Edward Chow: leading through example

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs Edward Chow says part of leadership is to take care of people who are not able to take care of themselves. CAI CHUNYING / CHINA DAILY

Former US offi cial is proud of Chinese heritage

For Edward Chow, the betterment for veterans and young Asian Americans would be continuous missions, and he would never want to retire from these.

Decades of hard work have been devoted to these missions. No matter as a Maryland's Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or as a community leader, for Chow, the true meaning of leadership is to lead by example.

Born in 1939, Chow is still actively devoted to veteran and Asian American affairs, even after retiring as Secretary from Maryland's Department of Veterans Affairs. He is looking for three more roles: working with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the American Red Cross and as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA), Greater Washington, DC Chapter.

The third-generation Chinese American whose grandfather immigrated to the US in 1880, Chow served in the US Army but he never forgets his Chinese heritage.

"Chinese culture is part of my foundation. I like the Chinese way of doing things, the courtesy, the respect," said Chow, "I am proud to be Chinese."

But I always say, "Be proud and be respectful for your culture, but don't let your culture dictate who you are; let it be part of what you will become — an American."

Chow's grandfather, originally from Guangdong Province of southern China, started from scratch in Seattle. He worked in a cannery, and rose to a community leader later.

The grandfather's fearlessness always inspired Chow all through his life. He never forgets his grandfather words "to love America" in Cantonese.

Chow's mother, Ruby Chow, was born in Seattle. She and her husband initially worked in restaurants, and managed to save enough money to open their own restaurant, "Ruby Chow's". Their restaurant was one of the first Chinese restaurants outside of Chinatown in Seattle, trying to engage in American mainstream society, which was a very unusual decision those days.

They did it. The restaurant was selected as one of the top twenty across America by the Esquire magazine.

Strong and thoughtful as Chow's mother was, she did a lot for Chinese community, trying to help them to be better off. This undoubtedly had great influence on Chow, according to him.

"One time, my mother was helping someone who financially and physically threatened my mother. I asked my mother why," said Chow, "She had a unique logic. She said, ‘He will have to come to my funeral.'"

Thus, Chow grew up in a community full of mutual assistance and care. Bruce Lee, the prominent Chinese American martial artist, had lived with Chow's family in Seattle for five years after he got in trouble in Hong Kong.

Even having been discriminated against, the pride of being a Chinese and the love for America have never faded.

Chow said that one time in his family's restaurant, there was a man and a woman just finishing their meal. The woman suggested tipping them with only one dime, saying that "they are just Chinese". Young as Chow at that time, he turned to his mother asking why.

"She just said you must work twice as hard, and twice as much because you are Chinese" Chow recalled.

"That's why I work hard. It's the concern I have inside me that has propelled me to all my past accomplishments," Chow added. "I want America to be better."

Chow has lived every day of his life to reach this goal.

In 1956, at the age of 17, Chow was still in his high school. He voluntarily joined the United States Army Reserves, because he "wanted to serve the country". His parents fully supported his choice.

Upon completion of university where he was in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), Chow was first trained in the States before he went to serve in Germany, where he was assigned to a position that required him to deal with several difficult problems. He nevertheless successfully resolved the complex situation, and earned everyone's trust.

Chow later volunteered to go to Vietnam before coming back to Washington State. His persistent hard work and problem-solving capacity demonstrated during the war resulted in him being awarded the Bronze Star. His military service training, as well as that from his parents, eventually led him to be Director of Emergency Services in the State of Washington, and later the City Administrator of City of Kent.

When appointed as Maryland's Secretary of Veterans Affairs, under Chow's leadership the Department increased the number of claims to assist veterans from 2,000 to over 5,000 per year. "When my staff sees me working this hard, they would say, ‘I have to work too.' he recalled. "Because when you in leadership position, you must lead by example. You cannot sit back and let somebody else to do it.

Years of involvement in veterans' issues led Chow to the US Federal government: he was appointed to the Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1993.

During the Clinton Administration, Chow worked to develop policy and rules related to the well-being of veterans. "The Army was my secondary family," said Chow when asked about why he has been so concerned with veterans' affairs. "When you come across stressful situations in military, you can only depend on each other."

Chow also stated that many veterans are not aware of their war trauma or that they have earned benefits. He works continuously to engage veterans.

One of veterans he remembers most was also a Chinese American. He told Chow that he could not sleep at night, but got sweats. Chow persuaded him to accept counseling although he did not want to.

Chow was happy to see the Chinese American veteran was getting better with the help he finally received, and also regained his pride of service.

"A part of leadership is to take care of people who are not able to take care of themselves," Chow said.

Though Chow retired from the Clinton Administration in 2001, he did not retire from his devotion to veterans and Asian communities.

Chow later became the National Vice-President of the Vietnam Veterans of America in 2001. Later he was also a director at the Asian-Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.

In 2009 when he was appointed as the Secretary of the Maryland State Department of Veterans Affairs, he had just turned 70.

Deeply influenced by his mother, who was elected as one of the nine members of the King County Council in Washington State at the age of 53, Chow likewise loves helping others. That is why he never turns back on requests from Asian communities and veterans' affairs. "There are two principles in my family: to love your parents, and to love America," Chow still remembers.

In addition, one thing Chow is most proud of is his efforts to increase ethnic diversity in all communities surrounding him. "When I was the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in Maryland, at first the Commissions which advise the Department had no Asian Americans, no Native Americans, no Hispanic Americans, and very few women, and not enough African Americans" Chow recalled.

Two years later, however, the percentage of black Commissioners was raised to 24%, women Commissioners to 20%, four Hispanics were appointed, and there were two Native Americans and two Asians. "The reason why I encourage diversity is because it is fair," said Chow. "They are all equal and they all served their country."

"I think the situation in America is getting better now. But every one of us needs to work together, to demonstrate that we Chinese Americans can do it," Chow said.

Liu Xiaoxian and Cai Chunying in Washington contributed to this story.

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