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  • 5 weeks ago
Dr Jason Leong's stand-up special celebrates a decade of comedy, sharing hilarious anecdotes from a global tour. The doc | dG1fT3ZVelpPWElPYms
Transcript
00:00Last year, I traveled and did comedy in the United States of America.
00:03That's right, yeah.
00:04It's the big market for comedy, the mecca of comedy.
00:08I did shows in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and even parts of Canada.
00:12It was very nice.
00:13But a very unfortunate byproduct of the journey is that I met a lot of American white guys.
00:19And American white guys are a very special subspecies of humans.
00:25Because every single American white guy I met sincerely believe that they have the power
00:31to make a difference and save the world.
00:33Each one of them, he himself, one person, can make a difference and save the world.
00:37Very optimistic.
00:39Very different from Asian people.
00:40You ask any Asian person, hey bro, you want to make a difference and save the world?
00:43No, no, no.
00:44I want to make money and save for retirement.
00:45Okay, make a difference.
00:48You've got no time to save the world.
00:49I'm very sorry.
00:50Okay.
00:51There's a lot of differences between us, right?
00:52But in that regard, we are the most different.
00:54And I think it's because of our upbringing, you know.
00:57When children reach a certain age where they can ask their parents the existential question.
01:01Mommy, Daddy, where did I come from?
01:04Now American parents, you see this in the media and the pop culture.
01:06American parents will paint the most beautiful picture to answer that question.
01:12Mommy, Daddy, where did I come from?
01:13Oh darling, you were born in heaven.
01:17Then the angels wrapped you in their white cloth.
01:19And then the bird, the stalk picked you up, flew across the sky, through the clouds, came
01:24out to our house and dropped you in our arms.
01:27Oh, so beautiful.
01:28Of course, with that kind of origin story, of course they can save the world.
01:31Right?
01:32You're the prophet, you're the Messiah, of course.
01:34Think about it.
01:34The angels delivered you from the heavens via bird to your doorstep.
01:42Same day delivery.
01:43That's amazing.
01:47Of course they can save the world.
01:49You ask Asian parents the same question.
01:52Mommy, Daddy, where did I come from?
01:54Chinese parents, we found you in the rubbish bin.
02:00We found you in the rubbish bin.
02:04And it's not the words that are hurtful per se.
02:06It's the tone.
02:08We found you in the rubbish bin.
02:10We weren't looking for you.
02:13Our lives were full and complete.
02:16One day, your mom and I, we went to throw rubbish.
02:19We walked to the rubbish bin.
02:21We opened up the bin.
02:22Hey, you were there inside.
02:25Which means someone else threw you out.
02:27So out of the kindness of our good hearts, we took you in and loved you as our own.
02:31That's why we Asian kids, we grew up very neurotic.
02:33We have to work hard, save money.
02:34We have to pay back our parents, right?
02:36Every transaction of filial piety is paying back our parents.
02:39Western parents don't have this dynamic, right?
02:42So they can freely say, oh, my kids, they are the apple of my eye.
02:46Asian parents, my kids, ROI.
02:50Where's the…
02:51Your childhood is an investment.
02:54Where's the money?
02:54I'm waiting for the money.
02:58But of course, my friends, I'm not here to say that one type of parenting is better than the other.
03:02No, right?
03:03Because you see these American kids, Western kids, right?
03:05They're very confident.
03:07But inside, no knowledge, no skills.
03:10All hollow.
03:12You see Asian kids like us, right?
03:14We've got knowledge, we've got skills.
03:15But no confidence.
03:17Can't tell a good story.
03:17Can't sell ourselves.
03:18No good PR.
03:19My daughter is four years old now.
03:21One day, she'll grow up and she'll ask me,
03:23Daddy, where did I come from?
03:24I will say, darling, you were born in heaven.
03:30Then the bird picked you up and dropped you in a rubbish bin, eh?
03:34It was fair.
03:36Fair, good balance.
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