How can I speak in 10 minutes about the bonds of women over three generations, about how the astonishing strength of those bonds took hold in the life of a four-year-old girl huddled with her young sister, her mother and her grandmother for five days and nights in a small boat in the China Sea more than 30 years ago. Bonds that took hold in the life of that small girl and never let go -- that small girl now living in San Francisco and speaking to you today. This is not a finished story. It is a jigsaw puzzle still being put together. Let me tell you about some of the pieces.
10分钟何尝够我来讲述, 关于三代妇女间的纽带, 关于这条纽带的惊人的力量 把 4岁小姑娘和 她的妹妹 母亲、祖母绑在一起, 5天5夜 挤在一条小船飘在中国海 已经过去了30多年, 一直留在小女孩的脑海中 不曾磨灭-- 那个小女孩现在居住在旧金山 今天正在为你们讲述 一个不断延续的故事 就像一幅正在被拼接的拼图一样 请允许我讲述其中的片段
Imagine the first piece: a man burning his life's work. He is a poet, a playwright, a man whose whole life had been balanced on the single hope of his country's unity and freedom. Imagine him as the communists enter Saigon -- confronting the fact that his life had been a complete waste. Words, for so long his friends, now mocked him. He retreated into silence. He died broken by history. He is my grandfather. I never knew him in real life. But our lives are much more than our memories. My grandmother never let me forget his life. My duty was not to allow it to have been in vain, and my lesson was to learn that, yes, history tried to crush us, but we endured.
回想起来的第一个画面是 一个男人拼尽全力地工作。 他是一个诗人兼剧作家 一生 都致力于 国家的统一和自由。 想象着他作为一名共产主义者进入胡志明市 面对着 完全被抛弃的一生 面对朋友们的嘲笑 他沉默以对 作为历史,他已经死去 他就是我的祖父 我从来不了解他的真实生活。 但是我们的生活比记忆更加丰富。 祖父让我永记他的一生。 而我的职责就是不让他的经历成为徒劳 我的责任是从中学习 是的,历史试图打垮我们 而我们一直忍受着。
The next piece of the jigsaw is of a boat in the early dawn slipping silently out to sea. My mother, Mai, was 18 when her father died -- already in an arranged marriage, already with two small girls. For her, life had distilled itself into one task: the escape of her family and a new life in Australia. It was inconceivable to her that she would not succeed. So after a four-year saga that defies fiction, a boat slipped out to sea disguised as a fishing vessel. All the adults knew the risks. The greatest fear was of pirates, rape and death. Like most adults on the boat, my mother carried a small bottle of poison. If we were captured, first my sister and I, then she and my grandmother would drink.
下一块拼图是 黎明的早上一叶扁舟 悄悄滑向大海 我母亲,Mai,18岁 丧父 经历了一系列婚姻, 有了两个小女儿。 对于她,生活唯一目的就是 逃离家庭 在澳大利亚开始新生活。 这对她来说, 简直就是天方夜谭。 因此,4年的蔑视小说的长篇故事 一条小船滑向大海, 远离渔船。 大人们知道其中的危险。 最大的威胁是海盗, 强奸和死亡。 和所有成年人一样, 我母亲带了一小瓶毒药。 如果我们被抓获,我妹妹、我、 母亲和祖母依次服毒自尽。
My first memories are from the boat -- the steady beat of the engine, the bow dipping into each wave, the vast and empty horizon. I don't remember the pirates who came many times, but were bluffed by the bravado of the men on our boat, or the engine dying and failing to start for six hours. But I do remember the lights on the oil rig off the Malaysian coast and the young man who collapsed and died, the journey's end too much for him, and the first apple I tasted, given to me by the men on the rig. No apple has ever tasted the same.
我的第一个记忆来自于小船-- 发动机均匀的节奏 浅浅的波浪 一望无尽的海平面 我不记得海盗来了几次, 却被船上男人们的虚张声势 吓跑了, 引擎熄火, 6个小时无法启动。 但是我记得边石油钻井反射的光; 来自马来西亚海岸 年轻小伙虚脱而死, 旅途早早结束; 我尝到的第一个苹果, 来自同船的一个男人。 再也没有吃到那么美味的苹果。
After three months in a refugee camp, we landed in Melbourne. And the next piece of the jigsaw is about four women across three generations shaping a new life together. We settled in Footscray, a working-class suburb whose demographic is layers of immigrants. Unlike the settled middle-class suburbs, whose existence I was oblivious of, there was no sense of entitlement in Footscray. The smells from shop doors were from the rest of the world. And the snippets of halting English were exchanged between people who had one thing in common: They were starting again.
在难民集中营的三个月后, 我们定居在墨尔本。 下一片拼图是 关于三代妇女 共同创造的新生活。 定居于Footscray, 一个的工薪阶层市郊, 以移民为主. 不像定居其他中级阶层市郊, 我忘记了我的存在, 更别说权利了。 商店透出的味道仿佛来自另一个世界。 说着同样磕磕绊绊的英语, 人们相互交流着。 有一件事情是相同的, 又重新开始了。
My mother worked on farms, then on a car assembly line, working six days, double shifts. Somehow, she found time to study English and gain IT qualifications. We were poor. All the dollars were allocated and extra tuition in English and mathematics was budgeted for regardless of what missed out, which was usually new clothes; they were always secondhand. Two pairs of stockings for school, each to hide the holes in the other. A school uniform down to the ankles, because it had to last for six years. And there were rare but searing chants of "slit-eye" and the occasional graffiti: "Asian, go home." Go home to where? Something stiffened inside me. There was a gathering of resolve and a quiet voice saying, "I will bypass you."
母亲一开始在农村干活, 后来去了汽车组装线, 一周工作6天,双班倒。 有时她挤时间学习英语, 获得了IT资格证。 我们很穷, 节约每一分钱。 剩余的钱都用来缴英语和数学的学费, 不管再难, 即使没有 新衣服穿, 穿二手的。 上学时穿两双袜子, 一双遮挡另一双上的洞。 学校的制服盖过了膝盖, 因为它得坚持6年。 虽然很少,但是搜寻圣歌的 边边角角, 偶尔的涂鸦说 “亚洲人,回家去吧!” 回家回到哪儿? 一些事情刺痛了我的内心。 一股力量在凝聚, 安静的声音在说:“我要超越你。”
My mother, my sister and I slept in the same bed. My mother was exhausted each night, but we told one another about our day and listened to the movements of my grandmother around the house. My mother suffered from nightmares, all about the boat. And my job was to stay awake until her nightmares came so I could wake her. She opened a computer store, then studied to be a beautician and opened another business. And the women came with their stories about men who could not make the transition, angry and inflexible, and troubled children caught between two worlds.
我、我妹妹和我母亲 睡在同一张床上。 每晚母亲都拖着疲惫的身体回家, 但是我们互相交流一天的事情, 听着旁白房间 祖母的动静。 我母亲一直梦魇困扰着, 都是关于小船的。 我的工作就是保持清醒,在她做恶梦的时候 叫醒她。 她开了一家计算机商店, 学习美容, 将来开一家美容店。 关于男人的故事, 没有过渡, 生气,呆板, 问题小孩,就像两个世界。
Grants and sponsors were sought. Centers were established. I lived in parallel worlds. In one, I was the classic Asian student, relentless in the demands that I made on myself. In the other, I was enmeshed in lives that were precarious, tragically scarred by violence, drug abuse and isolation. But so many over the years were helped. And for that work, when I was a final-year law student, I was chosen as the Young Australian of the Year. And I was catapulted from one piece of the jigsaw to another, and their edges didn't fit.
寻求资金和资助人, 建立了中心。 我生活在一个平行的世界。 一方面,我是典型的亚洲学生, 自己特别狠; 另一方面,我纠缠于现实的危险, 暴力冲突的可悲, 毒品泛滥和种族隔离。 但是如此多年的帮助, 当我曾为法律系毕业生的时候, 我被选择作为当年的澳大利亚年轻代表。 我直接 从一个片段跳到了另一个, 没有漂亮的连接。
Tan Le, anonymous Footscray resident, was now Tan Le, refugee and social activist, invited to speak in venues she had never heard of and into homes whose existence she could never have imagined. I didn't know the protocols. I didn't know how to use the cutlery. I didn't know how to talk about wine. I didn't know how to talk about anything. I wanted to retreat to the routines and comfort of life in an unsung suburb -- a grandmother, a mother and two daughters ending each day as they had for almost 20 years, telling one another the story of their day and falling asleep, the three of us still in the same bed. I told my mother I couldn't do it. She reminded me that I was now the same age she had been when we boarded the boat. "No" had never been an option. "Just do it," she said, "and don't be what you're not."
Tan Le一名Footscray普通居民, 现在是难民,社会积极分子, 被邀请演讲, 去一个从未听说过的 去一个无法想象是否存在的地方。 我不知道协议, 不知道如何用刀具, 不会谈论葡萄酒, 不会讲话。 我想要退回到原来, 无名市郊的舒适生活-- 祖母、目前和两个女儿 过着20多年的平淡生活, 相互谈论着过去的日子, 渐渐入睡, 我们三个还在一个床上。 我告诉我母亲,我做不到。 她提醒我,她带我们乘船出国的时候, 正好是我现在的年龄。 没有任何选择。 “放手去做”,她说 “做真正的自己”
So I spoke out on youth unemployment and education and the neglect of the marginalized and disenfranchised. And the more candidly I spoke, the more I was asked to speak. I met people from all walks of life, so many of them doing the thing they loved, living on the frontiers of possibility. And even though I finished my degree, I realized I could not settle into a career in law. There had to be another piece of the jigsaw. And I realized, at the same time, that it is OK to be an outsider, a recent arrival, new on the scene -- and not just OK, but something to be thankful for, perhaps a gift from the boat. Because being an insider can so easily mean collapsing the horizons, can so easily mean accepting the presumptions of your province. I have stepped outside my comfort zone enough now to know that, yes, the world does fall apart, but not in the way that you fear.
因此我讲到了失业低龄化和教育问题 忽视边缘群体和剥夺政治权利。 我说的越坦率, 越是有人邀请我演讲。 遇见周围的人们, 做着自己喜欢的事情, 生活的 即使我完成了我的学业, 我意识到我不能局限于法律职业。 这儿还有另一个拼图的片段。 同一时间,我意识到 作为局外人也可以, 最近的事情, 屏幕上的新闻 不仅仅是可以, 一些事情归功于 来自小船的经历。 因为作为一个局内人, 太容易放弃视野, 太容易 接收你的假设。 我现在得站在舒适区足够远 是的,世界开始破碎, 不是按照你担心的那样。
Possibilities that would not have been allowed were outrageously encouraged. There was an energy there, an implacable optimism, a strange mixture of humility and daring. So I followed my hunches. I gathered around me a small team of people for whom the label "It can't be done" was an irresistible challenge. For a year, we were penniless. At the end of each day, I made a huge pot of soup which we all shared. We worked well into each night. Most of our ideas were crazy, but a few were brilliant, and we broke through. I made the decision to move to the US after only one trip. My hunches again. Three months later, I had relocated, and the adventure has continued.
不允许贸然或者 鼓励放大可能性。 这里有能量, 无情的乐观, 混合着人道和胆量。 跟随我的预感。 我聚集了一个小组 “不能完成”的标签 是我们唯一的挑战。 整整一年,我们一名不文。 每一天最后,我都做一大锅汤 大家共享。 每晚都努力工作。 我们大多数的想法都很疯狂, 还有少数很明智, 我们突破着。 我觉得搬到美国, 在一次旅行后。 我的直觉又一次成功了。 我到达3个月后, 继续冒险。
Before I close, though, let me tell you about my grandmother. She grew up at a time when Confucianism was the social norm and the local mandarin was the person who mattered. Life hadn't changed for centuries. Her father died soon after she was born. Her mother raised her alone. At 17, she became the second wife of a mandarin whose mother beat her. With no support from her husband, she caused a sensation by taking him to court and prosecuting her own case, and a far greater sensation when she won.
在最后让我说说 我的祖母。 她成长的时代 儒教盛行, 本地Mandarin最大。 几个世纪的生活都不曾改变。 她出生的时候,父亲去世, 由母亲独自养大。 她17岁嫁给了一个Mandarin, 做二房,遭到婆婆的打骂。 没有丈夫的支持, 带着丈夫去法院起诉自己, 从而轰动一时, 胜诉的她更是名声远扬。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
(Applause)
(鼓掌)
"It can't be done" was shown to be wrong.
“不可能”变成了可能。
I was taking a shower in a hotel room in Sydney the moment she died, 600 miles away, in Melbourne. I looked through the shower screen and saw her standing on the other side. I knew she had come to say goodbye. My mother phoned minutes later. A few days later, we went to a Buddhist temple in Footscray and sat around her casket. We told her stories and assured her that we were still with her. At midnight, the monk came and told us he had to close the casket. My mother asked us to feel her hand. She asked the monk, "Why is it that her hand is so warm and the rest of her is so cold?" "Because you have been holding it since this morning," he said. "You have not let it go."
当她在600英里外的墨尔本 逝世时, 我正在悉尼的宾馆房间洗澡。 透过玻璃, 我看到她站在对面。 我知道她是来说声再见。 我母亲的电话几分钟后来了。 几天后, 我们去Footscray的佛寺, 坐在她的棺材旁。 我们讲述着故事, 向她保证我们一直陪着她。 午夜僧人告诉我们, 他必须盖上棺材。 我母亲让我们感受祖母的手。 她问僧人 “为什么祖母的手是温的, 其他地方那么凉?” “因为您从早上一直握到现在”,他说 “你从未放手”。
If there is a sinew in our family, it runs through the women. Given who we were and how life had shaped us, we can now see that the men that might have come into our lives would have thwarted us. Defeat would have come too easily. Now I would like to have my own children, and I wonder about the boat. Who could ever wish it on their own? Yet I am afraid of privilege, of ease, of entitlement. Can I give them a bow in their lives, dipping bravely into each wave, the unperturbed and steady beat of the engine, the vast horizon that guarantees nothing? I don't know. But if I could give it and still see them safely through, I would.
如果说我们家族有动力, 那它一定来着于妇女们。 考虑到我们自身和生活的塑造, 我们现在可以预见, 一个男人必须挫败我们才能融入我们。 必须挫败我们才行。 失败来的太容易。 现在我想要自己孩子, 自己的小船。 又有谁不愿意呢? 然而我害怕特权、 安乐 和权利。 给他们生命的桨, 勇敢地划入每个波浪, 自然地、稳稳地发动机, 宽广的视野, 不用任何担保,我能做到吗? 我不知道。 但是我可以放任它, 看着他们安全的通过, 这也是我希望的。
(Applause)
(掌声)
Trevor Neilson: And also, Tan's mother is here today, in the fourth or fifth row.
同时,Tan的母亲今天也来到的现场, 就坐于第四、五排。
(Applause)
(掌声)