Salute to Our Youth
– Musings of Dr. Jamie Hsu, 11.28.2019
There are so many courageous and compassionate youth in the world who are doing their best to make this world a better place. I salute them!
I heard an inspiring speech by Simon Tam, a rock band musician, who won a Supreme Court case after fighting for 8 years to keep the band name “The Slants.” He endured financial and personal losses in his fight to use “slant” as a source of pride rather than a racial slur. His fight is a great example of passion and perseverance.
Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to attend the UN Climate Action Summit. She endured 15 days of rough seas to avoid a carbon emitting flight. In her emotionally charged speech, she said to world leaders, “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood… We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” That is courage and passion.
There are many other compassionate youths around us. My niece Lin Shao Wang is a social entrepreneur who started a business to help dairy farmers in Taiwan distribute their organic milk directly to consumers. The effort increased profits for the farmers and guaranteed the quality and origin of each bottle of milk.
Another young friend of mine, Grace Cai, started the Michigan Youth Empowerment Foundation to provide STEM training for young students. The students learn to write program codes and build robots or drones in a fun-filled environment. They also get chance to study abroad. This approach is changing students’ learning attitudes and cultural awareness.
Recently, there have also been stories of compassion featured in the news. A young man in the US embraced the woman who killed his brother and said he forgave her. What a touching lesson for all of us. Another young man in China’s subway quietly put his foot and hand out to stabilize the wheelchair of a handicapped person. The young man did this so naturally and quietly. It was just in his nature to be kind and caring.
To these compassionate and passionate youths, and many others, we salute you. Because of you, the world will become a better place.
向我們的年輕人致敬
-作者 許俊宸博士
-中譯 薛乃綺
這世上有許多勇敢且富有同情心的年輕人，他們竭盡全力讓這個世界變得更美好！我想向他們致上敬意！
我聽了搖滾樂隊主唱Simon Tam激勵人心的演講，他爭取並贏得了最高法院對於他們的團名‘the slants’ (丹鳳眼)的支持。他花了8年的時間，忍受財物及個人損失，為了捍衛樂隊‘the slants’的命名，讓這個名字也可以是個驕傲的象徵，而不是像過往被定義成一個侮辱性的稱呼。他這樣的戰鬥，可說是年輕人充滿熱情與毅力很好的例子。
瑞典氣候變遷女鬥士青年桑柏格，搭船橫渡大西洋參加聯合國氣候大會。為了避免搭乘會排放很多二氧化碳的飛機，她忍受了15天顛簸的航海行程。她激動地對著世界各國領袖說道，” 你們怎麼敢如此奪走我的夢想與童年！我們正處於一場大滅絕的開端，而你們談論的只是錢，還有經濟永續增長的童話故事” 。這也是年輕人的勇氣以及熱情。
我們的周遭還有許多富有同情心的年輕人。我的姪女林曉灣創辦了一個社會企業業務，去幫助台灣酪農業主自產自銷他們的有機鮮奶。這樣的努力，不但增加了酪農的利潤、也保證了每瓶牛奶的品質與原產地。
我另外一個年輕朋友─Grace Cai，她創辦了密西根州青年賦權基金會，主要提供年輕學子STEM[1]的培訓。在充滿樂趣的環境中，學生可以學習如何編寫程序代碼以及製作機器人或無人機。他們也有機會出國學習。這樣的方法可改變學生的學習態度以及文化意識。
最近看了兩則令人動容的故事。一位美國年輕人擁抱殺了他兄弟的女士，並對她說”我原諒你”。這種情操令人感動！另一位是中國大陸地鐵上的年輕人，默默地用自己的腳及手，去固定身旁殘疾人士的輪椅。因著天性的良善與關懷，這名年輕人做起來是如此自然、且不張揚。
對於這群富有同情心與熱情的年輕人，以及其他有同樣義舉的人們，我們敬佩你。因為有了你們，這世界變得更好。
[1] STEM是Science、Technology、Engineering以及Math4個字縮寫，就是結合科學、科技、工程以及數學4個專業領域的新興教育議題。
