As I See It

When New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin led his team on a seven-game winning streak in the 2012 NBA season, he started something he didn’t expect. The so-called “Linsanity” phenomenon catapulted the 23-year-old Taiwanese-American into the national consciousness and captured the imagination of the entire Chinese speaking world. At the same time, Lin’s meteoric rise from zero to hero touched off a torrent of public debate on a subject that has hitherto received little attention: the image deficit of the Asian Male. Lin overcame great odds to be on the court When asked to comment on Lin’s sudden fame, NBA royalty Kobe Bryant said, “His skill level was there from the beginning. It probably just went unnoticed.” Kobe was spot on. Until his accidental NBA debut, Lin was underestimated and overlooked. Despite having led his high school team to the California state title, he was routinely snubbed by college recruiters and NBA scouts. Unlike Yao Ming... ____________________...

This November my parents will celebrate their 25th year in Canada. For two and a half decades, they have lived out their retirement dream in a quiet Toronto suburb, a world away from the humdrum city life they left behind in Hong Kong. Scattered around the world, their five children and half-dozen grandchildren take turns visiting them. I, for instance, take the 16-hour trans-Pacific flight from Hong Kong to spend a week with them every winter. In their house, they have kept my room the way I left it 15 years ago. When I go to the kitchen, I will see my name written on the wall calendar in bright red ink, with a squiggly line that runs across the days of my visit. My mom and her two oldest children, taken in 1965 When I am in Hong Kong, I am supposed to call my parents twice a month. There is always an excuse not to: the twelve-hour time difference (or is it thirteen?), my travel schedule, a writing streak that cannot be interrupted. It doesn’t bother my dad nearly as much...