又中又英｜A dead end

A think tank once suggested that Hong Kong should develop a medical and beauty tourism economy. The idea hit a dead end from the get-go. A dead end used this way means a situation that is unlikely to succeed. The expression “get-go” means from the very beginning. Former Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah proposed a food truck economy in his 2015 budget speech. His idea eventually hit a dead end after the food trucks lost money and shut down. It is hard for medical tourism to succeed in Hong Kong because Thailand is known for medical tourism. It has affordable prices and good doctors.

South Korea is famous for beauty tourism. Many people go there for cosmetic surgery. Hong Kong’s politicians and government officials have recently suggested ideas for different types of economies. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has suggested a night economy with night bazaars. His idea had little success because Hongkongers no longer like late nights and prefer Shenzhen on weekends. But the government is still beating a dead horse with the idea. To beat a dead horse means to waste effort on something that has little chance of success.

There is now a new idea to create a panda economy because twin pandas were born at Ocean Park, adding to four other pandas at the park. But as I said before, Hong Kong needs more than six pandas to create a real panda economy. Dinosaur fossils were recently found in Hong Kong. Will some suggest a dinosaur economy? New ideas should always be encouraged, but night markets or a panda economy can only be low-end. Finance has always been Hong Kong’s major economy. Other types cannot replace it.

一个智库曾经建议，香港应该发展一个医学及美容旅游经济。这个构思从一开始（get-go）就撞进了死胡同（dead end） 。A dead end在这里是指一个不大可能成功的困境，习语get-go是指从非常开初的时候。前财政司司长曾俊华曾在他的2015年财政预算案中，提出美食车经济，他的想法在美食车亏损和结业之后，最终走到了尽头（dead end）。香港搞医疗旅游要成功怕很难，因为泰国的医疗旅游是出了名的，他们的价钱合理，有好的医生。

南韩的美容旅游亦是相当知名。许多人去当地接受整容手术。香港的政客与政府官员们最近都建议过不同类型的经济的构思。财政司司长陈茂波则建议透过夜市大搞夜经济。他的主意没有甚么成果，因为香港人不再喜欢逛夜街，亦情愿在深圳度周末。但政府仍然在这个想法上beating a dead horse——to beat a dead horse是指在成功机会很微的事上白费力气，做徒劳无功的事。

现在又有一个创造熊猫经济的新想法，这是源于有熊猫双胞胎在海洋公园出世，加上公园另外有四只熊猫。但正如我之前说过，香港要建立真正的熊猫经济，就需要多于6只熊猫。恐龙化石最近于香港出土，可会有人又建议搞个恐龙经济？我们总应该鼓励新的想法，但夜市或熊猫经济只能是低档次的。金融一直是香港的主要经济体系，是其他类型的经济所不能替代的。

[email protected]
Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻