Strength Grows out of Weakness

At the turn of the spring and summer in 2000,Liu Changle,the chairman of Phoenix TV,invited Anthony Yuen,the famous current affairs commentator,to join theNewslineprogram on Phoenix InfoNews Channel as a guest anchor.

Commentary in a colloquial way

Before working on TV,Yuen had been a columnist of current affairs and working in journalism for more than two decades.He said that ever since he started writing column essays,the standard he has maintained for himself is to compose fluent and catchy text.“Overly ‘mouthful’ language is by no means a good way to report the news.I favor colloquial language,no matter if it is for a TV program,my column,or news writing.”However,while talking on TV,Yuen could not help stuttering and stumbling,and even couldn’t articulate some syllables in a clear manner,which sometimes made the viewers a little anxious.

Once,Yuen explained,“I spoke Cantonese as a kid,then I went to Taiwan and learned my Mandarin from a Sichuanese,which seemed a little help.My tongue seems to get knotted easily,like if R is followed by S,it simply will not turn.So,I try to speak slowly—sometimes to avoid getting stuck on two consecutive syllables.”Even so,Liu Changle did everything possible to win Yuen over because of his penetrating insight on current affairs and his profound familiarity with domestic and international politics.

Growing up in Taiwan,many of his childhood friends are now serving as influential figures in local political circles.Later,he worked in the American media community for many years and made friends with many highlevel political figures there.When he returned to Hong Kong,he became the chief editorial writer of many magazines such as Asia Week and Newsweek in the area of current affairs,which has enabled him to know more about Hong Kong.In addition,he was interested in the mainland as well.Many officials like watching his programs and were willing to share information with him during interviews.Therefore,Yuen was exposed to many exclusive news sources,which rendered him sharp observation and compelling insight into many events.

2000年春夏之交，凤凰卫视台长刘长乐邀请著名时事评论家阮次山客串凤凰卫视《时事开讲》节目。

用很活泼的方式来讲

从事新闻工作27年，撰写了20 多年的时政专栏，而后在电视上开讲时事。阮次山说，他早期写专栏的时候，对自己就有一个严格的要求，就是文字必须朗朗上口，“绕口绝对不是好的新闻报道，口语化是我一贯的风格，这一点电视、专栏和新闻写作没有任何冲突”。然而，电视上的阮次山，说话总是有那么一点结结巴巴、磕磕绊绊，一些音节怎么也说不清楚，听得人心里着急。

阮次山说：“从小说广东话，到了台湾又跟着一个四川人学普通话，更是讲不好。关键是我的舌头会打结，R 和S 如果连在一起，舌头便转不过来。所以，有时候我讲话会比较慢，避免念不出两个连续的音。”

虽然这样，刘长乐却看中了他在时政问题上的洞察力和熟知欧美、中国大陆及港台情况的独特经历，千方百计把他“挖”过来。

阮次山在台湾长大，年少时的不少朋友现在是台湾政界的顶梁人物，他又在美国传媒界摸爬滚打多年，政界有不少朋友，现在已进入政府高层。回到香港之后，阮次山一直是《亚洲周刊》《新闻周刊》这些权威时事杂志的主笔，香港状况也基本摸清，加上他对内地一直非常感兴趣，很多内地官员喜欢看他的节目，见了面忍不住会主动报料，因此，阮次山有很多渠道可以拿到别人不知道的消息，看事情的层次会更深一些。

经不住刘长乐三顾茅庐，阮次山终于成了世界上唯一的结结巴巴的电视主持人，却由此幻化出一种别人找不到、学不会的独特风格：从容不迫，妙语迭出。刘长乐说，你照稿念就不自然了，你的特色就是结结巴巴！

Anthony Yuen,Chinese American editor and anchor on the Hong Kong-based television and media station Phoenix Television

At the repeated invitation of Liu,Yuen finally became a TV anchor,but he was the only TV host who suffered from shuttering and stuttering—perhaps in the world.This condition eventually enabled him to develop his own unique style of talking: slow and sure,full of witty words.Liu commented,“Reading out your manuscript is unnatural,stammering is your label!”

Yuen believes that serious political commentary on current affairs is too dull to attract viewers,so he presents it in a lively manner,filling it up with as much interesting information as possible.For example,he compared the political mentality of Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shuibian as “concubine mentality”; he explained the relationship between money and political interests in simple language,“We dare not to be the top dog,for you have to be very rich to be the top dog,otherwise when one brother asks for 20 million,and the other for 30 million,how can you afford it?”Who would doze off on such funny comments about current affairs?

Equal to powerful figures

Talk with World Leadersis a popular talk show hosted by Yuen to interview the most influential,prominent,and powerful politicians in the world,including Vladimir Putin,the tough tsar; Yasser Arafat,the “never yielding” leader; Colin Powell,the courageous and resolute Chair of the Federal Reserve; Megawati Sukarnoputri,the composed and sharp female president; and the like.

Different from Oriana Fallaci,the Italian journalist,and Mike Wallace,the American journalist,both of whom were good at the bold questions and forceful words,Yuen conducts most of his dialogues in a soft and delicate manner,quite similar to that of Chinese Tai Chi.

阮次山认为时事政治评论很容易让人打瞌睡，所以一直坚持用很活泼的方式来讲，尽可能地加入很多信息。比如他把李登辉、陈水扁的政治心态表述成“二奶心态”；描述金钱与政治利益的关系，用“我们不敢当老大，当老大是要钱的，这个小老弟开口要2000 万，那个要3000 万，我们怎么给得起”……这样来评论时事政治，谁还会打瞌睡？

与总统平起平坐

《风云对话》是阮次山对国际风云人物进行专访的名牌节目。专访对象都是全球最关键、最前线、最敏感、权倾一时的政要，从性格坚韧的普京到“誓不屈服”的阿拉法特，从果敢坚毅的鲍威尔到沉着冷峻的梅加瓦蒂……

与意大利女记者法拉奇、美国记者华莱士的提问尖锐、言辞泼辣相反，阮次山与世界政要的对话大多使用了中国太极以柔克刚的技巧。

“我在访谈中不喜欢咄咄逼人，越想问敏感问题，往往越要装傻，故作词不达意状，这招百试不爽。各国政要都是‘心墙’极度厚实的人，‘破洞’效果不大。但这些政要的心墙毕竟都是肉做的，都有弱点，关键在于用钥匙。”阮次山说，那把钥匙就是善解人意。

阮次山认为：“我完全能做到在心理上和这些政要们平起平坐，不会说因为对面坐的是总统，我就矮他一截。”

他还说：“电视采访，不管多大的腕，面对摄像机也紧张。比如说普京，一出来，我奇怪他脸这么白，原来是化的浓妆，英国首相布莱尔也是。80%的外国政要面对摄像机都会紧张，所以我和他们调整座位的时候就会开玩笑。

“对于严肃的人，比如梅加瓦蒂，一进门她的秘书就对我说：‘你的时间只有15 分钟。’我就叫翻译开始翻译。我说：‘夫人，你的样子和你的相片相比漂亮多了。’哪个女人会拒绝这个问题呢？她哈哈大笑。我说：‘我居然可以看到如此璀璨的笑容。’笑话讲完以后她就告诉秘书，让办公室的人全部出去，将军、侍卫部长，在场的全部走开。我知道我的访谈已成功一半了。梅加瓦蒂是印尼首任总统苏加诺的大女儿。苏加诺总统当年被反对派赶下台。我第一个问题就问：‘听说你1996年上台时，曾要求找回父亲当年的办公桌，办公室也装修成当年的样子。那么当你第一次坐在桌前，有没有公主复仇记的感觉？’问到梅加瓦蒂心里去了，她眼睛潮湿，心门为我敞开了。访谈结束时已经超时40 分钟。”

每天“练功”7 小时

俄罗斯有位科学家说，一个学者如果每天纯工作时间达到6 小时（不算可怕的会议），他的一生必然硕果累累、著作等身。阮次山有着他那个时代知识分子共有的特点：勤勉。他每天工作7 小时，20年写稿不辍，连节假日都在思考问题。怪不得在网上一搜索，阮次山名下的文章连篇累牍，如滔滔洪水，汹涌而来。

“I don’t like being pushy in interviews.The more I want to ask sensitive questions,the more I behave innocent and ignorant,like I don’t know how to express myself,which actually works every time.Political figures tend to be defensive by instinct,and trying to break into their defensive walls won’t achieve much.After all,they are normal men and women,who are weak in some aspects.So the most important thing is to find the right key,” Yuen emphasizes that the key lies in the fact that you shall put yourself in your interviewee’s shoes.

Yuen continued,“I consider myself equal to these powerful figures; facing a president does not mean I’m lower than him.”

He further said,“No matter how powerful he is,political leaders tend to be nervous in TV interviews.For example,when Putin came out,I was surprised at his white face,which turned out to be the heavy makeup.It was the same with Tony Blair,the Prime Minister of the UK.80% of my political interviewees get nervous in front of the camera,so I try to relax them by making jokes when we are adjusting our seats before the interview.

“In the case of Megawati,who’s quite silent and serious.Before we began our interview,her secretary spoke to me,‘you have only 15 minutes.’ So I started our conversation with a compliment with the help of a translator,‘Madam,you look prettier than that in the photo.’ No woman would reject such a compliment.

“She smiled,and I continued the praise,‘I’m so lucky to see your shining smile.’ After hearing it,she had her secretary,her generals,ministers of bodyguards,and others present leave the room.By then I knew that my interview had a successful beginning.

“Megawati is the eldest daughter of Sukarno,Indonesia’s first president,who was ousted by the opposition party.My first question was: ‘I heard that when you came to power in 1996,you brought your father’s desk back,and had the office renovated the same way as it was in your father’s time.So the first time you sat at the table,did you feel it was a princess’s revenge?” The question struck Megawati,whose eyes went wet and she began to lay bare her heart.Our interview lasted over 40 minutes.”

Keeping on learning for 7 hours a day

A Russian scientist once said that if a scholar could study for 6 hours a day (excluding the boring meetings),he was bound to be productive and fruitful.Anthony Yuen is exactly such a diligent scholar,as most intellectuals of his time did.He worked 7 hours a day,buried himself in writing for 20 years,and dwelt on big current issues even on holidays.No wonder you can easily find many of his articles when surfing his name online.He declared:“I spend 7 hours a day reading books and newspapers.I go to work at 9 am,have a couple of meetings,and then start reading and studying materials online,after which I do my live show at 12 pm.”

If it is not an emergency,he usually starts preparation in the afternoon the day before,and checks for the latest development of current issues the next morning.Yet when an unexpected event happens,he will immediately switch to the most current topic,which is not too difficult for him since he reads a lot and is always prepared.

As the saying goes,“The clean water in the ditch comes from the pure water at the source”;the scholar is always calm in the face of a challenge because he has sound knowledge in stock.Rich knowledge derives from intensive and extensive reading.While reading 15 Chinese newspapers every day,Yuen devotes himself to all the major English newspapers around the world online,ranging fromNew York Times,The Washington Post,andThe Wall Street Journal to The Times,Financial Times,andInternational Herald Tribune.Missing one newspaper would make him feel as though he is not getting enough information.With 1000 degrees of myopia,he has to be so close to the computer screen that his eyes seem glued to it.On top of all his reading,this energetic “little old man” writes three weekly columns for Lianhe Zaobao,Hong Kong Economic Times,and Malaysia Sin Chew Daily,with a readership of about 1 million.

Reading and browsing newspapers,analyzing and organizing mountains of information,linking seemingly irrelevant things together on a daily basis—this is how Mr.Anthony Yuen produces his inspiring ideas and the rich content in his talk show and writing,which help viewers and readers develop a better awareness of this busy and overcrowded world.

(From501 Mad Men I,Huazhong University of Science and Technology Press.Translation: Lu Qiongyao)

他不无得意地说：“我每天都花7 个小时看资料、看书和报纸。早上9 时上班，开一两个会，接着便上网找资料，中午12 点上现场节目。”

如果不是突发事件，通常在前一天下午，他便开始准备，第二天早上则查看是否有新的资料和进展。碰上特别事件，他就必须马上转换评论话题。因为平常看到的材料很多，即使突然转换话题，也没有太大困难。

渠水清澈，是因为源头有活水；老神在在，是因为肚子里有货。这些货色，全靠大量阅读得来。他每天看15 份报纸，然后从网上看全世界大大小小国家主要的英文报纸。《纽约时报》、《华盛顿邮报》、《华尔街日报》、《泰晤士报》、《金融时报》、《国际先驱论坛报》，都看一遍，要不然他就觉得信息量不够。一个眼睛近视达到1000 度的人，恨不得贴到屏幕上去读文章，令观者为之动容。即便如此，这个精力过人的“小老头”每周还要给《联合早报》、《香港经济日报》以及马来西亚《星洲日报》写三篇专栏文章，读者约有100 万人。

就这样每天抽丝剥茧，那些看似不相关的事就从阮先生的口中、笔下汩汩流出，相映生辉，把个纷繁喧嚣的红尘俗世打理得井井有条，让人豁然开朗。

（摘自《501 个疯子I》华中科技大学出版社）