Educator calls for rationality amid frenzy for overseas study
- By Ni Tao
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, November 9, 2015
This mecca of high-tech innovation fell on hard times when the dotcom bubble burst in early 2000s and the global financial crisis hit in 2008. Many companies closed, but to the surprise of the Chinese visitors, many people chose to stay.
Besides the possibility of a comeback, a more important reason for staying, as Woo sees it, is the local culture and character. Once people move in, they develop a sense of belonging.
In stark contrast to Yangpu's college town, adjacent to the Wujiaochang area with its many gigantic shopping malls, Silicon Valley is littered with small retail businesses, mom-and-pop shops and various cultural and art facilities, Woo asserted.
He cited the example of a small town near Stanford University, with a population of only 60,000. Small as it is, the town boasts two orchestras, numerous galleries and every month over two hundred cultural performances are staged.
A prevalent stereotype about Silicon Valley among the Chinese is that it is a hive of cutting-edge technology, and not much else. In fact, the place is also blessed with an appealing form of soft power. That soft power has eluded Yangpu, and China in general, Woo claimed.
'Innovation parks'
He is deeply critical of the frenzied construction of so-called "innovation parks" on tiny strips of land. (Note: Silicon Valley covers about 800 square-kilometers). Copying the model is easy, but real cultural landmarks, or knowledge communities, take time to build. The Left Bank of Paris developed into one of the world's cultural epicenters over 600 years, while Silicon Valley took 60 years, said Woo.
Innovation as a buzzword has been bandied about in China, so much so that an atmosphere of desperation hangs over the word, as evidenced in such preposterous slogans as "work hard and nurture 100 Nobel laureates."
Such desperation is inherently against the principle of spontaneity, which is the essence of education, because "people grow into who they are, not as a result of 'nurturing.'"
"What we ought to do is enrich the soil on which talent can flourish," Woo asserted.
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