2013-07-25
Source: http://news.hkheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=247460§ion_name=wtt&kw=126
When Liaison Office director Zhang Xiaoming attended an unprecedented lunch at the Legislative Council last week, People Power legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip showed his contempt (strong disrespect, scorn) for China's Communist Party by giving Zhang a book called: Don't want to be a Chinese in my next life. As a smart man, Zhang should have been quick off the mark. But he wasn't. When something is unprecedented, it means it has never happened before. Never before had a director from the Liaison Office gone to Legco for lunch. To be quick off the mark means to react very quickly. Zhang should have been quick off the mark by immediately asking Chan: What do you want to be in your next life?
M
aybe Chan wants to be an American since most Americans love democracy. But what if Chan looks like Osama bin Laden in his next life? The Americans have already killed bin Laden in this life. They will not want a reincarnated (rebirth in another body) bin Laden as an American. Each society should be free to choose who among the reincarnated it wants. Otherwise, all the reincarnated mainland women would want to be Hong Kong people so they can give birth to babies who would qualify for ID cards, and they wouldn't have to worry about the two-tin limit on baby milk powder. And all the reincarnated old men would want to be South Koreans because the women there are so beautiful.
But how should societies decide who among the reincarnated to accept? I suggest they use a huge sieve to sift (separate, filter) the wanted from the unwanted. A sieve is a kitchen utensil that sifts particles of different sizes. At the Legco lunch, Zhang used the example of a sieve to emphasize the central government's position that unsuitable candidates must be sifted, or filtered out, from the chief executive election by universal suffrage in 2017. Each country should build a huge sieve and put all the reincarnated people in it to decide who they want. Since Chan, whose nickname is "Dai Kow" (big guy), is so big, he would most likely be filtered out unless the sieves have very large holes.
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當中聯辦主任張曉明上星期出席立法會一個史無前例(unprecedented)的午宴時,人民力量陳偉業送贈一本名為《來生不做中國人》的書給張,以示對中國共產黨的蔑視(contempt)。識趣的話,張該能很快反應過來(quick off the mark),但他沒有。Unprecedented即是指某事從未發生過。從來未曾有一位中聯辦主任到立法會午膳。To be quick off the mark即是反應快捷。張好應眼明手快(quick off the mark),立即反問陳:你來生又想做甚麼人?
或許陳會想做美國人,因為大多數的美國人都愛民主。但若然陳下世長得像拉登又怎辦?美國人在他這輩子可能早已經把他幹掉了。他們可不想要一個轉世(reincarnated)拉登做美國人。每一個社會都應該可以從那些輪迴(reincarnated)的人中、自由選擇他們想要的吧、否則所有輪迴(reincarnated)的內地女人都會想做香港人,那麼她們所生的子女,就可以有資格拿香港身份證,也不必再擔憂兩罐奶粉的攜帶上限。所有輪迴(reincarnated)的老伯伯也都會想做南韓人,因為那兒的女人盡是美人兒。
然而,不同的社會又該如何選擇接受哪些輪迴(reincarnated)的人?我建議他們該用個大篩子(sieve)去篩選(sift)想要的,篩走不想要的。Sieve就是用以過濾(sifts)大小顆粒的廚具。於立法會午宴上,張以一個筲箕(sieve)作例子,強調中央政府的立場是,在二○一七年特首普選中,不適合的候選人必須被篩走(sifted)。每一個國家都應建一個大筲箕(sieve),放進所有輪迴(reincarnated)的人,再決定要誰不要誰。既然陳的暱稱是「大舊」,他好大可能會被篩走,除非那些篩子的孔很大吧。mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧