Kaifu Lee, currently global vice president of Google and president of Google China, has been following his heart and devoting himself in creating his career in his beloved country.

Why am I "distracted"?

When people are talking about Lee, they frequently use the words "strong feeling toward China" to describe him. Once upon a time, Lee was giving a speech in Tsinghua University when a student asked him why he returned to China. He replied, "I have always been keeping my parents' words in mind: don't forget you are a Chinese. I hope that when I am growing old and looking back, I can be so proud of myself because I have done something for the Chinese people; when I leave this world, I hope people will say 'Lee has done something for the Chinese people' when they are thinking of me. Thus, I would feel like I did not fool away my life."

One of Lee's colleagues later said, "Finally Kaifu spoke that out. He never said so before, but I can feel that he has that in his heart." Many people do not understand why Lee has been "distracted" from his business and paid so much attention to China's educational development. This is the answer. With a deep concern for his nation and a strong consciousness of national identification, he spent a lot of time on giving speeches, writing articles, and answering questions from the students.

Many said that Lee inherited the "China complex" from his father. He was a guy marching forward and "shouldering a mission inherited from his father". Indeed, some impact will strike root in people's heart without being noticed. As time goes by, these effects could be more and more visible and clear.

Lee's father gave him a calligraphy banner that was hung in his study room, telling him that "tolerance enhances morality and mental equilibrium demonstrates virtue" Over the past years, this piece of calligraphy has accompanied Lee all the way through China to the United States. He has been appreciating the real meaning of the calligraphy.

Lee has a typical Chinese style in his personal behavior. He is mild, reserved, neither haughty nor humble. Only once, when he saw an author in a book describe him as "this American", he seriously underlined the two words and added a question mark by the side. His strong response gave the author a very deep impression and made him clearly understand Lee's attitude: Lee obviously does not like other people to treat him as an "American".

Following your heart

Lee touched on lightly the hot lawsuit in the interview. He said, "I did not make a sudden quit, but got a sudden accusation! But all of these turned out to be a good way to lose weight."

When it came to Microsoft, Lee said that Microsoft is a great company. He learned a lot in Microsoft which would benefit him in his whole life. He also added that Google is an amazing company. "China has many excellent young people. If I can bring Google's culture into China, maybe we can create a 'Google China miracle'. This might even help our young people create more miracles in the future", said him.

A student left a message in Lee's BBS on the Internet: "No matter how the disputes between Microsoft, Google and Lee are resolved, the final winners would be Chinese young people". Lee was deeply moved.

On July 5, 2005, Lee moved into the president's office. His first words were "I need to follow my heart."

"The reason why I love this job is because all these guys strongly support me to continue helping the Chinese students. My favorite part in returning to China is that I can help the Chinese students in my own presence. It makes much more sense than a virtual BBS on the Internet", Lee explained in his letter published in his Student's Network.

Now, Lee has been back to China as president of Google China. He has a plan to enroll 50 students before he retires and provide with them personal and overall training.

Not everything can be abandoned

The decision to shift from Microsoft to Google, by his own words, is "a positive choice". Just like what Lee said in the interview, "Microsoft is a good company. I am very happy working for Microsoft. However, if a person is always satisfied with what he has in hand and is reluctant to relinquish what he has, he would never get more."

Once you choose something, you are bound to give up something for it. However, Lee does have something he cannot give up at all. "I think there are some things that can never be abandoned, such as your value, your commitment to honesty and sincerity, and your love towards your family and friends. Those are something I could not give up at all", said Lee.

Lee is good as his words. He spends weekends together with his family as much as possible. To balance life and career, he would handle his business before his family get up or when they are watching TV. Once his family calls him, he would join them in the first minute.

"We all likes watching TV and movies. For example, we bought DVDs of "Friends" which was so popular. The only luxury in my house is a set of home theatre appliance as perfect as a cinema", said Lee.

Kaifu Lee's bio

Lee is the global vice president of Google and president of Google China. He has developed the world's first "non-specific persons continuous speech recognition system". He was born in Taiwan in 1961 and was the global vice president of Microsoft. He is also the founder of Microsoft (China) Institute.

Kaifu Lee had been the Microsoft Corporate Vice President before he was appointed as the president of Google (China) and was also co-responsible for the establishment of (China) Institute of Product Engineering on July 19, 2005. On the same day, Microsoft filed an indictment against Google and Lee. The lawsuit with Microsoft made him a hot figure in 2005.

By People's Daily Online