Eric Tsai ’08, Content Producer at TaiwanPlus, Shares Taiwan with the World

By Connie Ma, Alumni and Community Outreach Officer

A self-proclaimed "salaried YouTuber," Eric Tsai '08 turned his interest in education, his passion for Taiwan, and his experience in product management into his dream job, a content creation role at TaiwanPlus. TaiwanPlus is Taiwan's governmentfunded English-language public media service platform, which debuted in 2021. In this interview, Eric shares his memories of being a Tiger Baby, how he became a problem solver, his work at TaiwanPlus, and what he wishes he had known when he was a high school student.

Let's start off by talking about your background at TAS. How long were you a TAS Tiger?

I am a Tiger Baby! I've attended since first grade, from 1996 to 2008. I was the first in my family to attend TAS, but my brother Kevin Tsai '04 joined me when he was in Grade 7. I like to tell this story about how we came to be at TAS. When I was in kindergarten, my dad took us to Disney World. My brother had attended Bethany for four years, and my dad did his MBA in the US. They spoke English to people, and I couldn't say anything. So when we came back, I pestered him to learn English, so that's how they started sending me to TAS. My brother doubts that my tantrum was the deciding factor, but I always say that Disney World changed my life.

What was your experience at TAS as a student like?

I remember this one experience very vividly. The typhoon was coming, and it was announced that it was a typhoon day. But it was the first day of school, so I went to the bus stop. When the bus came, the monitor told me that school was canceled, and I was disappointed. So that's the kind of student I was! Also, my family is traditional, and TAS was an area for me to explore and think differently. I went to 補習班 (cram school) for one year in Grade 9, and I realized that the Taiwanese style of education was very top-down. Doing seminars, discussions, and presentations at TAS really allowed me to enrich my communication skills. I was a bit of a floater at TAS – I knew everyone and became a student representative my senior year. Those were some of my best times at TAS, and to this day, I still hold TAS very close to my heart. I joke about how this place is like a fraternity. You meet someone else that's also TAS alumni; you just have an instant bond. It's a particular type of identity.

How did you start working as a product manager?

When I graduated, I realized my programming skills would not compete with other programmers. Still, I could communicate well and understand tech problems and explain them, so I got a job in NYC as a business analyst. Many of my fellow business analysts were spending hours a day manually testing software every time a build came out, so I built an automated tool to do testing, and after a few months, I presented it to the team. The CTO was at the meeting, and he was immediately interested. After a while, they started building a team around this. That was my first early dip into doing what's now called a product manager job, and I did that at several different workplaces in different industries.

Why did you get into content creation about Taiwan?

While working, I realized that many Taiwanese Americans needed to learn more about Taiwan's history and culture. That's a common theme within TAS too. Even though students were raised in Taiwan, they know less about the history and culture. Outside my job, I worked with undergraduate clubs and professional groups to do workshops on Taiwan. I always give a disclaimer to say I'm not a journalist or researcher, which isn't my job. Still, I'm an example of someone who started in their spot and grew to learn a lot about these topics. That's what led up to where I am today in Taiwan. I moved back to Taiwan because I wanted to do something for Taiwan. I saw the opportunity at TaiwanPlus to pursue creating content and making

YouTube videos. I joke that I am a salaried YouTuber, which is incredible.

What is TaiwanPlus (https://www.taiwanplus. com/), and what are you doing there?

There are a lot of things in this project. We are an independently operated public media organization funded by the Ministry of Culture. I grew up when YouTube was created, so I focused on creating more Internet content. This channel talking about Taiwanese history and culture is based on my past experience, and it feels like a dream come true to become a content producer for TaiwanPlus 1. I have worked with several TAS alumni. For example, Michael Wong '00, Jasmine Hanley '12, and Kevin Lee '09 worked on an animated show called "The Jennie Show" that just debuted. Lillian Lin '08, COO at Yun Hai Pantry, was my roommate for several years in New York City, and we have collaborated on different things. So we did an interview where she talked about the history of the moon cake. At the most recent Taipei Alumni Happy Hour, I met Linda Gail Arrigo '66, a democracy activist, and that conversation led to me doing a segment about the Formosa incident where I interviewed her about her experiences.

What is the aim of creating something like TaiwanPlus?

The point of TaiwanPlus is to share Taiwan's perspective with the international community. It's really giving people more programming about Taiwan. When people talked about Taiwan on the news for the longest time, there was almost never a Taiwanese perspective. Taiwan is a major global player, but our voice needed to be added to the dialogue. You can see the platform's impact with Nancy Pelosi's visit this past summer. Our viewership doubled, and we were seen as a go-to English media organization on the ground in Taiwan. We are allowing people to get to know Taiwan on a deeper level, whether it's hard news, policy talk shows, or travel and food and culture here. I'm targeting Taiwanese Americans to know more about our heritage.

Reflecting on your TAS experience, what would you like to tell your high school self? What advice would you give to current students at TAS?

This will sound cheesy since I've heard people say it before, but I want you to chill and relax and enjoy your time. I had a really traditional family, which I'm sure many other students have as well, but it's not a big deal. Getting a B or even C on your exam is not the end of the world. It doesn't mean you're a failure. The road is so long. Learn what you can. Learn to fall, fail, and improve.

Any other advice or life lessons you'd like to share?

For college, I attended Rutgers, which was actually my safety school. I got into other schools I liked, but my parents wanted me in New Jersey, where we had family. Attending a public school in New Jersey gave me a different perspective. Being at TAS, I was among many financially stable and well-off kids. But at Rutgers, I found extremely brilliant people, but they couldn't go elsewhere due to financial reasons. Even though I thought about what my life would be like if I had gone elsewhere, I also appreciate the different people and experiences I had because I came here. No matter where you go, there's always a lesson to be learned. That's the beauty of life. If you hate your first year of college, think about transferring. Take action. No one's going to change your life for you. Take matters into your own hands.

Finally, here is a piece of advice about YouTube that also applies to life. I've heard that the worst piece of advice given to YouTubers is to publish as often as possible. In reality, you need to publish quality content and space things out so you don't burn out. That is adaptable to life.

Know where you want to go and put in the hours, but ask for help. If your mental health is not good, you will pay for it literally or metaphorically. Go for it, but plan enough time and energy to relax, no matter what you do.