美国国家公共电台 NPR--California dance hall hero wants to use his platform to help his community heal

California dance hall hero wants to use his platform to help his community heal

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Brandon Tsay, who disarmed² the gunman at the dance hall in Monterey Park, and Chun-Yen Chen of the Asian Pacific Community Fund, about what support the AAPI community needs.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Brandon Tsay is now a national hero.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) Brandon. Brandon. Brandon. Brandon.

FADEL: He's the young man you've probably seen in surveillance video wrestling a semiautomatic weapon away from a gunman. At the time, Tsay didn't know that man had already shot and ultimately killed 11 people at the Star Dance Studio in Monterey Park, Calif., before heading to his family's dance studio Lai Lai in nearby Alhambra. Tsay was working.

BRANDON TSAY: It just felt like another regular night. Then, like, I heard the sound of a - this metal object rub against another metal object. And I just turned around, and that's when I saw the gun. At this moment, I was just so frightened and so scared and contemplating³ my life. Like, it's going to end here. This is the end of my life. It's over. I'm going to die here. And at that moment, my body actually, you know, surrendered to the situation. But something happened there. I was able to gather this courage that I didn't know I had. I was able to come to conclusion that I had to do something in this situation. I had to take the gun away from him or a lot of people would have been hurt.

FADEL: Tsay's actions that night likely saved many lives, including his own. And that's gotten him praise and support from across the country. So now he wants to use this sudden platform born from tragedy to help his community heal. He's teamed up with a local charity, the Asian Pacific Community Fund, to do just that. I spoke⁴ with Tsay and Chun-Yen Chen, the executive director of the APCF, about how they're moving forward.

TSAY: With this image and with this voice, I should use this opportunity to send a good message and hopefully do some good in this world.

FADEL: You've decided⁵ that you want this money to go to the Asian Pacific Community Fund. Chun-Yen Chen, the executive director of that fund, I'd love to talk to you about what your organization does and what this money will go towards in healing after this tragedy.

CHUN-YEN CHEN: We do have a GoFundMe. It's specifically for the Lunar New Year Victims' Fund, which was launched right on the Sunday after we learned the news. So all there were 10,000 individual donor⁶ who really feel need to come together with our impacted community member. So we as - now we have over $1 million in the victim fund. It's particularly for the victim.

FADEL: So there's been this outpouring of support, people wanting to help. You mentioned 10,000 individual donors⁷ that have given, right? So over a million to the victims fund. And then there is another fund that is being raised. If you could talk to me about that money and where it's going.

TSAY: People have actually been reaching out to me, you know, asking me how they can contribute, how they can help me and, you know, sponsor the community. I want to be responsible with this money. I don't want to casually⁸ use this money for myself. I want to have this money go to a good cause, you know, support the community effort. Money that comes from community should be used for the community.

FADEL: What do you hope that the fund will do, that this partnership⁹ will do?

TSAY: So my family has been discussing with me, and we have a few ideas that we're considering. The top considerations are, you know, mental health, educational fund and single child care parenting. But we have been just throwing out ideas, currently. We're not too sure what we want to specifically use this money for because we need to see how much support we're getting from the community and what their needs are.

FADEL: It's been a tough time for Asian Americans in this country generally because of the rise of hate, especially during COVID. And then on top of that, there's been this very direct attack within your community from somebody that was known in the community. And I'm just wondering when you thought about how do I use this platform that I suddenly have, this attention that I'm getting, was that in your mind?

TSAY: Everything is still so new to me. So I don't have experience in this sort of a platform and intention. So right now, I'm just working through it as it goes. But, you know, now that I am part of this, I need to process what am I going to do next?

FADEL: What are the things that are going through your mind right now as something your community needs to heal, that your friends need, that your family needs, that your community needs?

TSAY: One of the things that I experienced after the incident is that I was feeling fragile and vulnerable. I needed to vent¹⁰ it somewhere, you know? I needed to let myself know I'm not alone in this, you know? What I just experienced, I'm not alone. And I'm sure that the victims in this incident are feeling the same way. They're feeling the same way. They're vulnerable. They're scared. They're fragile. And even the victims in Half Moon Bay need help. And I think that I want to have efforts in supporting people that go through a traumatic experience. I want to support people who are going through a rough time in this country. I just want people know that they have people looking out for them.

FADEL: Incredible. Brandon Tsay and Chun-Yen Chen, thank you so much for your time.

CHEN: Thank you.

TSAY: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 disarmed   

v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
• The swordsman disarmed his opponent and ran him through. 剑客缴了对手的械，并对其乱刺一气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

7 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。