(123) English speech at 1993

在新竹的前幾年裏，我參加了新竹英語演講勵進會(Hsin-Chu Toastmaster Club)，這是我當時的第二次英文演講，我選擇了一個孩子將要出生的父親的期待心情來發表我的演講，事隔多年，當時的緊張還歷歷在前。

這幾天整修頂樓的房間給兒子當書房，在紙箱裏翻出這篇英語演講。123對我有特別的意義，就用這篇演講稿做為第123篇貼文吧！

Topic: Wishes of a father-to-be (C-2 Speech)
Speaker: Jerry Hsu
Date: 1993/12/13 (Monday)

ToastMaster of this evening, our distinguish guests, ladies, and gentlemen:

Good evening. Tonight, it's my great honor here to deliver my C-2 speech. My topic is "wishes of a father-to-be." Why do I choose this topic for my second speech? You probably know the answer already! I am going to be a father in the coming January. These days, I have been asked many times, what the feeling is to be a father. Well, actually I don't know.

Most of the time I cannot do anything but waiting for the birth of my baby. Usually, what I can do is taking my wife to the hospital for prenatal examination, and try to find my baby from the video screen of supersonic inspector. I remember the first time I see it, it just like a small round stuff like the picture in many books. The doctor measured its diameter and said, "It is the baby." Last time in the hospital, the doctor pointed the screen and said, "This is head. These are legs. This is noise. And, that is why I am sure it is a boy!"

One day, I asked my dear wife about her wishes about our coming baby. "Well," she said, "I hope my baby is a healthy boy, with two arms, two legs, and not a idiot." Oh, what a simple wish!

I think I can play a better part to be a good father after the baby is born. But what can I actually do fro my lovely child?

Let's go back to the basic problem that have been discussed in many icebreak speeches. What is a successful life?

House, money, career, wife, children...

I am poor now. I don't know whether or not I can offer a house to my child. Money, maybe some. Career, wife, children, I can't help. We can not offer everything the children want. What can I do to help him? I think it is education. Education gives him the potential and ability to have a successful life. I believe that parents have no right to determine what a successful life is for their children. Its definition is up to the children. Maybe he wants to be a millionaire. Maybe he wants to be a professor. Maybe he wants to be a poor artist with happy life. It is up to his choice. What we can do is to give them the ability to choose, to choose a wise choice.

Finally I would like to use some words as the conclusion of my speech. I write these words in my diary when I am in graduated school. The original one was written in Chinese, let me express them in English:

"How to be a good father? If I were a father, what should I do?
I will give my son a book of fish, so he know there are many beautiful fish in the water.
I will give my son a book of birds, so he will know there are many beautiful birds in the sky.
I will give my son a book of animals, so he will know there are many beautiful animals in the land,
I will give my son a book of butterflies, a book of flowers, a book of trees. I want him to know how beautiful the worlds is! How splendor the life is!
I will take my son to the beach, so he will now how the waves are pounding on the sand, how the sun burns the sand and skin.
I will take my son to the mountain, so he will know how small a man is.
We must learn to respect life. We must learn to be modest. I hope I can give him a lovely childhood. I want to give him the enthusiasm for life, the ability to pursuit and enjoy it."

It's my wish, to be a good father. Thank you.