A "conflict of interest" means a conflict between a person's personal interests and his other responsibilities. It would be a conflict of interest for me to write about the TV license issue because what I write could be influenced by my freelance work with ATV. People could accuse me of not being objective and favoring ATV. So I won't say anything about whether it was right or wrong for the government not to give Wong Wai-kay a license. But one thing puzzles me: why aren't the politicians and the media demanding to know who asked former Commerce Secretary Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan to invite Wong Wai-kay to apply for a license? When I say I am puzzled, it means I am confused or not able to understand something. The word "baffled" has a similar meaning.
Did Rita Lau decide herself to invite Wong Wai-kay to apply for a license? Wong said it was more than just a simple invitation. Does that mean she promised him a license? Does she have the right to do that since it's the Executive Council that makes the final decision? Did she likewise (also, similarly) invite Cable TV and Now TV to apply for licenses? If not, isn't that unfair? I am dying to know the answers to all these questions. Ordinarily, the pan-democrats would cry foul if a senior government official invites a businessman to apply for a license. To cry foul means to protest strongly about something that is unfair or illegal. The pan-democrats would accuse the government of collusion. But they are not doing that this time. Why? I am baffled.
＊ ＊ ＊
我多麼想（dying to）去寫一篇有關政府不發電視牌照（license，英式串法為licence）給王維基，引起公憤一事。只是，身為亞洲電視的自由工作者（ freelancer），我說得太多，就會有利益衝突（conflict of interest）。習語 dying to是指很渴望去做某事。譬如，你可以說：「我很想（dying to）會一會湯唯，但我知道並不容易。」 freelancer就是接幾家公司的工作，而非全職在一家公司打工。
Conflict of interest即是在個人利益或其他職責上有衝突。我寫有關電視牌照的事情，就會構成利益衝突（conflict of interest），因為我所寫的有可能被我在亞視的自由工作（freelance）所影響。別人可能會指責我不夠客觀或偏幫亞視。所以政府不發牌予王維基，我不會說是對是錯。但有一件事令我困惑（puzzled）：為甚麼政客或傳媒不去質問是誰要求前商經局局長劉吳惠蘭，去邀請王維基申請牌照﹖當我說我puzzled，即是說我困惑或是未能理解某事。Baffled這個字也有類似意思。
到底是否劉吳惠蘭自行決定邀請王維基去申請牌照的﹖王說那不止於簡單的邀請。那是否意味着她承諾會給他發牌﹖實際上是行政會議做最後的決定，她有沒有權力去這樣做﹖她又有沒有同樣地（likewise）邀請有線電視和now寬頻電視去申請牌照﹖如果沒有，那是否不公平﹖我極想（dying to）知道這些問題的答案。一般來說，泛民會因為一位高官邀請一個生意人去申請牌照而呼天搶地的（cry foul）抗議。To cry foul是指強烈抗議那些不公或不法的事。泛民通常會指控政府勾結商家，但他們這次卻沒有這樣做。為甚麼﹖真叫我大惑不解（baffled）。mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=260392§ion_name=wtt&kw=126