又中又英｜Not worth their salt

There is only one way to describe Hong Kong\'s on again, off again waste disposal plan. It is a failure of government competence. Approved by the Legislative Council in August 2021, the scheme requires the public to buy garbage bags costing from 30 cents to $11 depending on size. Anyone caught not using these bags for garbage will face heavy fines. Many places charge for garbage disposal. Taiwan, where I now am, started a plan similar to Hong Kong years ago. It protects the environment by encouraging people to create less trash (American English for garbage). But the on again, off again implementation shows our highly paid officials are not worth their salt.

If something is on again, off again, it means it is not continuous but starts and stops. If people are not worth their salt, it means they are not doing a good job. The garbage disposal plan was supposed to start at the end of last year even though Legco approved it in 2021. But it was delayed to April 1 of this year. Officials said at the time there will be no further delays. But Environment Secretary Tse Chin-wan has again delayed it to August 1 to give people even more time to understand the law.

Are people too stupid to understand the law or is he too incompetent to explain it? I will let the public answer that. I wouldn’t put it past Tse Chin-wan to delay it again even though he has nearly eight more months to explain the law. If you wouldn’t put it past someone to do something, it means you wouldn’t be surprised if he did it.

要去形容香港时有时无（on again, off again）的垃圾徵费计划，只有一个说法，那就是政府施政的无能。计划于二零二一年八月于立法会获得通过，它要求公众购买垃圾袋，价钱由三毫至十一元不等，视乎垃圾袋的大小。任何被发现没有用指定垃圾袋弃置垃圾的人，都将面临巨额罚款。许多地方也有垃圾弃置的徵费。我现在身处的台湾，多年前便开始了类近的计划。它鼓励人们减少制造垃圾（trash，美式英语是garbage），从而保护环境。然而，断断续续（on again, off again）的实施反映了我们那些高薪厚禄的官员并不称职（not worth their salt）。

若某事是 on again, off again，意即它并不连贯，断断续续的，时而开始，时而中止。若人们 are not worth their salt，意即他们并不适任、做不好他们的工作。垃圾收费计划理应于上年年尾开始，即使立法会于二零二一年已经批准通过。但它延后至今年四月一日才实施。当时官员们说，不会再延期了。然而，环境及生态局局长谢展寰再一次延期至八月一日，以让市民有更多时间去明白法例的要求。

人们有这么愚笨，未能明白法例吗？还是他解释不来？这就留待公众去解答了。要是谢展寰再延期，我也不会意外（wouldn’t put it past Tse Chin-wan），即使他足足多了近八个月的时间去解释法例。若你 wouldn’t put it past someone to do something，意即要是某人做了某事，你也不会感到奇怪、讶异。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻