By Assunta Ng
My son Jason Liu with Miss Hong Kong 2008 first runner-up, Skye Chan (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)
“Mom, I will be emceeing in Cantonese?” said my American-born son Jason.
Considering his limited Chinese vocabulary, his role as one of the emcees along with a big star before a Chinese audience of more than 1,000 people at the Hong Kong Convention Center seemed like a big challenge.
My husband and I didn’t realize that the production of Ageas’ award presentation was aimed at replicating the Oscars, with celebrities, spotlights, big screens, music, dancing, and sparkling gowns.
The program took four hours. I felt sorry that my son had to stand for that long. Afterward, he said all that standing made his feet feel hard like rocks.
I was a proud mom, impressed with his fluency and forgiving of his mistakes. (I could catch them.) Imagine the days and nights he practiced to get the pronunciations right.
Perhaps I was more proud when he received two awards from his company. To make the photo look better, I borrowed bouquets from another winner to present to my son as he received his awards.
Hey, it’s not because I am cheap but because he didn’t inform me earlier! (end)