Chow Wing-kan's story is full of holes

2016/09/13 10:12:08 網誌分類: 生活

13 Sep

        　　Is Ken Chow Wing-kan telling a tall tale, telling the truth or?embellishing?the truth? The expression “tall tale” means a story that is difficult to believe. To embellish the truth means to make the truth more interesting by adding untrue details. The word “exaggerate” has a similar meaning. I do not know if Liberal Party member Chow Wing-kan is telling a?tall tale, telling the truth, or?exaggerating?when he claimed three people from Beijing warned him at a meeting in Shenzhen to withdraw as a candidate in last week’s Legislative Council election. He said they spoke in Cantonese and knew every detail about his family and close friends, hinting they would attack them if he did not withdraw from the election.

        　　I cannot convince myself to believe Chow Wing-kan. His claim of being forced to withdraw from the election is full of holes. If a claim is full of holes, it means it has too many unbelievable or weak points. The words “far-fetched” and “dubious” have similar meanings. Chow Wing-kan’s story is full of holes because he refused to provide details of which hotel in Shenzhen he met the three men, what they looked like, and why he believed they were somehow connected to the central government. He said he was so scared he escaped to London.

        　　But if he was really so scared, why did he put his family and close friends in danger by announcing during a TV debate the day after meeting the three men that he had been threatened? A scared person would have kept his mouth shut, withdrawn from the election and escaped to London. When he returned to Hong Kong after the election he told the ICAC not to investigate because they could do nothing. It is easy to make a claim without proof and then ask the ICAC not to investigate. Chow Wing-kan had no chance of winning the election, so why would Beijing even care about him? I don’t believe him but I believe Chu Hoi-dick’s claim that bad people in the New Territories had threatened to kill him and his family after he won the election. His story is not full of holes because he provided details to the police.

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        　　到底周永勤說的是荒誕故事（tall tale）、真相抑或在真相上加鹽加醋（embellishing）？習語tall tale是指荒誕離奇的故事，令人難以置信。To embellish the truth即是在真相上加鹽加醋，潤飾或渲染誇大事實，exaggerate也有相近的意思。我不知道自由黨黨員周永勤聲稱在深圳的一次會面中，有從北京來的三個人警告他要在上星期的立法會選舉中棄選，到底在說着荒誕不經的故事、真相，抑或在誇大（exaggerating）事實。他說他們操廣東話，對他的家人和親密朋友瞭如指掌，暗示若他不棄選，便會攻擊他們。

        　　我不能說服我自己去相信周永勤。他那被迫棄選的說法，漏洞百出（full of holes）。若一個聲明是full of holes，即是說它有太多破綻，難以令人信服，far-fetched和dubious都有類近意思。周永勤的故事疑點重重（full of holes），因為他拒絕透露細節，包括他在深圳哪一間酒店會見那三個男人、他們的衣着外貌，還有他又為何相信他們是與中央有關連的。他說，他慌張得要逃往倫敦。

        　　但要是他是真的那麼害怕，為甚麼他在會見那三個男人而被恐嚇後的次天，要在一個電視論壇上宣佈棄選，置家人與好友於危險之中？一個驚慌的人，應該守口如瓶、棄選然後逃往倫敦。他於選舉後返港，跟廉署說不用調查，因為他們甚麼也做不到。作出一個宣稱，然後叫廉署不用調查，真是容易之至。周永勤於選舉中勝算甚微，哪為何北京又會在乎起他來？我不相信他，但我相信朱凱廸聲稱在他贏出選舉後，有新界的惡人威嚇要拿他和他家人的性命。他的故事沒有漏洞百出（full of holes），因為他向警方提供了細節。

        mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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Chow Wing-kan's story is full of holes

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