又中又英｜A dismal city

A dismal city

How happy are Hong Kong people? Not very happy, according to the latest World Happiness Report. Western countries made a clean sweep of the world’s 20 happiest countries. Europe has 15 of the 20 happiest countries. New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the US are also in the top 20. Israel, a Middle East country but considered Western, ranked 4th. Most of the ten happiest countries are in Scandinavia. Finland was ranked the world’s happiest, followed by Denmark, and Iceland. Sweden was 6th and Norway 7th. Hong Kong was a dismal 82, below Singapore at 25, and mainland China at 64. Its 82 ranking is closer to Afghanistan, the world’s unhappiest country at 137, than to Finland, the happiest.

If you make a clean sweep, it means you win everything. A football team makes a clean sweep if it wins every tournament match. The word “dismal” used this way means unimpressive. Why is Hong Kong a dismal city compared to the West, Singapore, and mainland China? Its 82 ranking is just ten points above Ukraine at 92, which is fighting a war. The word “dismal” used this way means sad. Maybe the coronavirus pandemic has affected Hong Kong’s happiness, but the survey showed it had no global effect on happiness.

I don’t know how the government’s Happy Hong Kong campaign can square with the World Happiness Report. To square with means to make two situations agree with each other. The government wants to make people happy, but the World Happiness Report said Hong Kong people are not happy. As a Hong Kong-born I want Hong Kong to be happy but feel the government should try harder.
 

香港人有多快樂？根據全球快樂報告，就不怎麼快樂了。西方國家橫掃（a clean sweep）了全球20個最快樂的國家。在20個最快樂的國家中，歐洲佔了15個；紐西蘭、澳洲、加拿大和美國都在前20名之內。被視為西方的中東國家以色列，排名第4。前10名快樂國家中，大部分位於斯堪的納維亞。芬蘭排首位，是全球最快樂的國家，其後是丹麥，以及冰島。瑞典排第6，挪威排第7。香港位列很一般的（dismal）82，遠低於排25的新加坡，以及64的中國內地。它排82，相比與最快樂的芬蘭的距離，它與全球最不快樂、排137的阿富汗還要近。

若你 make a clean sweep，意即你一網打盡、大獲全勝。一隊足球隊若能贏得每一場聯賽，那它就是 makes a clean sweep。Dismal在這裏是指很不起眼、不怎麼樣的。為甚麼跟西方、新加坡和中國內地相比，香港是一個如此沮喪的（dismal）城市？它排82，只是比排名92的烏克蘭前10名，但烏克蘭在打仗啊！Dismal在這裏是指憂鬱的、陰沉的。或許新冠病毒大疫症影響了香港的快樂指數，然而調查反映疫情並無影響全球的快樂。

我不知道政府的「開心香港」活動，能否square with 全球快樂報告——to square with是指令兩個情況相符、一致。政府想令人開心，但全球快樂報告則說香港人不開心。身為一個在香港出生的人，我希望香港快樂，但認為政府應該再加把勁。

mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻