FT: Affirmative action in education fails majority

Letter to the FT (July 12, 2023) I was a bottom one-percenter, literally born on the streets of China to peasant parents, grew up in poverty in the west and arrested multiple times as a teenager -- I also attended Princeton University ("The moral bankruptcy of Ivy League America", Opinion, July 6). Although the US Supreme Court ruled to disallow race-based affirmative action, the history of similar policies -- notably proposition 209 in California, which banned race as a factor for college admissions -- and the present climate in higher education suggest that the Ivy League establishment will find other (non-race based) ways to continue to get their desired mix of students, in which Asians still end up being the biggest losers. Luce points to favouritism for white people due to that group receiving 65 per cent of athletic scholarships -- however, this number is roughly in line with their share of the overall US population. That this argument even surfaced shows the skewed view many have, perhaps in part because of the higher proportion of black people in major US sports. Nevertheless, Luce is on point that the affirmative action debate in its present form does nothing for the…

Chasing a hitman

I almost shot a police officer while on probation on a sunny May afternoon in 1994. I was 19 years old at the time and no longer a minor – my probation related to an offence from when I was a young offender. The night before, I returned home late after finishing a shift waiting on tables. I saw my mother as I entered the house. She mentioned that my dad had been attacked by a Chinatown gangster called “Brother Dragon”. I checked on my dad. He was lying in bed. I walked over to look at him, but as I approached he rolled away and covered himself with the blanket and mumbled that he was fine. I went to bed exhausted, but with a sense of anger that my father had apparently been attacked. I owned an illegal handgun at the time. The next morning before going to school, I packed my gun with me with the intention to go to Chinatown later that day to find Brother Dragon. However, when my classes finished that day, I realised that I had no viable plan. Toronto’s (downtown) Chinatown is a big place. Was I supposed to barge in to every…

Losing life’s keepsakes

All my life’s meaningful physical possessions – including my high school diploma -- were contained in a shoebox when I was a young adult. Yet, I threw them all away in my early 20s in a feeling of anger and worthlessness. Growing up I had lived in the attic of my parents’ house. It was a threadbare room with just a mattress, an unusable desk and some steel shelves. I stored my clothes in a few cardboard boxes. I had little in the way of physical possessions. The few that I owned, I had accumulated in a shoebox. They included old gifts and cards from my first girlfriend, a signature from Doug Gilmour (the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs from the 1990s), my high school diploma, and other keepsakes. I moved out to live on my own in my first year of university as a result of my parents’ house having been foreclosed. My family would eventually regain possession of our home. But as I was no longer living there, I had given permission to them to rent out my room to help with expenses. Several years later I moved back in with my family and took over a…

PAW: Ice hockey and more / Baker Rink more than just a hockey heaven

Letter to the Princeton Alumni Weekly (March 8, 2023) IN RESPONSE TO:  For 100 Years Baker Rink Has Been Hockey Heaven It was great to read about the role that Baker Rink has played at Princeton over the years (Sports, January issue). I was part of the Noontime Hockey group when I was a student back in the early 2000s. I also played intramural hockey at Baker during my time. One year the team I organized (named “A Bunch of Grad Students”) won the championship, surprising our undergraduate opponents who thought that they would walk over us — we were a team of mostly Canadians. When I went back several years ago for Reunions, I made it a point to take my skates with me so that I could get back on the ice. The article did, however, forget to mention another notable activity at Baker Rink: broomball. Not sure of its status now, but back in my time it was the most popular intramural sport on campus, with perhaps two dozen teams registered. It was played in sneakers but on the ice, and with a “broom” and a large soft ball. The ice was a great equalizer, as athletic…

Concordia University

At Concordia University I lectured classes in intermediate microeconomics and introductory statistics. I have also delivered various guest lectures and talks at the university. Intermediate microeconomics: Mid-term examination Mid-term examination suggested solutions Introductory statistics: Homework assignments 1 through 6 Practice mid-term examination Mid-term examination Mid-term examination suggested solutions ***** Guest lectures: INSE6300 Supply Chain Management (Fall 2018) Guest lecture 1: Game theory & its applications (competition & competitive structures) Guest lecture 2: Game theory & its applications (examples & applications) ***** Guest lecture: Graduate game theory course for information systems engineers (21 Mar 2017) Game theory applications in finance and policy. How game theory can be used to model the actions of players in financial markets and public policy.  

The Organ Grinder

I worked in services jobs from age 15 until 24. More than just making extra pocket money, I depended on these positions to support myself and my family. I was a busboy-cum-waiter at the Organ Grinder – a pizza eatery featuring a large theatre organ in Toronto (that closed in November 1996) -- from grade nine through first-year university (age 15 to 21). I bounced around five high schools and had multiple run-ins with the law as a teenager. The Organ Grinder was my anchor of stability. I grew up relatively deprived. The Organ Grinder was my window into middle-class culture. I learned to jive to the Chicken Dance and the YMCA songs to the music of the organ there. I also served thousands of birthday cakes to guests – the restaurant was a popular destination for kids’ birthday parties – even as I had never feted my own birthday. I worked many hours at the Organ Grinder, to the point that I still know the computer codes for the menu items, and I still get dreams / nightmares about working there. It was a loud and busy environment where strong bonds and lasting memories with colleagues were forged. And…

Homeless in 1st year at university

I was homeless for a brief period in my 1st year at the University of Toronto. In late September 1995 the bank foreclosed on my parents' house. Although repossession notices were constantly swirling around at that time, we had hitherto always managed to avoid being evicted. However, when I returned home from classes that fateful autumn day (I was a “commuter”), I encountered difficulty while trying to open the door with my key. And then I noticed the shiny new lock and a message taped on the door. For the next two weeks I survived on whatever was in my knapsack and the clothes I was wearing that day. It was a struggle to keep up with my studies; more significantly, the euphoria that I had over my new life at university vanished. I had approached school officials and told them of my situation. They recommended that I seek additional OSAP funds (government-supported student loans). As I was working at a restaurant at the time – and truthfully declared my income in the application – I was denied supplemental support. Although my family eventually regained possession of the house, I decided not to move back in with them. Instead, I…

FT: Swedish PM’s Chinatown quip at odds with the data

Letter to the FT (September 7, 2022) If Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson were familiar with crime statistics by immigrant groups, she would not take the view that her country would be better off without its Chinatowns (“Sweden playground shooting shapes voter concerns”, Report, September 3). The Danes have collected (and published) data on criminality by immigrant groups. A 2016 study by the Danish national statistical office shows that first generation Chinese immigrants have criminality rates more than a quarter below the Danish average. Based on patterns for other East Asian immigrant groups and in other geographies, criminality rates will fall to less than half the level for the Danish population as a whole, for second generation Chinese immigrants. This phenomenon holds in Sweden as well. Not all immigration is equal. Kai L Chan Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Article as it appeared online. © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2022. FT and ‘Financial Times’ are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.

My German family

I have a “German family”. I have known the Ewerszumrodes since 2004 when they hosted me when I interned in Cologne. I spent time with them again in 2005 when I did a follow-up internship in Frankfurt. I had no connections to or knowledge of Germany before 2004. Based on clichés, I was expecting a distant or transactional relationship with my hosts. But nothing could be further from the truth. The Ewerszumrodes are warm and generous. I don’t remember paying for anything whenever we went out. Mr Ewerszumrode would never let me go to bed without first having a few Apfelwein (apple wine) and beers with him. And their two sons (about the same age as me) took me out with them all the time. My meeting them in 2004 was fortunate. I was depressed at the time and was on the verge of leaving Princeton without finishing my degree. Their kindness helped rejuvenate my spirit to finish the PhD. I always swing by the Ewerszumrodes when I am passing through Germany, including having spent Christmas with them in 2008 and 2014. And of course, no visit is complete until plenty of Apfelwein is imbibed.

Princeton graduation

Fourteen years ago (03 June 2008), I was awarded a PhD (economics) by Princeton. Seventeen years before that, I was awaiting bail at court, held in custody at a youth detention centre with blood caked on my hair. There, began my journey in and out of the justice system throughout my teens. The circumstances of my youth suppressed the (raw) gift I had in scholastics. Beyond my experience with the courts, I bounced around five high schools and worked practically full time since the age of 15 in service jobs up until I went to Princeton. But I applied my talent when it mattered: I gained admission to the University of Toronto (undergraduate) in 1995 and then earned a scholarship to attend Princeton in 1999. But academics was not my priority when I arrived at Princeton. I yearned for experiences that bypassed my youth due to my hardships, and I struggled mentally, socially and emotionally as an outsider (in all aspects of life). Nevertheless, I persevered and my PhD committee gave me the green light to graduate in 2008 (after nearly dropping out in 2004, leaving campus in 2005, and given a false OK in 2006). I did not pursue…