Leehom Wang Oxford Union speech exception

           

。。。because knowing both of a coin I really think thatthere’s a love story willing to be told and willing to unfold。I’m willing to tointerpret the love story because I believe it is the story that will save us，will bring us together。

 

And my thesis statement for today’s talk is that the relationship between east and west needs to be and can be fixed via pop culture。

 

（laughing。。。）

I’m going to try to back it up！

 

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said：“There are no languages required in a music world。That is the power of music and that’s the power of the heart。Through this promotion of arts we can better understand the culture and civilizations of the other people。In this era ofinstability and intolerance we need to promote better understanding through the power of music。”

 

The UN Secretary General thinks we need more music，and I think he’s right。

 

Music and arts have always played the key role in my life，in building relationships，replacing what once was ignorance fearing of hatred with acceptance，friendship and even love。

 

So I have strong case for growing in music between cultures because it happened to me earlier in life。

 

I was born and raised up in New York，barely spoke a word of Chinese。I didn’t know the difference between Taiwan and Thailand。

 

（laughing。。。）

I was American as。。。。until one day on a third grade playground，the inevitable finally happened。I got teased for being Chinese。

 

Every kid just teased for making fun on the playground，but this was fundamentally different and I knew it right then and there。Thiskid，let’s call him Brayan the Cowboy。。。

 

He started making fun for me，saying“Chinese，Japanese,Dirty kneess,Look at these!”

 

(laughing…)

 

The kids started laughing at me and it hurts!

I can still remember how I can felt，I felt shamed，I felt barrased，but I laughted along with them，with everybody。I didn’t know what else to do。I was like having out-body experience，as if I could laugh at that Chinese kid on the playground with all the other American kids because I was one of them。

 

Right？Wrong！On many levels。

 

And I was facing first but definitely not the last time the harsh reality that I was minority。

 

In Rochester，which in those ages Asian population was about 1%。And I was confused。I wanted to punch Bryan，I wanted to hurt him for hunting me in that situation。But he was masculine，stronger than me and he will kick my butt and he would do that so I just took it in。And I didn’t tell anyone with these feelings and I just held them in and let them repressed.

 

Those feelings trough surface in a strangely therapeutically for me through music。

 

It was no coincident that around that time I started paly violion，guitar and drums，I soon discovered that playing music or singing，other kids would，for a brief moment，

forget about my race of colour and they be able to see who truly I am，as a human

being who’s emotional spiritual curious about the world and has a need for love just like everyone else。

 

And by the sixth grade，guess who asked me if I could join him for his band。

 

（Bryan）

Bryan！

I said yes and that’s Bryan and me together，from the elementary school rock band called“Nirvana”

 

（laughing）

I’m not kidding，I was a rock band called“Nirvana”before Kurt Cobain’s band。So when Nirvana came out，Bryan and I were like:Hey，he’s stealing our name!

 

What really attracted to me is that music at this young age and still I love about it is that it breakes down the walls between us and show us so quickly the truth that we are much more alike than we are different。

 

Then in high school，I learnt that music was not just about connecting with others，like Bryan and I were connected through music。It was a powerful tool of influence and inspiraton。

 

Sam Nguyen was my high school janitor。He was an immigrant from Vietnam who barely spoke a word of English。

 

Sam swept the floors and cleaned the bathroom of our school for twenty years。

 

He never talked to the kids and the kids never talked to Sam。

 

But one day，before the opening night before our school’s annual，he walked up to me and holding a letter。

 

I was taken to the back and I was thingking;why Sam the janitor would approaching me?

 

He gave me this letter that I was draw off in a shaky hand and written in all capitals，and I read it:

 

In all my years of working as a janitor at Sutherland，you are the first Asian boy who plays the rock，I will bring my six-year-old daughter to watch you perform because I wanted her to see the Asian communities and inspire her。

。。。。。。但凡事物都有两面，所以我认为这背后蕴含着一个亟待讲述的爱情故事。我更倾向于这样的解释是因为我相信，这些关于爱的故事可以拯救我我们，把我们凝聚在一起。

 

我今天演讲的主题就是：通过流行文化修复东方世界与西方世界的关系

 

(众人笑)

 

（我知道这题目很大）我会想办法讲明白的！

 联合国秘书长潘基文说过：在音乐的世界里，沟通是无需语言的。这就是音乐的力量，这就是人心的力量。通过发扬艺术，我们才能更好地了解其他民族的文明与文化。在这个动荡不安，人与人之间不慎宽容的年代，我们需要用音乐的力量来更好的了解彼此。

 

联合国秘书长认为我们需要更多的音乐，这一点我很赞同。

 

音乐和艺术一直在我的生命中占据着很重要的地位。音乐和艺术的力量能帮助建立人与人之间的关系，用包容，友谊和爱来驱逐因为无知的仇恨而产生的恐惧。

 

对于在不同的文化背景下在音乐中成长这件事，我自己童年时期的经历是一个最好的例证。

 

我在纽约长大，几乎连一句中文都不会说，以前我连“台湾”和“泰国”都分不清。

 

（大笑）

 

知道我上了三年级，有一天在操场上，不可避免的事情终于发生了。因为是中国人的血统，我第一次被人取笑了。当然，平时一起玩的小孩子都会互相戏弄开玩笑，但是这次绝对不同，这点我在彼时彼地就感觉到了。我们暂且管那孩子叫牛仔布莱恩吧！他嘲笑我说：“Chinese，Japanese，Dirty Knees，Look at these！

 

大家都开始嘲笑我，我真的很受伤！我依然能够记得我当时的感觉，我觉得特别丢脸和惭愧，但是我当时跟着所有其他人一样在笑。年幼的我并不知道该怎么办，似乎觉得如果我能跟操场上其他美国孩子一样嘲笑“中国人”，我就能置身事外了，我就是他们当中的一员了。

 

这种想法可取吗？当然不可取，而且是大错特错。

 

那是我第一次感受到一件残酷而现实的事实：我属于一个少数群体。但那绝对不是最后一次。

 

在那个时候的罗切斯特，亚洲人口特别少，几乎只占当地人口的百分之一。我当时心里很乱。我想揍那个孩子，他伤害了我因此我也想要伤害他。但是他很结实，比我壮得多。如果我揍了他一定会被揍得更惨。所以我就忍下来了。那件事我从来都没有告诉任何人，一直自己忍着，压抑着那些难受。

 

我心里的这些感觉十分其妙的被音乐治愈了。我正好在那个时候学习小提琴，弹吉他，打鼓。。。。。。当然这不是巧合。我渐渐发现，当我演奏或者唱歌的时候，其他的孩子便会忘记我的种族，我的肤色而真正的接受我，了解真正的我，哪怕只是一些小会儿。每当这个时候，他们就会发现，我也跟他么一样，对世界充满感性的好奇和想象，我也需要爱。

 

到了六年级的时候。猜猜谁拉我加入他的乐队？

 

（众人：布莱恩！）

 

对，布莱恩。

 

我答应了，于是布莱恩和我一起组了我们小学的摇滚乐队：涅槃乐队。

 

（大笑）

 

是真的我没开玩笑。我们的乐队在科特科本的“涅槃乐队”之前就有了。所以后来“涅槃”出道的时候，我和布莱恩还嚷嚷：嗨，他盗用我们的名字！

 

所以在那么小的时候我就发现了音乐的迷人之处音乐能打破人与人之间的隔阂，能让我们那么快就看清彼此之间的相似点，而不是那些不同之处。当然这也是我至今热爱音乐的原因之一。

 

后来上了高中，我学到了更多：音乐不仅能沟通彼此，就像我跟布莱恩通过音乐结缘一样，他同时也是一股强大的影响他人，激励他人的力量。

 

阮萨木是我们学校的门卫，他是越南侨民，几乎从来都不说英语。萨姆在我们学校做了二十年的清洁工作，却从来没跟学生说过话，学生们也从来不跟他说。

 

但是突然有一天，在我们学校一年一度的音乐节前夕，萨姆找到我，手里拿着一封信。

我被带到后台，心里琢磨，门卫萨姆会有什么事儿找我？

 

他递给我那封信：潦草的字迹，全部大写的字母：我在这个学校工作了这么多年里，你是我见到的第一个上台表演的亚洲男孩。我要带我六岁的女儿来看那你的演出，因为我想要他看到我们亚洲人的群体，让她感受一下这种激励。