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Tough to Swallow
"First it was necessary to civilize man in relation to man. Now it is necessary to civilize man in relation to nature and the animals."
- Quoted from Victor Hugo (who is a poet, novelist, and playwright)
Good afternoon Toastmaster of the day, fellow Toastmasters and guests. Today, I’m going to talk about Shark’s fin soup, Foie Gras and Bird’s nest.
Indeed, the mere mentioning of these famous delicacies such as the shark’s fin soup, foie gras and edible bird’s nest are triggering a lot of active salivary glands among you. But have you ever wondered why there is a group of people who stubbornly refuse to give in to the temptation of these delicacies? Well, I’m going to give you a little insight to the minds of these people who call themselves The Humane Society.
Let’s begin with our starter – the Shark’s Fin Soup.
Much of the sharks' fins in the trade are cut from living sharks; this process is called Finning. Because shark meat is worth very little, the finless and often still-living sharks are thrown back into the sea to make room for more of the valuable fins. When returned to the ocean, the finless sharks were unable to move and they die from suffocation or are eaten by other sharks or animals.
Finning is vigorously opposed by animal welfare groups on moral grounds as the process causes pain and suffering to the sharks as they are left to die a slow and painful death. An estimated 100 million sharks are slaughtered each year for their fins because of the lucrative profits valued at 1.2 billion US dollars.
Lets now move on to our main course – Foie Gras.
The production of foie gras is one of the most abusive practices in modern agri-business. To create the unnaturally fattened liver that defines the product, factory farm producers force-feed the birds for 2 to 4 weeks, shoving a metal tube down their throats 2 or 3 times each day. This can cause painful bruising, lacerations, sores, and even organ rupture.
Due to this abnormal diet, the birds' livers become diseased and can enlarge up to 10 times the normal size, making it difficult for the birds to move comfortably. Often, the birds are intensively confined in filthy warehouses, crammed in small cages where they cannot even turn around or spread their wings.
In fact, due to animal welfare concerns, more than 12 countries have banned the foie gras production. The fewer restaurants that serve this product of animal torture, the fewer animals that will be subject to this unspeakable cruelty.
Lastly, we have Birds Nests as our dessert.
Edible bird’s nest are made from a saliva-like substance that the females produce, perhaps from their digested food. Each nest takes about one month to make, 3 weeks for the eggs to hatch and another 3 weeks for the nestlings to grow.
However, if the first nests are removed before the eggs are laid, it takes the mother 20 days to make a second nest. However, this is such a strain on her that the nest is of poorer quality and has a reddish tinge (Yes, in simpler terms, it means vomiting blood).
If these are harvested early again, it takes the female only 15 days to make a third nest, which is of even poorer quality, not to mention a serious strain on the female.
Obviously, if the collectors are too greedy, they can pressure the birds to make 3 nests per season (year). These birds were rare enough to begin with; they are only found in certain parts of Southeast Asia. They are now threatened and nominally protected in Thailand. Although the nests-collecting is controlled by law, it still results in a huge and unnecessary death of eggs and young birds.
By this time, I’m sure all of you here can feel the heartache of the people of the Humane Society, their anger with the way these poor animals are treated and their strong passion in educating people against animal cruelty.
I strongly urge all of you to think twice before gulping down bowls of shark’s fin soup, having huge portions of foie gras and indulging in bottles of bird’s nests. Indeed, these delicacies are tough to swallow with a kind heart.
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Comments from my mentor, Juey Ong, Toastmaster and Secretary of Buona Vista Toastmasters Club:
Well Crafted & Organised Speech. Excellent analogy between the 3 Foods & the 3 course-meal!
For Project 2, notes can be used. However, remember to look up & establish eye-contact with the audience as you did for Project 1.
If you can do without notes for the final 2 paragraphs, that will make your message & conviction even more strong & convincing!
The only way to do this is to Practice, Practice & more Practice.
All the Best!
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Comments from my evaluator Division Governor Edward Ma [ATM-B, CL]:
Title : Tough to Swallow
Time: 5 mins 52 secs
1. Clear Objective of Speech: To persuade
2. Clear Structure
3. Well organised & well researched
4. Strong purpose: Leaves a message for the audience to take home
5. Strong Conclusion: Call for action [Project 9 objective]
Suggestions for areas of improvement:
1. Lost eye contact during the body of speech while refering to my prepared speech.
2. Bring a photo, eg: Photo of sharks being killed. A photo shows a thousand words
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