Lao-da US should act like a big brother but not in the Orwellian sense

Lao da, the two Chinese characters, in the past, meant the eldest son of a family. Later, the term was used to by bandits and gangsters to address their boss. Now, it is a popular but unofficial term used to address the top official of a company, a university, even a government organization.

Traditionally, being the eldest son of a family more often than not meant he would inherit the family business, because he was expected to be fair to the other brothers and guide them to win new glory for the family, even at the cost of sacrificing his personal interests.

Although modern laws stipulate that all children, both sons and daughters, have equal rights of inheritance, older generations still tend to give Lao-da a bigger portion of the family fortune, if not the entire family wealth and business. That kind of arrangement, though unequal judged by present laws, was usually accepted by the other brothers and sisters as a show of respect to their elder brother, who among other things would also protect them from bullies in school.