Friday, July 15, 2005

The Asian Ethic on Work

Laurel Kenner: In the American Spirit

I stopped by to see Angela Lam, an importer of fine Chinese antiques. She shows me a pair of 100,000-year-old mammoth tusks carved with a flourish of fierce dogs. We chat about our lives. I ask if she has children. Yes, she says. Her 17-year-old daughter has already been accepted at Columbia Medical School. "You must be so proud," I said, gazing at the passion in the mother's eyes. "She must be really smart." "Yes, very smart. She studies all the time. The only time she watches TV is after an exam. Sometimes I get up at night and her light is still on." "I'm sure you had everything to do with it." "No, she wants to study. She told me, 'I want to give you money, Mom.'"

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