Bridge Builder for Immigrants

David Ma fled China at age 7, after the Communist takeover in 1949. But his heart has never stopped yearning.

“My dream is to see China become a democracy,” Ma said recently in his cluttered Monterey Park office, which doubles as the U.S. headquarters for the dissident Chinese Rights Party.

Ma, who makes his living offering a variety of services to Chinese immigrants, registered the organization in Hong Kong less than two months before it was returned to China by Great Britain in 1997.

The Chinese Rights Party, one of the numerous pro-democracy groups trying to influence the Chinese government, has fewer than 150 members in 12 countries. But Ma believes its moral influence goes far beyond its numbers.

He said it has inspired democracy fighters in China to start their own underground opposition Chinese Democratic Party and has encouraged an untold number of Chinese longing to be free from the authoritarian regime.

Imbued with boundless energy, the 58-year-old Ma churns out news releases and letters in English and Chinese about human rights abuses in China. He lobbies American politicians. He organizes events for Chinese dissidents in exile and frequently travels with them as an interpreter, calling on his entomologist wife, Grace, to pick up the slack.

“We believe that the time is ripe for China to establish human rights protection, a multi-party system, an effective parliament and independent judiciary, and a non-politicized armed forces,” Ma wrote to China’s top officials, including President Jiang Zemin, when he founded the Chinese Rights Party.

In July, when Beijing was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics, Ma described the government as a two-headed monster:

“One has a pleasant face that wins the Olympics, and the other side a demon. They could change their face at any time.”

Some in Southern California’s Chinese American community go so far as to say that they shun Ma. He said he doesn’t care, that he is “a rare animal” among first-generation Chinese Americans, many of whom he believes are afraid to publicly criticize China and Taiwan for business or family reasons. “I don’t want anything” from China or Taiwan, Ma said.

“We have one objective, which is to change China, not overthrow it,” he said. “There are people in the democracy camp who oppose me because they think I am too soft. I am thinking about how to change China without bleeding it.”

From his modest office, bedecked with a miniature Statue of Liberty and a Norman Rockwell print, Ma supports an array of community causes. His second passion is Kiwanis International, a service group that helps children and young adults worldwide.

Community Advocate

He believes Asian immigrants would do well to adopt the Judeo-Christian ideal of community conscience as they study English and learn about their adopted country.

Ma’s father was a playwright and director who left his family for a concubine. Ma grew up in Hong Kong and Hawaii. He was a child actor who still loves performing. Friends recall parties at his home where Ma has entertained his guests in a karaoke room, crooning old love songs in his native Shanghainese.

He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Hawaii, sometimes working three jobs at once. After a stint in the Army in Seoul, where he met his wife, Ma joined the Foreign Service, serving 12 years with diplomatic missions in Burma, Tokyo and Hong Kong. He said he left to create a job that combined his love for China, the country of his birth, and America, his adopted land, with community service.

He settled in Monterey Park in 1982, when the San Gabriel Valley was attracting a huge influx of Chinese immigrants. With his connections in Asia and knowledge of six Chinese dialects, Ma saw an opportunity to help new arrivals and prospective immigrants settle, offering services ranging from buying a home and business to immigration.

He also witnessed how difficult it was for newcomers, however well-educated, to adjust. Many felt socially uncomfortable among non-Chinese, and had difficulty communicating in English, he said.

So Ma organized the first Kiwanis club for Asian immigrants in the United States. He called it the Kiwanis Club of San Gabriel Valley/Asian--and caused an uproar inside Kiwanis. Many members perceived his club as divisive.

Ma persevered, and a year later the Asian club merged with the older but smaller Monterey Park Kiwanis Club. The merged group, today overwhelmingly Chinese, conducts meetings in English but serves Chinese lunch.

“I love the group,” said Charlotte Eiser, 81, of Montebello, whose late husband practiced medicine in Monterey Park for many years. “You never know what surprises life has in store for us,” she said, noting the demographic changes that have made her a minority. “I like being with the younger set. They are very respectful. And I adore the food.”

Ma the performer is the life of the club’s weekly luncheons at Sunday Cafe, which begin with a pledge of allegiance and the singing of “America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee).” He will be installed as the president Sept. 21.

Ma seems to thrive where many Asian immigrants, who tend to be reserved, would not.

“He is a very generous and outgoing person,” said Pasadena attorney Wayne Dryden, current president of the Monterey Park Kiwanis Club. “He is one of the most even-tempered persons I know.”

At Ease in Chinese, American Cultures

Ma is among a few Chinese Americans at ease in both worlds because he is completely bicultural and biliterate, said Loretta Huang, director of adult education for the Alhambra School District and a fellow Kiwanian. “David is a very effective ‘bridge person’ to bring Asian Americans to the mainstream.”

Ma seems likely to engender admiration and controversy as he pushes the Chinese Rights Party.

He faces competition from other pro-democracy groups trying to influence China from the outside. Regional differences add to the schism. The important thing, Ma said, is to continue the struggle.

“The Chinese people, especially the intellectuals, are very hungry for true information from the outside,” he said.