the political guts

2019/05/21 04:12:54 網誌分類: 生活

21 May

        　　Many countries around the world are cracking down on junk calls. But Hong Kong's government doesn't have the political guts to crack down on junk calls. It cracked down on robocalls but insists cracking down on junk calls by real people will make them jobless. This is total nonsense because most Hong Kong people are fed up with junk calls. I receive several junk calls almost every day. To crack down on something means to take tougher or stricter action than before against such things as crime or bad behavior. Junk calls are phone calls from people who try to sell you things. Robocalls are also junk calls but they are calls with a recorded message instead of calls by real people.

        　　I receive junk calls almost every day. As a journalist, I need to answer all calls in case they are from government officials or politicians. Once I realize they are junk calls, I pretend I don't speak Cantonese. The callers then always hang up or say they got the wrong number. But last week I received a junk call that made me really angry. I was very busy with work but still answered the call. I said "hello" several times because I couldn't hear the caller. When I could finally hear him, he didn't ask if I could speak Cantonese or say he got the wrong number. Instead, he used an expletive and hung up. An expletive is a swear word. The expletive he used is a very common Cantonese swear word about a person's mother.

        　　I knew from the person's Cantonese accent that he was a Hong Kong person, not a mainlander making junk calls from outside Hong Kong. I have the number, the day, and the time he called. Will the police dare to investigate this unacceptable junk call？ It is outrageous （disgraceful， appalling） the government doesn't dare to crack down on junk calls. Does the junk caller who used an expletive against my mother deserve to have his job protected by the government？

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        　　世界各地許多國家都對促銷電話（junk calls）採取嚴厲的措施（cracking down），香港政府卻沒有政治膽量去嚴厲打擊（crack down）促銷電話（junk calls）。它制裁了（cracked down）語音來電（robocalls），卻堅持若連真人促銷電話（junk calls）也取締（cracking down），就會令這些推銷人員失業。這完全是一派胡言，因為大部份香港人都已經受夠那些垃圾來電（junk calls）了。我差不多每天都收到幾個促銷電話（junk calls）。To crack down on something即是對罪行或不良行為，採取比之前更嚴厲的措施。Junk calls就是嘗試向你推銷產品的來電。Robocalls也是一種促銷電話（junk calls），只是並非由真人打來，而是預先錄製好一個訊息的語音來電。

        　　我差不多每天都收到促銷電話（junk calls）。身為新聞工作者，我需要接聽所有的電話，以防是政府官員或政客打來的。一知道是促銷電話（junk calls）的話，我就會假裝不懂說廣東話，來電者便總會掛線又或說他們打錯了電話。然而上星期我接到一個垃圾來電（junk call），真的觸怒了我。當時我工作非常忙碌，卻還是接聽了來電。我說了幾次「hello」，因為我聽不到來電者的聲音，當我最終聽到的時候，他沒有問我是否懂得說廣東話，又或說他打錯了電話；反之，他說了句粗口（expletive）然後掛線。An expletive 就是髒話。他用的那句粗口（expletive）是個很常聽到、關於某人母親的廣東話髒話。

        　　我從那人的廣東話口音聽得出，他是個香港人，而非由香港以外打促銷電話（junk calls）來的內地人。我有他那個來電的電話號碼、日子和時間，警方又是否敢去調查這個令人難以容忍的垃圾電話（junk call）？政府不敢嚴厲打擊（crack down）促銷電話（junk calls），真是令人髮指（outrageous）。敢問那個用粗口（expletive）侮辱我母親的電話推銷員（junk caller），又是否值得政府保住他的工作？中譯︰七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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