah. So I only remember what is a good, what is a good dish in every

00:54:37.700 - 00:54:52.970

restaurant, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, but I live in Hong Kong for a while so I—I enjoy more Cantonese food. Well we can talk about the food next time, just talk about the restaurant.

00:54:54.460 - 00:55:06.590

All right, okay. All right, thank you so much. I think-- No problem, enjoyed that. It's one hour. We told you it would be 30 minutes, but...

00:55:06.590 - 00:55:14.300

That's okay. another time, okay. All right. All right, thank you so much. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

00:55:14.300 - 00:55:29.440

Bye! I'll talk to you later, okay, bye! So to conclude, my name is Alicia Leong and we are—and we interviewed Mr. Kenneth Li over

00:55:29.860 - 00:55:37.600

Zoom on May 27, 2020 for the Houston Asian American Archive. I did this interview with Tian-Tian He.