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.

一個智庫曾經建議，香港應該發展一個醫學及美容旅遊經濟。這個構思從一開始（get-go）就撞進了死胡同（dead end） 。A dead end在這裏是指一個不大可能成功的困境，習語get-go是指從非常開初的時候。前財政司司長曾俊華曾在他的2015年財政預算案中，提出美食車經濟，他的想法在美食車虧損和結業之後，最終走到了盡頭（dead end）。香港搞醫療旅遊要成功怕很難，因為泰國的醫療旅遊是出了名的，他們的價錢合理，有好的醫生。

南韓的美容旅遊亦是相當知名。許多人去當地接受整容手術。香港的政客與政府官員們最近都建議過不同類型的經濟的構思。財政司司長陳茂波則建議透過夜市大搞夜經濟。他的主意沒有甚麼成果，因為香港人不再喜歡逛夜街，亦情願在深圳度周末。但政府仍然在這個想法上beating a dead horse——to beat a dead horse是指在成功機會很微的事上白費力氣，做徒勞無功的事。

現在又有一個創造熊貓經濟的新想法，這是源於有熊貓雙胞胎在海洋公園出世，加上公園另外有四隻熊貓。但正如我之前說過，香港要建立真正的熊貓經濟，就需要多於6隻熊貓。恐龍化石最近於香港出土，可會有人又建議搞個恐龍經濟？我們總應該鼓勵新的想法，但夜市或熊貓經濟只能是低檔次的。金融一直是香港的主要經濟體系，是其他類型的經濟所不能替代的。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻