Michael Tien
The founder of the G2000 group, Michael Tien first entered local politics by joining the Liberal Party in 2008, before co-founding the New People’s Party with Regina Ip in 2010. He tells Leanne Mirandilla about his philosophies, career and family.
Where I went to school when I was young was dictated by my mother. She got me into a very elite local boy’s school, Diocesan Boy’s School. I couldn’t excel in anything—in any subjects, in any sports—because the competition was too keen. I was part of this very silent majority.
And then, in the summer of ’67, because of the [Hong Kong 1967 Leftist] riots, my mother decided to put me into a US boarding school for one year before university. I ended up going to a school called Worcester Academy which had never accepted Hong Kong students before. Surprisingly, after one year I came in third in a class of 160.
In Chinese there’s a saying that failure breeds success. Actually, that only applies to about 10 percent of the population. For the other 90 percent, I would say that only success breeds success. If you don’t let these people succeed in something—anything—they will be nobodies for their whole lives. That’s what I learned. And I always remember that.
I came back and said, “Okay, I’m going to be an entrepreneur, I’m going to build the most recognized brand [G2000], I’m going to make a lot of money”—then what? I wanted something to make me feel fulfilled. There was sort of an emptiness in me. That’s why I started getting into public service. For public service, I don’t believe in writing a check. Some people help others by sharing their wealth. I like to help others by sharing my time and my brain. I started down this road 20 years ago and I haven’t stopped.
There’s a huge difference between politics and business. To me business is much easier. Business is the single-minded pursuit of one goal. It’s totally results-driven, you don’t really need that much consensus, and a lot of times it’s trial and error. In government, it’s totally the opposite. There’s no right or wrong in many cases. You need to achieve a consensus and pull different people together.
My position [regarding national education] is that it’s vitally important. “One country, two systems” will not last forever. It’s not our choice. It’s inevitable. My position is very simple—we need to teach it objectively, without bias. You can’t say the Communist Party is all bad and that Western democracy is the best model in the world. You need to articulate the pros and cons.
