If you pay peanuts you get monkeys.

2018/09/06 04:12:24 網誌分類: 生活

06 Sep

        　　There’s an old saying that if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. I have explained this expression before. It means if you pay very low salaries you can’t hire smart people. The word “peanuts” in this idiom means a very small amount of money. The word “monkey” in the idiom refers to stupid or unskilled people. Hong Kong’s civil servants are not paid peanuts. As I have said many times before, they are among the world’s highest-paid civil servants. Yet they perform their duties as if they have no brains. Transport Department officials are the worst. I have pointed out many times before they care more about traffic than people. Traffic lights give just a few seconds for pedestrians to cross roads but the green light for vehicles lasts much longer.

        　　Now the brainless civil servants at the Transport Department have asked interested companies to start a water taxi service in the harbor. But they do not even know the meaning of the word “taxi”. As we all know, a taxi goes directly from one point to another. If you take a taxi from Central to North Point, the driver will take you there without taking a circular route to pick up other passengers. The word “circular” when used to describe a journey means starting and finishing at the same place. But the Transport Department water taxi plan is to have large ferries with 150 passengers traveling in a circular route that will make stops at the Kai Tak cruise terminal, Hung Hom, Tsim Sha Tsui East, West Kowloon and Central during a 110-minute journey.

        　　Don’t the idiots at the Transport Department know they cannot call such ferries water taxis? They are harbor cruise ferries that will attract mostly tourists, not local commuters. Many people, including me, would welcome real water taxis because MTR passengers are always packed like sardines in overcrowded trains. To be packed like sardines means packed very close together, like sardines in a can. But explaining the need for real water taxis to transport officials is like talking to a brick wall, which means talking to people who won’t listen.

        ****

        　　古語有云： if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. 我從前都解釋過這句俗語，它的意思是，若你只付微薄的薪水，你不會聘請得到聰明的人。“Peanuts”在這句成語中解作很少很少的錢；“monkey”在成語中則指愚蠢或沒有技能的人。香港的公務員卻不是支取花生粒般微薄的薪酬（peanuts）。

        　　正如我之前說過很多遍，他們是全球最高薪的公務員之一。然而，他們履行職責時，卻像無腦的一樣。運輸署的官員最為差勁。我從前也曾多次指出，他們關注交通多於行人。給行人過馬路的交通燈只有數秒，但給車輛的綠燈時間卻是長得多。

        　　現在，那些無腦的運輸署公務員，問了一些有興趣承辦的公司去開辦維港的水上的士服務。然而，他們連「的士」的意思也搞不清楚。我們人人都知道，的士載客是直接由一個地點到達另一個地點。若你從中環搭的士到北角，司機會直接載你到那裏，而不會沿着循環（circular）線再接載其他乘客。

        　　用circular一字來描述旅程是指循環線，起點和終點都在同一地方。然而，運輸署的水上的士計劃，是用大型渡輪接載一百五十名乘客行走循環（circular）線，途徑啟德郵輪碼頭、紅磡、尖東、西九及中環，全程一百一十分鐘。

        　　難道運輸署的白癡們不知道，他們不能將這樣的渡輪服務稱為水上的士嗎？那是海港的遊覽渡輪，吸引的大部份都是遊客而非本地通勤的市民。

        　　許多人，包括我在內，都會歡迎真正的水上的士，因為港鐵的乘客在擠迫的車廂內，總是擠得像沙甸魚一樣（packed like sardines）。 To be packed like sardines意即像罐頭裏的沙甸魚，緊緊地擠擁在一起。然而，要跟運輸署的官員解釋真正水上的士的需求，彷彿是 talking to a brick wall，意即對牛彈琴，跟不會聆聽的人說話，說了也是白說。

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

回應 (0)

我要發表

If you pay peanuts you get monkeys.

網誌分類

最新網誌

月曆