 A Chinese American woman has just written an open letter to white expat men in China and it's going viral right now Yeah, we're gonna talk about it today. Joining us is comedian Alvin Kwai. Hello everybody. Happy to be here Yo, hit that like button if you guys miss Alvin Long story short. There's a website called open letters to people or entities who are unlikely to respond Kristen Moy She is a third generation Cantonese American here She is she wrote an open letter to white expat men that I've met by living in China and long story short She went in right it kind of turned into a rant She's talking about how they judge her Mandarin because they got better Mandarin than her They think they can make generalizations about the people and the culture and they always date women who you know Like local women and use them as like free what tutors? So basically this went really viral in a lot of online communities because especially obviously amongst ABCs or white People who had lived in China where she's directly addressing them, right? Yeah, and obviously like we've traveled to China Alvin I believe you've visited China before so maybe we've come in contact with some of these people But maybe our experiences have been different because I don't know we're dudes But I want to say that a lot of people are discussing both some white guys and a lot of Chinese-American ABCs are also responding and a lot of people are like what is she ultimately mad about is she mad about that? I guess white people won the last 300 years of history, but she needs I don't know what is What is going on in this article you heard it here first white people won the last 300 years everyone else has just been losing Dude, yeah, I don't know. I mean I will say she does have some good points You know like it is crazy for a white person to explain what it means to be Asian to like a person who's lived it You know just because you can speak the language and you know historical facts in the culture That doesn't mean you know what it feels like to be an Asian person. Yeah, that's a good point I think this goes along with any race like going off their point like There are people who have studied your culture more than you that's true And you can study things but at the end of the day you don't like know those things personally So it just really kind of matters your tone and how you come across and that can really bother people But before we continue guys, I do want to give a shout out to our hot sauce Smala you can get it Smala sauce comm made with real truffle Sichuan peppercorns It is also kind of from China and also kind of not from China as well So make sure you like subscribe turning your notifications into real quick I guess I want to say that it was it's a really interesting website concept, right? Like the whole concept is you write a letter to a group of people that cannot respond was unlikely to respond It's incredible dude if you're getting an argument with your significant other use the website They can't respond. Yeah, right right an article on this website I mean, I think that she's to your point She is pointing a lot of real dynamics because I do think that a lot of white guys That move to China and there is a pretty significant amount over there speaking Mandarin right some do some don't but I would say maybe like In at least the mainland China 7 out of 10 due to some level I mean, I would imagine you're either moving for Additional attention from women, which is almost like being a passport bro Feeling special because sometimes when you go out and you're a foreigner Phenotypically whether you're white or black. It's almost like you look like a superstar Right in China people are gonna stop and take photos with you especially if you're in a second tier or third tier city Where they're less exposed and you might just be looking for adventure, right? Those would be the three reasons in my mind why a white guy would want to move to China and then learn Chinese Yeah I think one thing that people have to understand is that a lot of like people in China like the local people They are very interested in foreigners not necessarily like only like attracted to them But they just find them really interesting like if you listen to Kanye West or Israel Adesanya or any Essentially like athletic-looking black guy that's ever been to China. They're like yo, that's crazy. They treated me like a star They all took pictures with me We even have a friend Vince Chang who's part Chinese but he's like looks mostly black and he's like gets seen as like kind of like It's very attention grabbing out there So what I mean to say is that I think if you're a foreigner and this goes applies to foreign or women too Oftentimes just showing up in China depending on where you're at in the city You kind of start to feel very special and that's going to push you to learn Mandarin more because you're like well If I just learn this language, I get this extra attention and feel like a superstar. All right. Yeah, let's do it Dude Chinese people love it Basic phrases like knee-how they're like what what did you get your PhD in Chinese which it's annoying cuz like You know, we're all Asian. We're speaking English right now, but no one gives a crap You know, I can't go down to like a cracker barrel in the south and be like hello And they're like what you can you can speak our language. This is a boy. I wish dude I wish I got credit for just being fluent in English Wait, but so yeah when you like step on stage you do stand-up comedy like you don't feel that anybody is impressed Small immigrant boy has mastered the the master's language enough to tell jokes in it and listen Don't call me small dude. I'm here right insulting. Yeah, but I feel like I should get an applause break every time I finish a set just because it's like you did a whole comedy set in English. Yeah, I mean, I think that we're all aware of this dynamic there's so many videos of a White person or a black person just speaking Mandarin in like New York Chinatown. It's got like 10 million views Right, obviously the reverse would get 10 views on the internet Um, but I guess one other quick thought that I have before we get into the comment section is Can you fault white people for taking advantage of it? You know I mean like like if there's this arbitrage to be had and they're this shlubby dude or whatever And they're not like super elevated or whatever And then you could feel like Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise or George Clooney when you go overseas and just say like knee-high Washer may go around Would you do it dude? If your bump is that big if you're getting a positive bump that big Then yeah, you should go over there and learn Mandarin like that's like me if I Knew that every time I spoke Spanish whatever Spanish I know if I knew every time I spoke Spanish I would feel like a superstar in Mexico. You don't think I would spend more time in Mexico Yeah, absolutely It was funny is like Chinese people and Spanish people are the same in that way We're like if you know a little bit of their language They're like they freak out, you know where it's like French people It's completely different because like you can know their language, but if you don't speak perfect French They think you're a piece of crap. They think you're like the scum of the earth Wait, did you even try your disgusting? I know but I learned friends in the trash can yeah Yeah, I will say though I do feel kind of bad for this chick just because like dude She's probably getting fetishized in like the states, you know And then she she's like I'm gonna go back to China where like I can be treated like a normal person And then you have the same like fetishers creepy like skinny creepy white dude with glasses wearing a trench coat Coming up to her saying the same stuff in China like why you're very exotic looking like you're like But in a different way in the sense of almost like they know more than you whereas in America They might use it as a conversation starter to get to know you better Dude, he's saying it in Chinese now like You're just like what is that I can't escape it Dang so you're saying this girl was like yeah, I'm gonna escape the West and all this Western fetishization goes to China You know what? I don't really like it here either. I don't like these It's like even worse. Um, let's get into the comments section here Somebody said, you know for me, this was my experience I used to feel so special when I lived in China and then I came back home and I just got lived a normal life I was not a special person to be looked at anymore. I don't know. It's just I'm having trouble coming back I was telling my therapist about it the other day, but there's just something missing here You know, New York is nice, but I miss feeling unique. That's special feeling. Yeah, that's it special Yeah, and like again if you really honestly feel special and I think that obviously every person can empathize with this That's why I want to empathize to an extent with guys who feel like they get this bump and they're like wow My life is so much better when I come over here and that's fine I'm no one's telling you don't do it, but also like, you know, you don't have to do it that way You don't have to be annoying. Okay, you're annoying sometimes by the way Even like Chinese guy, I mean white guys in America that can speak Mandarin and they speak better Mandarin than me, right? They'll like just be kind of annoying with this sometimes that I'm like, yo, like I get it bro. Shout out to you You learn the language But just calm down. Yeah, I would say to be fair a lot of white guys who speak better Mandarin than you They can say more sentences, but usually their tones are even gonna sound worse Like the pronunciation is not gonna be as good. Um, this guy is talking about I hate shout. This is from ABC I hate shout my NYC think about how ridiculous it would be if an Asian pulled that ish Asian man goes to Denny and shocks the white rachel waitress with a southern accent would that ever happen? And this is sort of just already addressing what we talked about where it's like, you know, like the villager Chinese They're gonna immigrate to America a white person in America is gonna order like some boughs some Rhodes high bow in Mandarin and they're gonna like their jaws gonna drop to the floor They're gonna film it on a GoPro and get 14 million views. Yeah, I know I mean Siamas also, I mean, he's a Jewish guy and I work in show business. So I'm not gonna say anything bad He's very polyglot. Yeah, I think the Jews are the greatest people on the planet and Everything you do Alvin wants to go on a world tour guys someone someone set it up for you What I would say is this like there's that one comedian Henry Cho who grew up in the South He was a Korean guy and I know that he has a whole joke about him not sounding how people expect because he looks Asian But he kind of talks like, you know, I'm Henry Cho, you know, and the thing is he does get a little credit for that But it's not as wowing when you come from an elevated level and you can speak the language of the people of a Lower level. I hate to say that but you know, if you're a white guy going to Second-tier rule city in China, of course, you're going to globally rank higher, right? So, of course, it's more like you'd like you're stepping down to learn the culture of Common people. I always say this how much of this stuff or this like rant because she says she's third-generation Cantonese-American does it just break down to just like the Anglo? I guess the Anglo sphere being the most dominant culture of the past 300 years But she's mad at it in the way that it impacted her what David you're saying, you know, I'm saying No, I'm just saying that everybody like it's almost like to me that Anglo culture is so dominant globally over the past like 200 years Or let's just say a hundred years around the globe. Yeah, it's almost like we don't even know Is that is that just default now or is it still somebody won this to make everybody speak English? Do you see what I'm saying? Like are we how what is our accepted threshold of like us feeling like we're a conquered people? That's why we got to learn their language or was this just like not everybody's we're all just English speakers I think people are just mad that it feels like it applies overseas when it should only I guess technically apply in America That dynamic because I totally understand like if you come to America The English is the language is English. So of course learning English is by default what you're supposed to do, right? Well, it is weird to that like, you know Asians in America are like treated as second-class citizens where it's like a white dude Asia's treated as like a gold star Yeah, it's like what why is this damn everywhere you go you get the VIP treatment like yeah, no, that's true That is that is true that you get treated worse in America arguably as a minority as a minority if you do I mean, I think it's different for Black people in China, but if they do fit that Kobe the Kobe athlete stereotype, then I think they can get it too I mean, I remember the first times that I started I was of partying age and I would go out in Hong Kong Right, there's this area called Lang Kwai Fong, which is like a party area But it's also a lot of foreigners and this is where like the international and a lot of like the cooler clubs are and it's like I always felt like when I was there that it was still ran by Australians UK and Americans. Yeah, and I didn't like that I didn't like that because I was like hold up guys if I want to go to a club that is ran by white people I could have stayed in America Versus now I'm coming to Hong Kong, which is in Asia, but of course a British colony and Now it still feels like it's being ran by white people Well, here's the problem with a lot of expats in in China or like in Hong Kong because my brother-in-law is he grew up in Hong Kong Is a lot of these like white people in Asia do think they're better than the Asians there You know and like them not learning the language is fine Like you can have your cultural enclave, but don't have a sense of superiority over it. That's ridiculous. Right, right key Yeah, no for sure. I mean I knew this dude who worked at an Australian finance firm in Hong Kong And he said that he would get picked on in Hong Kong in his finance for being Asian Yeah, I'm getting picked on for being Asian in Asia. Yeah, like that would be the same thing dude in schools like yeah kids would like if You go to international school in Hong Kong It's like 50% white kids like 40% like Asian kids and then 10% like everything else like yeah, you're getting bullied for being Asian Safe in my mother in like the motherland. Yeah. Yeah, and like we said, I don't know how much of responsibility is on the Asians to like Boss up to I don't know. It's tough to say This is a lot of comments from white guys on the internet toward Kristen Moy somebody said Oh my meek demure lotus flower. You are so cute when you get angry Which is obviously kind of like playing into her Steery type of them he said but I'm just joking a lot of people said they didn't like her tone But even though she made some valid points a lot of people said oh identity politics is a hell of a drug Who hurt this woman and then somebody was just asking for empathy for both sides empathy for Kristen Moy being this third-generation Cantonese American what she's going through but also I guess empathy Ultimately for the expats who went over there I'm sure just living looking for a better life for themselves But obviously there is some context of superiority complex whether it's overly conscious or subconscious involved Let me put it this way. I think a lot of Chinese Americans go back to China to feel normal while I think a lot of white dudes go back to China to feel elevated And I think that's a completely different intention like we want to go there just to get like equal Right, I guess I guess contrast that with immigrants coming to America Which was technically, you know prior to the last couple decades a white country We a lot of immigrants come here just to survive, right? We don't necessarily think we're gonna become scar face of like our respective domain, right? Yeah, well, that's why people like the scar face story, right? Because it's like that guy was a cuban who came and blah blah dude I also think it's that well he called like a common was joking calling her a weak dim your flower or whatever But I do think it's hilarious that like there's a stereotype of like Asian women being like submissive and like timid and It's like have you ever grown up with an Asian mom? The Asian women are terrifying do I grew up with an Asian mom and Asian sister who like beat the crap out of me When I was a kid, it's like they're not they're not dude any white guy who's been married to like an Asian girl for like 30 years She took his soul dude, right guys dead inside, bro. They're not we like they're like tigers dude. They're terrifying. That's true Ultimately guys, what do we think about this article and the internet like comments storm that ended up sparking because I'm telling you I was looking through the replies on Kristen Moy's article We're talking about some of the replies are like pages long like you know what I mean like so obviously it touched on a nerve Yeah, I mean I my general take away to kind of sum it all up is like Do I obviously have more empathy for Chinese Americans But I do think that if you do go over there and you don't know Chinese You can expect to have some of these interactions like even if I moved over there as a Chinese American male And my Chinese is not very good. I'd have to struggle and build up my Chinese and learn it over there and I Still might encounter I'm gonna encounter a bunch of white dudes who speak better Mandarin than me Right and I'm just gonna have to deal with it now The other part that you should that she shouldn't be dealing with is obviously the guys still looking at her with the same Fetishizing eyes and kind of like stereotyping her like Like they get to in America, but they just feel like because they're doing it in Asia and they know the Asian language They're like excused of it So I just think it's just the intention that they're going over there with yeah, like I said I mean there's probably gonna be a variance realistically I think like I said everybody goes over there probably for adventure probably to be seen as special and probably to get women Maybe number fourth is like some deep Sino file like interestee and like Jin Shu Huang and stuff like that But I would say you know, it's interesting that I think ABC women, especially ones that have been in America for multiple generations We're all second generation what 1.5 generation. She's third generation She's gonna perceive it even differently than we do because she's almost gonna see it like a liberal White woman being offended by these things whereas I feel like Asian guys. We're kind of just like yes Unfortunate, but that's just what it is. I don't know like I feel like we would see it with there's some level amongst guys of acceptance of this Unfortunate power dynamic whereas though. She's more like offended by what you're saying that she feels like She's equal with white guys so she can talk to them directly and be like hey white guys Stop doing this versus a lot of Asian guys just feel like you know, that's just the way it is man And I don't even care anymore. Yeah, because you can't care because what are you gonna do about it as an Asian guy? Obviously some Asian guys do talk about it as well, right internet. Um, I've been any final thoughts. Yeah I just think like dude if you're white and you just grew up around white people and then like you did they try I talked minority they act like they're mentally disabled Like have you ever seen like a white dude who's never been around black people and then talk to a black guy for the first time? It's the cringiest thing ever. They'll be like, hey, you know, whatever your name is like, you know, you know You like to play basketball. I mean not that you all like playing basketball, but I mean no I'm not saying you're like hope it's like dude. Just be normal. You can't just be normal So I almost like expect it, you know You almost have to expect it like if you just mean the whitest person on the planet Even they speak Chinese they're gonna say something that's mad stupid, right, right, right more than likely because is it because I guess Like because the Anglesphere is so big and it's like can even reach overseas nowadays depending like we're talking about growing up in like Shanghai American school or Hong Kong American school or something like that where it's almost like they a lot of Western people are white people. They never have to break their frame for anybody But everybody else is always breaking their frame to cater to them. Yeah. Yeah, you have to know how to cross a cultural bridge That's a skill which like I feel like if you're a majority in a country, you don't do that much, you know It's it's the same thing. It's like white people America, you know It's also the same with like if you're Chinese and China and like you see a black person for the first time and you start Touching their hair. It's like, what are you doing? Right? That's just like ignorance. It's the same type of ignorance Also, one other thing is like I just feel like when like often time I'll just focus on white dudes that learn Mandarin and learn about Chinese culture They all like become Chinese teachers and I'm like, you're not necessarily a Chinese teacher You don't got to teach Chinese to everybody even me I don't go around every person that I talked to questioning. Yo, how come you don't know this about Asian culture? How do you don't know this about Asian American like even as an Asian person that would be annoying? So I'm just saying it's an annoying thing to do period So learn what you can about the culture learn the language, but you don't have to be annoying about it Yeah, just be normal. Yeah Just guys open letter to white expat men in China just be normal Yes, I do think that one thing that deserves more examination This is my final thought is that you can be born into an identity That's very difficult to reconcile with the society around you and you can also be born into an identity That's very easy to reconcile. You know what I mean? Like for example being white or for her She's the third generation Cantonese American living in Beijing. I could see that being difficult Yeah, that doesn't sound like a perfect matchup to me right off the mind You know if we're talking about MMA or boxing like styles make fights It just doesn't sound like an easy thing to reconcile identity with but anyway guys Let us know what you think in the comment section below check out the links to the article and these