This interview needs no introduction. I present Yau-Man Chan.
Murtz Jaffer: Hey Yau Man, it’s Murtz. How are you?
Yau-Man Chan: Good.
MJ: Good. Let’s just start right off with how you feel about Dreamz?
YMC: Well, I have no ill feelings towards him. I sort of (in a way) pity him. I think doing what he did in front of 20 or 30 million people is going to make his life very difficult from now on. I mean he would have to do a lot of good to offset that horrible image that he brought onto himself.
MJ: Did it take you awhile to get over it or did you get over it right away?
YMC: I pretty much got over it. It took me a couple of days and I decided that ‘hey, you know… it’s my fault for trusting Dreamz. It’s my fault for not being able to read this person properly and make a better deal and to trust him.’ So, what can I say?
MJ: Initially, you were concerned about making it past the first few days of the game and at the end, it was more about getting to the end. Why were you so comfortable in the middle part of the game because I think the beginning and the end were the hardest for you.
YMC: Yeah. It came right about the middle of the merge. In the beginning, when I first started I thought I was the oldest guy there and I said ‘oh, well I am going to be the first to get booted out’ and then I met Gary and he’s a year older than me and I thought, ‘oh, well I am going to be the second one voted out.’ And then as we go along, by the time we get to the merge, I felt more comfortable. I look back at all the challenges. The physical ones that I have been able to not just do well but beat some of the more beefier guys. And I started to say that there is a chance that I could keep doing this. I have more confidence in myself, a lot more confidence and that give me the second wind to keep going.
MJ: Tell me about your feelings after Michelle was voted off. Do you think her being there would have had a major impact on your game or would it not have mattered?
YMC: Looking back, it may have mattered only a little bit. I mean I really would like to have gone farther with Michelle because I don’t know Stacy that well because I didn’t share the early Moto camp with her. The only thing about Stacy, what I have heard (from the other people in the Moto camp before) and they were not very good reports. But since I have no first-hand experience of that, (it was just hearsay), that made it difficult for me. But then after I found out that Michelle was booted off and I had to live with what I had and I had to try and get along with Stacy and it turned out to be okay.
MJ: When did you decide to use the hidden immunity idol at tribal council back when Stacy was voted off. Did you know that you were going to use it when you got there?
YMC: No, I was hoping I don’t have to use it until final five. I really didn’t want to use it but when there were six of us, even when we were going to the tribal council, I did not intend to use it. But, on the other hand, I knew I had a big target that I brought on myself by making the deal with Dreamz. So I was quite sure that Dreamz would try and get me voted out and I am sure that I did not have Dreamz’s vote. Now, there’s six of us and so I had to listen very carefully. Read between the lines, while they were talking at tribal council and when I heard Stacy make the line about the alliance being split, I thought ‘uh oh, I lost Stacy’s vote probably.’ And so now, six of us, I have lost two votes. All I need to do is lose one more and it is going to be a tie situation. Now having seen some of the past Survivors, tiebreakers are crazy. I would hate to be voted out due to a tie or a stupid tiebreaker like picking rock colors and so on. So I did not want to see a tie situation, so I thought that I had to play this. Just so that I didn’t feel bad later on.
MJ: And it actually ended up working out for you.
YMC: Yeah, it was worse than a tie. It was 4 to 2.
MJ: Yeah, and you ended up winning the next one too so I guess it worked out.
I was so happy I did that.
MJ: A lot of people are blaming Dreamz for breaking his word with you, but Earl did as well when he voted you out. Isn’t he just as guilty as Dreamz and how did you justify voting for him to win?
YMC: Well Earl did not make an overt promise in exchange for a gift. Secondly, when Earl and I made our alliance, we knew that at some point we would have to break apart. I mean that we knew that at some point in the game we would have to be on our own. So our alliance was basically to try and help each other, make sure each other get to the Final 4 pretty much. Because the immunity idol could only be used up to the final five anyway. So us sharing the idols and by me giving him the clues to find the other one by the final six, there were two immunity idols. He had one and I had one. We were helping each other along. I know pretty much that we would have to do something against each other when we go past final 4. However, I was a little bit disappointed when he voted me out. I was hoping that he would give me a chance to go to the next level but on the other hand, he was quite and honest and said he wouldn’t be able to beat me going up against the jury.
MJ: There were two funny things that I wanted to ask you about. One was when you searched Sylvia for the idol and the other was the challenge where you had to answer questions about the other players in the game and you said Stacy was the smelliest. Did you know you were going to be as funny as you were?
YMC: No! At that time we had decided that the immunity idols must be on Exile Island like in previous seasons, so when she came back, I just wanted to take a peek to make sure that she did not find the idol or whether she had it or not. I didn’t think it was so funny but I guess when I saw it, it looked pretty funny for an old guy to be patting down a little old lady. The question/answer, I think right before we went to that challenge she (Stacy) and I were sitting right next to each other and we were sniffing and she was complaining about not being able to wash properly and she smelled really bad and so we were talking about it and that’s why I said that she was the smelly one. Yes.
MJ: Did you know that you were going to be as popular with fans as you are and would you ever consider playing Survivor again?
YMC: No, I did not think I would be as popular. In fact, I thought I would be an early boot and be completely forgettable where later on someone would say Yau Man who? Was he really even on Survivor? As far as playing again, I don’t think it would be the same. I have thought about it. If offered, definitely I would but I think it would be very different. I can no longer play the role of the underdog. I would have a big target right offhand. I would have to come up with something completely different, a completely different way of just playing it.
MJ: My last question is about Dreamz again. When he didn’t let you win in the last immunity challenge, didn’t it signal to you that maybe he wasn’t trustworthy and do you believe what he is saying about how he was playing you from the beginning?
YMC: No, I did not believe him. And yes, I think when he said ‘no’ I decided that he was not a trustworthy person. And I am sorry I trusted him. I just trusted one too many people and there’s nothing they can do about it. He really wanted to give it to me when he accepted that proposal, when I offered the truck to him. But I think he did not think things through, he did not know the consequence of that. And also I think the twist about having final 3 changed him also. If there was a final two, we went in assuming it was going to be a final two. We had no idea that it was going to be a final three. So at final 4, he thinks that oh, he’s got the truck, there’s another two rounds before he gets to the end. He will probably not make it anyway. No big deal, he got a truck. But when we were told that it was going to be a final 4, I think he changed his mind because he said… ‘here’s my chance. If I don’t give Yau Man the necklace, I would have a chance at a million dollars.’ If it was a final 2, we’re not down to the million dollar decision yet, so if I give Yau Man the necklace, it’s not such a big deal. I have a big, nice truck. I am not going up against a million dollars.
MJ: Thank you so much Yau Man, it was great meeting you.
YMC: Thank you.
Originally from Malaysian Borneo, Yau-Man Chan attended All Saints Secondary School in Kota Kinabalu. He moved to the United States where he received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He went on to receive his Master of Science degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Chan is the Director of Information Systems for the College of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. In this position, he manages and runs the information systems infrastructure for administrative, research and teaching units of the college. This includes setting up networks, computers and managing business database systems. He previously worked designing electronic circuits for scientific instruments to collect data. He’s also been a housepainter, cook and dishwasher.
Chan enjoys playing table tennis, bicycling, woodworking and reading. He is a member of the USA Table Tennis Association. He describes himself as intellectual and contemplative. He considers himself a natural leader, a good organizer, very skilled with his hands, very resourceful and feels he possesses a keen intellect.
Chan has been married to his wife, Jennifer, for 23 years. They have two children, Penelope and Ione. They also have a dog, Tucker and two rabbits, Ruby and Cupid. Chan’s birth date is August 26, 1952.
– Survivor: Fiji airs on CBS on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
– Survivor: Fiji airs on the Global network in Canada on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
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