20160519-Michael Chugani 褚簡寧：又中又英——"in a pickle"
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧：又中又英——"in a pickle"
6:21 19/5/2016
To go or not to go. That was the question last week. The so-called pan-democrats got themselves in a pickle deciding if they should accept a government invitation to attend a banquet (large formal dinner) for the state leader in charge of Hong Kong matters, Zhang Dejiang. The expression "in a pickle" means in a quandary or in a difficult situation. For example, you are in a pickle if you have to decide whether to marry a girl who is rich or a girl who is poor but loves you more. Legislative councillors from the democracy camp eventually decided to boycott the dinner.
The boycott put Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in a pickle. It would have been embarrassing for Zhang Dejiang if no democracy camp legislators attended a banquet for him. Leung Chun-ying then played a different card. He invited four democracy camp legislators to attend a small cocktail reception before the dinner. That again put the four legislators in a quandary. It was the first time the pan-democrats had been invited to meet a high-level state leader to discuss sensitive political issues. If they snubbed (ignored) the invitation, Hong Kong people would accuse them of refusing dialogue (discussion, exchange of views) with mainland officials even though they had often said they wanted dialogue. Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing and Joseph Lee Kok-long accepted but Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit and Cyd Ho Sau-lan of the Labour Party dilly-dallied. To dilly-dally means to be indecisive or to delay.
Finally, they decided to attend because they knew they had no credible (believable) reason or excuse to boycott the reception. Instead of getting themselves in a pickle and dilly-dallying, the pan-democrats should have accepted the dinner and reception invitations. According to an old Chinese proverb, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. There is much mistrust between pan-democrats and the central government. The journey to bring back trust will be long and difficult, but a journey has to start before it can end. Zhang Dejiang took the first step by meeting the pan-democrats. Let’s hope both sides will take many more steps.
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去還是不去——這是上星期的疑難。所謂的泛民就甚是左右為難（in a pickle）了，不知是否該接受政府邀約，出席招待掌管香港事務的國家領導人張德江的晚宴（banquet）。習語in a pickle指左右為難或身陷窘境中。譬如，若你在抉擇要娶個富有女孩還是更愛你的窮家女孩，你便是in a pickle。民主派的立法會議員最終決定杯葛晚宴。
這場杯葛就令特首梁振英處於窘境（in a pickle）。若無民主派議員出席為張德江所設的晚宴，對張來說也可謂相當尷尬。梁振英便使出另外一招。他邀請四位民主派的議員出席晚宴前的小型酒會，這又令四位議員左右為難了。泛民主派獲邀會見國家高級領導人，商討敏感的政治議題，這還是頭一遭。若他們冷落（snubbed）了邀約，香港人會指責他們拒絕與內地官員對話（dialogue），即使他們常說要尋求對話（dialogue）。民主黨主席劉慧卿和李國麟接受邀請，但公民黨黨魁梁家傑和工黨的何秀蘭則拖拖拉拉（dilly-dallied）。To dilly-dally意即猶豫不決，或採取拖字訣。
他們最終決定出席，因為他們知道自己沒有可信的（credible）原因或藉口去杯葛酒會。與其左右為難（in a pickle）或三心兩意（dilly-dallying），泛民派好應接受晚宴和酒會的邀請。正如一句古老的中文諺語所言：千里之行，始於足下。泛民與中央政府之間存着許多不信。重拾互信之路將是漫長而艱辛的，但一個旅程總不能未開始便宣告終結吧。張德江會見泛民，是踏出了第一步。期望雙方都能踏出更多步吧。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
6:21 19/5/2016
To go or not to go. That was the question last week. The so-called pan-democrats got themselves in a pickle deciding if they should accept a government invitation to attend a banquet (large formal dinner) for the state leader in charge of Hong Kong matters, Zhang Dejiang. The expression "in a pickle" means in a quandary or in a difficult situation. For example, you are in a pickle if you have to decide whether to marry a girl who is rich or a girl who is poor but loves you more. Legislative councillors from the democracy camp eventually decided to boycott the dinner.
The boycott put Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in a pickle. It would have been embarrassing for Zhang Dejiang if no democracy camp legislators attended a banquet for him. Leung Chun-ying then played a different card. He invited four democracy camp legislators to attend a small cocktail reception before the dinner. That again put the four legislators in a quandary. It was the first time the pan-democrats had been invited to meet a high-level state leader to discuss sensitive political issues. If they snubbed (ignored) the invitation, Hong Kong people would accuse them of refusing dialogue (discussion, exchange of views) with mainland officials even though they had often said they wanted dialogue. Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing and Joseph Lee Kok-long accepted but Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit and Cyd Ho Sau-lan of the Labour Party dilly-dallied. To dilly-dally means to be indecisive or to delay.
Finally, they decided to attend because they knew they had no credible (believable) reason or excuse to boycott the reception. Instead of getting themselves in a pickle and dilly-dallying, the pan-democrats should have accepted the dinner and reception invitations. According to an old Chinese proverb, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. There is much mistrust between pan-democrats and the central government. The journey to bring back trust will be long and difficult, but a journey has to start before it can end. Zhang Dejiang took the first step by meeting the pan-democrats. Let’s hope both sides will take many more steps.
＊ ＊ ＊
去還是不去——這是上星期的疑難。所謂的泛民就甚是左右為難（in a pickle）了，不知是否該接受政府邀約，出席招待掌管香港事務的國家領導人張德江的晚宴（banquet）。習語in a pickle指左右為難或身陷窘境中。譬如，若你在抉擇要娶個富有女孩還是更愛你的窮家女孩，你便是in a pickle。民主派的立法會議員最終決定杯葛晚宴。
這場杯葛就令特首梁振英處於窘境（in a pickle）。若無民主派議員出席為張德江所設的晚宴，對張來說也可謂相當尷尬。梁振英便使出另外一招。他邀請四位民主派的議員出席晚宴前的小型酒會，這又令四位議員左右為難了。泛民主派獲邀會見國家高級領導人，商討敏感的政治議題，這還是頭一遭。若他們冷落（snubbed）了邀約，香港人會指責他們拒絕與內地官員對話（dialogue），即使他們常說要尋求對話（dialogue）。民主黨主席劉慧卿和李國麟接受邀請，但公民黨黨魁梁家傑和工黨的何秀蘭則拖拖拉拉（dilly-dallied）。To dilly-dally意即猶豫不決，或採取拖字訣。
他們最終決定出席，因為他們知道自己沒有可信的（credible）原因或藉口去杯葛酒會。與其左右為難（in a pickle）或三心兩意（dilly-dallying），泛民派好應接受晚宴和酒會的邀請。正如一句古老的中文諺語所言：千里之行，始於足下。泛民與中央政府之間存着許多不信。重拾互信之路將是漫長而艱辛的，但一個旅程總不能未開始便宣告終結吧。張德江會見泛民，是踏出了第一步。期望雙方都能踏出更多步吧。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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