This is my home: WP’s Chen Show Mao

The following is a translation of the report on Lianhe Zaobao on 3 April 2011. The first part is a translation from Lianhe Zaobao reporter, Yew Lun Tian’s Facebook page. The report is an exclusive interview the Chinese paper had with Workers’ Party potential candidate, Mr Chen Show Mao.

We welcome any corrections for accuracy. You can email us at: [email protected].

Translation by Sharon Ng.

Parts 1 & 2 of 4 parts

In the middle of last month, when news first broke in the media about corporate lawyer Chen Show Mao’s emergence as a possible Workers’ Party candidate in the coming elections, he swiftly became the focus of intense local media attention and was widely spoken about as Workers’ Party’s “trump card”.

In an exclusive interview with Lianhe Zaobao two days ago, he shed his secretive low-profile and broke his silence for the first time.   Unused to media scrutiny, he displayed a certain degree of nervousness, but given his highly effective bi-lingual skills, he was able to articulate fluently and clearly his ideas in Chinese throughout the two hour interview.  Breaking his silence for the first time, he spoke about his decision to come home, the reasons for joining opposition politics and also his decision to join the Workers’ Party.

There is a Confucian saying that you know your destiny when you turn 50 years old. Chen Show Mao believes that he is quite fortunate to be in a position to make this decision. He describes this as “the second half of his life”. He said firmly, “I have to give back to the society”.

Growing up, Chen has received plenty of help from the community. A recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship, commonly known as the “world’s oldest and most prestigious international graduate scholarship”, he said he wants to “fight the world’s fight”, in the words of Cecil Rhodes in his will.

“Besides taking care of ourselves and our family, we have an obligation to this world and the society at large.  This is my conviction.  I am no different from everyone, in the past.  I had spent my time and energy on my work. Who would not want to be recognized within the mainstream values and be perceived as a successful individual? However, I think I have reached a different stage in my life, this is the second half, I want to play the game in a different way”, said Chen Show-Mao.

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