Well, if you’ve been following us on our Twitter, you remember in early April while we were on tour, hearing us freak out about an interview we had to do with KTSF 26… why? Because it had to be in Chinese!! Well, last Friday it finally aired. We hadn’t seen any cut or had any updates about the piece, just got an email from the producer telling us it was gonna be up. Needless to say, we were all a little nervous to see what it looked like. Since we’re in LA, we couldn’t watch, but thanks to Cassfung who recorded it w/ her digicam and uploaded it. Above is the video clip. Click on to read some commentary…
 Â
When I was a kid, our family had only one tv. And every night, if my sister and I wanted to watch something, it better have been before 9pm because that’s when my parents would with no exception tune into Channel 26 KTSF for news and dramas and talk shows. KTSF is the SF Bay Area’s main Asian programming station. Chinese (mando, canto), Japanese, Korean, Viet. I think it’s the 2nd largest Asian network in the US right behind Los Angeles. So when we were asked to do an interview, we were super excited. And then we found out, it had to be in Chinese…and we freaked out.
Let’s just put it out there that our Chinese isn’t THAT good, as you can tell from the interview. We prepared the morning of with our parents help to write down and memorize certain lines that we could regurgitate, but when we got to the station, it was all lost as “on the spot” syndrome kicked in. We did our best though filling in with Chinglish. They cut out all of Wes’ cantonese sadly, but I guess this means we’ll just hafta do a separate video blog with him exclusively speaking. Ted pretty much pwnd the both of us. He dropped the best vocab and grammar.
In all, it was a great experience and I must say, I’m pretty proud that we were able to make it onto that station. Thinking back to when I was a kid and how big that channel seemed to me at the time… it was cool to be able to tell my mom and dad, “Hey, ya know the news program you always watched? Yeah we’ll be on there tonight.” Funny that, right after it aired, my dad called me and said… “Your Chinese is really bad. You need to get better.” haha, sad.
haha… I wonder how many of you sat down with your parents that and then had to explain to them who the heck we were. Maybe now that we met them on KTSF, they’ll have a better understanding… bad Chinese and all.
Shout out to Jin who was on the night before us and has incredible Cantonese skills.
August 29, 2011 at 5:19 am
I want the video of Wes speaking Cantonese !
January 10, 2011 at 10:51 pm
it’ll be awesome if u guys could post that video up with Wes speaking in canto
August 11, 2010 at 8:21 am
Will you guys post up the video of Wes speaking cantonese (: please && thank you
July 13, 2010 at 2:46 am
don’t be so down Philip…i m kinda impress with you guys that you actually spoke a fluent mandarin compare to other malaysian-chinese(not all of course).Felt so disappointed that wes’s part being cut off. wow,Ted is so amazing!!!his ‘s mandarin is the most fluent ..like Taiwanese i thought.
Anyway,do most Asian-American parents teacher their child to speak their native language?for your information,most chinese in Malaysia and Singapore prefer english rather than speaking mandarin….
August 15, 2010 at 6:31 am
Not true, Jeffrey. A lot of Chinese Malaysians I know actually are better in (and prefer to communicate in) Mandarin than in English, myself included. Just saying that “most” isn’t the right word to use. Although, I do think both Philip and Ted pronounce the words better than a lot of Chinese Malaysians that speaks Mandarin daily.
By the way, I thought Ted’s ancestry is from China mainland?
April 28, 2011 at 2:13 am
Jeffrey, I think that’s only applicable to Chinese Singporeans. =D I am a Chinese Malaysian and most of us actually speak Mandarin better than English. And many of us speak Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, Hokkien and many other Chinese languages. Kellen you are right, we may be better in vocabularies and grammar but our pronunciation and the way we speak are like….*you know how* haha!
May 2, 2010 at 1:03 am
I was looking through ALL YOUR VIDEOS AGAIN
at the end of your “essay” you mention about jin.
And I didn’t finish reading the paragraph cause it was tooo long.
Anyways
Do you mean MC Jin cause he is currently hosting a TV show in Hong Kong using Canto
February 14, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Very awesome interview! I love it!
October 9, 2009 at 4:02 am
You know, I still haven’t heard of a video blog with Wes’ exclusive Cantonese speaking skills…
October 1, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Ahahahaha poor Wes. i wonder what his mother would think, seeing that he’s the only one with no chinese speaking parts.
ROFL at the part where ted speaks canto and phil and wes just stare at him jealously.
But still nice to know that they’re getting recognized everywhere now.
September 19, 2009 at 12:30 am
aww boo they cut out wes’ cantonese…i’m glad u guys had the chance to be interviewed! ^^ canto pride~
September 2, 2009 at 9:21 am
Ted’s Mandarin was actually pretty good, not too bad on Philip’s part too. Umm as for Wes, why did they cut out the Canto? Nonetheless good effort guys!! Wish you best of luck in your Wong Fu career! x
August 15, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Nice!
You know…having bad Chinese skills…is pretty much the only downside of being an ABC ;]
June 23, 2009 at 11:47 pm
nice interview =). i used to be the receptionist at ktsf a little more than a year ago, i miss the place and am glad you guys were able to interview in chinese. too bad ktsf doesn’t have stirTV or nightshift anymore, two shows that were in english.
June 15, 2009 at 12:39 am
Congratulations on getting aired! You guys must be so proud. A huge stepping stone in your career!
June 10, 2009 at 12:01 pm
awesome interview! too bad Wes didn’t bust out his cantonese speaking skills… =)
June 9, 2009 at 11:57 am
yeah i was going to say, what happened to Wes and his canto?! that would of been super cool. too bad they cut him out – make another video! (:
philip its all good. at least you can SPEAK mando, i can barely understand it (im canto!) and ted is prettyyy pro <3
June 7, 2009 at 1:00 am
haha I applaud you guys for your Chinese skeeelz at least you all tried because if they said “ONLY CHINESE” I think I would’ve been like oh yeah, well INTERVIEW’S OFF. -___- I haven’t practiced Chinese much at all, especially since most of the Asians I know here in SD are Viet hehehe not that that’s bad at all. but great job! I hope to see you guys on LA 18 someday!
June 5, 2009 at 12:46 am
haha I remember being forced to watch KTSF as a kid. You guys did great, and it sucks that they cut Wes’ canto. I’m canto, and I’m sure that I would’ve done way worse. Like if you dropped me off in the middle Canton, and the only way I can communicate is with Cantonese, I’d be dead in an hour.
June 4, 2009 at 10:14 pm
haha i’ll be waiting for the separate video blog with wes speakin canto!
im canto but i took 4 years of mando in HS and i think you guys did a great job!! there’s not a lot of abc whose chinese is super super good(jin is just badass haha), and some can barely speak it! so you guys did awesome!!
June 3, 2009 at 11:14 pm
hmmmmmm one of these days i’m going to be the main actress in one of your shorts..you just wait and see hahahahaha.
lol ted busted out woooo!!! good job guys! ^_^ v cant wait for the next short!
June 3, 2009 at 10:00 pm
ah haha, what your dad said is the the perfect Asian parents response. Chinglish for the win!!! I’ve no idea why, but I find it so weird hearing Ted speak in Manderin. I can imagine you and Wes speaking Manderin/Canto…and ironically, Ted did the best speaking Manderin. ah haha
June 2, 2009 at 7:17 pm
oh dear! I think its awesome that you guys made an effort and tried at least. I dont understand why they cut wes’s cantonese off though, cuz the host..mc..wutever was speakin cantonese too…makes me more eager to wait for the release of the next hk short..xD
June 2, 2009 at 3:54 pm
aww! it’s cute how hard you tried! 白人看不懂! :p do you at least understand that? haha chinglish rocks
June 2, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Yeah I can’t understand Chinese either. So I used the power of imagination. The music sounded very emotional so I was going with that. This is so exciting for you guys, congrats! =D Just keep swimming along now, you’re doing an amazing job.
June 2, 2009 at 12:27 am
I wish there were English subtitles…since I cant read or understand Chinese..nor am I Chinese lol
I <3 Wong Fu!! So glad people are starting to notice you guys more each time! Your hard work and determination is getting results! Keep it up guys!
Greetings from Florida
June 1, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I’m so proud of what you guys have accomplished in a short amount of time. It’s amazing how you turned your dreams and passions into reality and made it a successful career- going on an untraditional route Asian parents often discourage and succeeding. I know you guys will be making bigger and better things in the future and I look forward to seeing them. No pressure though
Like everyone else, I’m also really disappointed that we couldn’t see Wes speak Canto. You don’t want to disappoint your fans right?!
June 1, 2009 at 6:48 pm
June 1, 2009 at 6:19 pm
was that the full interview that was aired !?
or just a part of it !?
June 1, 2009 at 6:18 pm
yeahh! As soon as I opened this page and saw that the clip is uploaded, I pulled my mom from the kitchen to watch you guys, so she can know who are the people I’m always mentioning.
Anyway, DANGIT!! I’ve been DYING to hear Wes speak in canto… what a major disappointment.
Phil, your chinglish was cool.. haha.. and yeah.. Ted’s mando was impressive… I liked his idea of building a bridge to connect the Oriental and the… Western.
June 1, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Heh. That was cool. Didn’t understand a word anyone said in Chinese, but it was still nice.
Part of the When Five Fell trailer at the end? Dayum.
June 1, 2009 at 12:04 pm
ahhh i stayed up till the end of the show to watch it.. near 12:50am ahah it was good
good job guys!
June 1, 2009 at 11:47 am
Ted’s Mandarin is really good…it’s actually almost spot-on lol. Phil’s Chinese is also pretty good. I didn’t hear much of an English accent.
請問-Ted和Phil是台灣人嗎?
June 1, 2009 at 8:58 am
awesome interview! i never heard phil or ted speak mando b4, but it was great! its cool to be bilingual. dude, it totally sucks that wes speaking canto got cut out, it would’ve been cool to hear. GREAT JOB GUYS! GO WONG FU PRODUCTIONS!
June 1, 2009 at 8:55 am
ted is so good at chinese?!
yall are awesome
June 1, 2009 at 5:22 am
Very Impressive!
June 1, 2009 at 12:49 am
this interview is so sweet!
June 1, 2009 at 12:30 am
That’s still an awesome job being able to speak in a second language in front of cameras on a television your parents would be watching. Although I was sad to hear that Wes’ Cantonese part was cut out, it would have been the only part I would be able to understand other than the English.
June 1, 2009 at 12:17 am
phil’s mando isn’t bad, just limited.
ted was really good at mando though. sucks that they cut wes’s part out. don’t you all speak cantonese as your main chinese language?
May 31, 2009 at 11:35 pm
congratulations you guys
you guys are truly amazing. thank you for sharing with us your wonderful talent
your videos inspire me to go after my dreams.
May 31, 2009 at 10:32 pm
The few words of Mandarin that I understood came from listening to F.I.R. Hahahahaha.
May 31, 2009 at 10:12 pm
WOW.
Hearing you guys speak Chinese is great. =D
I was really excited to hear Wes speak Cantonese though. =(
And I am impressed with Ted’s Chinese. That sounds bad. It’s not that I had low expectations! I just didn’t hear it before. And was very pleased. =)
You guys did a great job.
May 31, 2009 at 10:09 pm
awesome stuff you guys
so inspiring :]]]
May 31, 2009 at 9:43 pm
hey guys!
just wanted to say that i am an avid fan of your work and have never felt compelled to comment on your blog until this entry. I think you guys such a positive influence on the Asian community. You rarely see Asian Americans influenced in the media speaking Chinese. You guys did a terrific job!
And Phil, as much as you think your Chinese sucks….. mine is prob worse!
Keep up the great work! You inspire more than you even know
May 31, 2009 at 7:24 pm
nice! My mom told me you guys were on. haha. =)
May 31, 2009 at 7:03 pm
WHOA, the station used a song from Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimeters per Second!!! Totally wasn’t expecting that. It’s at the parts with the dropping photos and at 3:09. Full song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NuuhRrRQZo&fmt=18
As for the interview itself, I think you guys gave off a good impression. Unfortunately, I know only Cantonese, and not Mandarin. >.<
May 31, 2009 at 6:11 pm
lol you guys all looked so sad during the interview/tired and phil looks pissed off in that pic, but ted, who is normally like the least vocal one was really surprising with his chinese skills, but i commend your courage to go on and do that though
May 31, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Phil, your Chinese was fiiine. As was Ted’s.
You guys handled it pretty well, especially with the on-the-spot syndrome. I would have just forgotten my entire lifetime’s worth of Chinese within a few seconds. Haha.
…I didn’t realize Wesley and I had the same Chinese surname until today. o_O
May 31, 2009 at 4:44 pm
oh snaps.
ted totally owned. haha..
yup.. a separate video blog of wes speaking canto would be awesome! in fact, your next video blog should be in complete canto/mando.! (with subtitles of course)
good job tho. its not easy being bilingual.
oh, and now we know your chinese names!!
May 31, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Dang.
Ted, you’re my new hero. Wow.
and Jeez. the universe seems to make absolutely sure no one will ever hear Wes speak canto. haha.
May 31, 2009 at 4:27 pm
ted was a freaking pro! i only understood some basic phrases you guys said in mando. but i speak canto, that sucks wes was cut off. phil i knew you spoke mando cuz of your last name! xD wangs = mando, wongs = canto. haha.
May 31, 2009 at 4:16 pm
holy crap…. i didn’t know you guys knew mandarin, and totally took out Wes’s canto
SO SADDDDDDDDDD.
great interview guys!!!