王力宏

Leehom Wang Oxford Union speechexception。

because knowing both of a coin I reallythink thatthere’s a love story willing to be told and willing tounfold。

I’m willing to tointerpret the love storybecause I believe it is the story that will save us，will bring ustogether。

And my thesisstatement for today’s talk is that the relationship between east and west needsto be and can be fixed via pop culture。

（laughing。

）I’m going to try toback it up！The United NationsSecretary General Ban Ki-moon said：“There are no languages required in a musicworld。

That is the power of music and that’s the power of theheart。

Through this promotion of arts we can better understand theculture and civilizations of the other people。

In this eraofinstability and intolerance we need to promote better understanding throughthe power of music。

”The UN SecretaryGeneral thinks we need more music，andI 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 justteased for making fun on the playground，but this was fundamentally different and I knewit right then and there。

This kid，let’s call him Brayanthe Cowboy。

He started making fun for me，saying“Chinese，Japanese,Dirtykneess,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 manylevels。

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

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 morealike 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。