Chinese woman wins speech Contest with tale of love
OSAKA Karen Okano of Tokyo won the English section of the 2002 All-Japan Toastmasters speech contest held at Grand Cube Osaka in Kita Ward, Osaka, on May 12, with a speech titled "A Lifelong Lesson from an Emergency Call."
Okano, 27, a Chinese woman who is married to a Japanese, captured the audience's attention by recounting an episode, that happened while she was working as a clerk at a Hong Kong hotel five years ago.
Okano received a frantic call from an elderly Japanese guest telling her that his wife was dying in their room. Okano and one of the hotel managers rushed to the room, where they found the women lying on the bed in a bathrobe.
According to her husband, she had collapsed in the shower.
She was repeatedly telling her husband, "I'm sorry,I'm sorry,my dear." Okano and the manager took the women to a nearby hospital.
She was diagnosed with a food poisoning, but fortunately not a severe case.
Okano asked the woman why she had been apologizing to her husband. She said it was be-cause she had taken care of him for the last 40 years and he would be in trouble if she was really sick.
In the speech Okano, a member of the KeyForce Toastmasters Club inTokyo,said most people in the women's condition would be unable to think of anyone but themselves. She said she was impressed by the way the woman put family matters before herself
be-cause of her lifelong unconditional love for her husband.
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The Daily Yomiuri |