May Tsung-Mei Cheng
May Tsung-Mei Cheng, LLB, MA is Health Policy Research Analyst at the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She cofounded the Princeton Conference to bring together the U.S. Government and Researchers to discuss health policy. Her research focuses on East Asian health systems, including quality, financing, payment reform, etc. Cheng is also an advisor to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence International of the United Kingdom and the China National Health Development Research Center.
1. When you were a teenager, what was your dream for the future?
As a young teen, I had wanted to be a doctor. I thought I could help people who
were typically both very sick and poor in China. My parents had many friends who were doctors and they saved and changed the lives of many. Later on, in particular once I got into university and learned more about conflicts in the world, I dreamed about world peace and wanted to devote my life to make it happen. Of course, as I am sure you and your friends must all do, I also dreamed about meeting someone I would fall in love with and live happily ever after.
​
2. What motivated you to pursue your current career?
I have always been interested in public policy. The ultimate aim of any public policy is or
should be the improvement of the human condition, whatever the area of focus might be.
For example, health care, education, environment, social welfare, etc.
Health policy is an interesting field to be in, especially in the US where we have a healthcare system that has so many problems that are unique among rich nations. For example, we are the only rich nation in the world that does not have health insurance for everyone. There are tens of millions of uninsured in America today. In addition, health care is so expensive in the US that many people don’t go to the doctors and hospitals for needed care even if they have health insurance because of what they still have to pay out of pocket. What this means for many Americans –
those in the middle and low socioeconomic strata -- is that they live with pain,
suffering, anxiety, and also financial hardship because of the burden or the threat of their
medical bills.
Sound health policy – not just in the US but also in any country in the world -- can help
alleviate pain and suffering, reduce or eliminate financial hardship because of illness and
medical bills, and thereby create wellbeing and welfare for the masses. To the extent that
I can help improve or create sound health policy here and elsewhere in the world, what I
do has been rewarding too.
​
3. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced on the path to reach your current position?
There are a couple. The first was quality child-care, or the lack of it in the US. The
absence of quality child-care in the US is a big challenge to both women who must work
for economic reasons and career-minded women with children. Sacrifices, or tradeoffs,
must be made, given that in general women are left with the main responsibility of child
care.
The other challenge for me was the awesome task and responsibility of childrearing.
Schools teach you many things, but not how to bring up a human being you have created.
In today’s typical nuclear family where help or sound advice are hard to come by and
theories of good parenting continue to change, these are serious challenges to
conscientious parents. I can tell you without hesitation that parenting was the hardest
thing I ever did in my life.
​
4. How did you overcome these challenges?
For one thing, you do your best to learn. I read books on child rearing. I visited
schools, sat in classes, asked questions of teachers and counsellors, and I studied
medical texts and journals so that I understood how best to help my children
when they were sick or injured. Through this and other experiences, I learned that the best defense and way forward is to be prepared. Your life or health may depend on it.
At the same time, it is important to recognize that not all challenges can be
overcome, whether they have to do with your personal or professional life. But
that should not be a crutch to do less than your best. It is important that you
always do your best. Once you have done your best, leave the rest to, if you are
religious, God (of all religions); or otherwise to luck.
It is said that success is 50% hard work, and 50% luck. Some people are just plain
luckier than others. I think young people today should know and remember this what I consider ‘wisdom.’ There is too much hype today about personal achievements by giving children and young people slogans like “you can be anything you want to be.” That is plain not true. It is important that one knows one’s own limits and focuses on one's strengths.
​
5. What advice would you give to your younger self?
I was quite shy as a girl and young woman despite my exposure to good schools and
many interesting extracurricular activities, and my work experience during school. I think
a lot of that had to do with the Confucian code of ethic and conduct we, especially girls,
were taught as children and young adults in what was fundamentally a Confucian society. If
I had the opportunity to do it over, I would hope to be even more of a risk taker, even though I was considered unconventional by my peers. I would also like to have been much more a free-thinker and free-spirit much earlier on in my life, unencumbered by the Confucian ‘teachings’ which, despite its many virtues such as the Confucian work ethic and respect for education, are also highly constraining and suppressive of the human spirit and creativity. But here we are dealing with the larger question of the transformation of an ancient civilization. One can fight it, but not always
win, especially when you were a teenager.
​
- Anjali Brunnermeier, August 2020