James Lee TEDxShanghai 2020

Transcriber: Đạt Đào Quang
Reviewer: Hani Eldalees

Hello, everyone, my name is James Lee.

I’ve been in the music
industry about 16 years,

and I started in Los Angeles, California

I moved to Korea
in 2011 with my rock band.

We were called Royal Pirates,

and they gave me the opportunity
to travel the world and tour

and play in arenas in front of
tens of thousands of people.

And that all came to an end in 2015.

When my left hand was cut off,

I was walking into a restaurant
and a glass door collapsed

and severed my left hand, dislocated
my left shoulder

and left me with glass stuck in my head.

So I had to transition from being
a full time bassist, to being now

a full time music producer who’s
blessed to work with some of

the best artists in the world.

Thank you.

I started my music production career
in China in 2017.

And like I said, I’ve been able to work
with some of the best singers,

some of the most popular artists,

some of the names you might know include
Angela Baby, Tonguing, Junkier.

I’ve also had the opportunity to be

on stage with some legendary singers
like Sonny or Wang Lijun,

just to name a few. And I started 2020
off with a ton of momentum,

so I was working as a concert producer

for very popular artist who was coming
fresh off of a TV show that was

a competition based for idols.

And we had a fantastic first show in front
of thousands of his screaming fans.

I can not forget the ringing in my ears,
the thousands of fans screaming his name.

And we said, man, this is
going to be a great 2020

We’re going to tour the rest of China.
It’s going to be great.

But I said before we go, I got to go back
to L.A. and see my parents real quick.

I’ll be right back. And so I got on
the plane, I got back to L.A. .

And then the world changed,
as you guys know.

So going from the bright lights,

that would have been easy to be
depressed being stuck at home,

but I decided to take this opportunity
to really focus on the one thing

I wasn’t able to do over
the past 10 years.

And that’s improved my relationship
with my parents.

And don’t get me wrong, there is nothing
ever sour about our relationship.

They’re great people. They’re beautiful.

Hi mom, and honestly,

I just want to do my best to make sure
that they had the best time with

the time they have left, because
being away for 10 years,

it made me re-evaluate the way
that I process time.

I used to think of time in terms
of minutes, hours and years,

but being away for so long, I start to
think of time in terms of visits,

in terms of moments and every visit,
I would notice something new.

There would be a scar or there would be
a new set of wrinkles on their face

or there’d be a new physical ailment.
My father is disabled.

He’s unable to walk properly,

and he had four serious back
surgeries after which

the doctor said he would not
be able to walk ever again.

So his ability to be mobile at this point
is a testament to defying the odds.

So I wanted to spoil them. I wanted
to give them something special.

And I thought, what better
way to expedite

the improvement of our relationship
than by buying them a car?

So I bought them a car, and it’s not fancy
it’s nothing super expensive,

but it worked and it made them happy, so
The longer I stayed.

I began to recognize why the gift
of a car was so significant.

It’s not that it was a toy,
but it was a tool.

It gave them the mobility and freedom
that they didn’t have before.

And let me give you an example of
why that was so significant.

My older sister just had her second
child and whenever they wanted,

they could come visit and hang
out and watch the baby

and they wouldn’t have been
able to do that before.

They would have been home just
wondering what we’re doing.

And so with this, I saw a re-emergence
of strength.

Of confidence and maybe even
a little hope.

After my accident, I began to realize
that every single person will have

a moment in their life.

Where the fundamentals of who
they are will change.

After 2020, I learned
that this can happen again.

And this can happen again and again.

But it’s really up to us to do
our best with what we have.

Now, my parents are happy
with their new car.

And yeah, they’re healthy and
happy and loving life,

so that’s a plus one for me. Thank you.