Donor Gives $1M To Support Cantonese Language Classes At Stanford

PALO ALTO, CA — A Milpitas-based wholesale grocery supplier will donate $1 million to support Cantonese language classes at Stanford University, the Save Cantonese organization announced Friday.

The endowed gift from S.J. Distributors — founded in 2005 by Cantonese speakers — ensures that Cantonese classes will be offered indefinitely at Stanford, according to Save Cantonese.

Cantonese language classes were nearly eliminated in 2020 after the university chose not to renew the contract of its only Cantonese lecturer. Alumni, students and other community members protested through the Save Cantonese at Stanford movement, and the university restored two classes last fall, taught by a part-time lecturer.

“When S.J. Distributors reached out to us with their offer, we were simply floored,” said Jamie Tam, a leader of Save Cantonese, in a news release Friday. “This is a dream come true for the entire team.”

Scott Suen, the CEO of S.J. Distributors, told Patch that he hoped the donation would allow Cantonese to be taught at Stanford well into the future.

Stanford is one of 19 universities in the United States that offer Cantonese programs, according to the Cantonese Language Association at Brigham Young University.

“If we don't [donate], there aren't that many other people who are going to do this,” Suen said in an interview in Cantonese last week. “Cantonese would slowly and slowly become less popular if no one protects it and keeps protecting it."

Related: 'Not Just A Language': The Fight To Save Cantonese At Stanford

Cantonese is a language widely spoken in southeastern China, in Hong Kong and in many metropolitan areas in the United States with large Chinese American populations, such as the Bay Area. It is distinct from Mandarin, the official language of China, which is taught in a majority of Chinese schools. Despite being spoken by more than 80 million people globally, Cantonese is still dwarfed by Mandarin.

"We’re not telling kids to not learn Mandarin. But we want to preserve Cantonese culture," Suen said. "We want to preserve it for the people who want to speak it, to have that option.”

Suen, who is from Hong Kong and lives in Arcadia, said he sensed that fewer people in younger generations were learning and speaking Cantonese. As as native speaker, he didn’t want the language to become extinct.

“We thought that, if everyone thinks [Cantonese is just going to keep declining], then Cantonese wouldn’t survive," Suen said. "After a few decades or a century, Cantonese wouldn’t exist. But if you want to protect it, there needs to be people who want to keep this way of communication. It was just the right timing that we had this opportunity to help.”

Suen said he heard about the Cantonese language program at Stanford on a Facebook post by KTSF, the Chinese-language Bay Area news station. He then reached out to the Save Cantonese organizers, who he described as both grateful and surprised by the large donation.

To Suen and his wife, Jenny Lin, Cantonese is more than just a language — it is a culture. They have three children whom they are raising to speak Cantonese.

“I think Cantonese has a lot of deeper meanings, and to express specific feelings and emotions, it’s easier to use Cantonese to find the right words to describe it,” Suen said. "There is such a long history. Cantonese words have a really deep meaning and significance to them."

The Save Cantonese group is now working to endow a permanent, full-time lectureship and create programming for the study of Cantonese history and culture at Stanford.

“We celebrate the opening of the Year of the Tiger with S.J. Distributors,” Tam said. “We are deeply grateful for their extraordinary gift, which contributes to the teaching and learning of Cantonese at Stanford University.”