ByteDance

TikTok is not an app; it’s a phenomenon, a cultural movement, and the modernist’s rebellion against the 24-7 working culture. Of the 1.4 billion Chinese population, 430 million remain active TikTok users. That is one out of every two Chinese chooses daily to immerse themselves in the swiping frenzy of short clips, dances, and documentaries intricately designed by the platform’s mother company - ByteDance.

In a city center park, we found the father of one of ByteDance’s founding members sitting under the windy shade of the local oak. He was short, very short, to the point where his medical condition was obvious. With his chest cavity boasted outwards, the man exuded confidence with his head of jet black hair. He looked like he had it all.

His son, as he introduced us to his background, was the exemplar self-fulfilling hero. He started from the most common environment, in a Shanghainese household, and worked into the most prestigious high school in the region.

“He was my family’s pride. I grew up being laughed at for my height by coworkers, but to see my son’s name read out from a school broadcast? I couldn’t have asked for more. I was satisfied with the world, not for cursing me with this physicality, but for blessing me with my son. He’s the pride of my life”

Speaking to us with uncommon vibrancy for his age, he reached for his hand fan.

“My son is outstanding. I don’t say any of this to others, not even my relatives, but he is successful. Home in Singapore, no money taken from me. It’s impossible for anyone now to work from the bottom and - what’s the saying? - be poor and happy. My son is more than that. He’s well off and he’s happy. My family really couldn’t have asked for more. ”

His son is now a high-ranking software engineer in the company’s Singaporean headquarters.

“He told me a few years ago he was starting this thing called ByteDance with his friends. It was all about new media and news optimization I told him it was a horrible idea; studying business and accounting was the only worthwhile major at the time. My son and his creaky monitors didn’t seem like a success to me at all. But, to my surprise, the biggest news software bought them. Toutiao was so rich, crazy rich. My son was so lucky.”

He spoke with so much pride.

“And one day a few years ago, I called him. He told me he was in Singapore. I didn’t know about it. But that was how he was; he never had a lot to say but he was doing all these amazing things. Never have I thought our household could have given birth to such a genius.”

The man grasped a weathered fan in his hands as he spoke, releasing tiny breezes to push back his hair.

“At my age, its lucky to have a competent son like mine. Imagine him coming back to me asking for a house! I couldn’t have handled it. I do some stocks now. Lost some but a man has got to have something to do.”

Maybe he wasn’t a success himself, but he made sure his son was one.