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.

要去形容香港時有時無（on again, off again）的垃圾徵費計劃，只有一個說法，那就是政府施政的無能。計劃於二零二一年八月於立法會獲得通過，它要求公眾購買垃圾袋，價錢由三毫至十一元不等，視乎垃圾袋的大小。任何被發現沒有用指定垃圾袋棄置垃圾的人，都將面臨巨額罰款。許多地方也有垃圾棄置的徵費。我現在身處的台灣，多年前便開始了類近的計劃。它鼓勵人們減少製造垃圾（trash，美式英語是garbage），從而保護環境。然而，斷斷續續（on again, off again）的實施反映了我們那些高薪厚祿的官員並不稱職（not worth their salt）。

若某事是 on again, off again，意即它並不連貫，斷斷續續的，時而開始，時而中止。若人們 are not worth their salt，意即他們並不適任、做不好他們的工作。垃圾收費計劃理應於上年年尾開始，即使立法會於二零二一年已經批准通過。但它延後至今年四月一日才實施。當時官員們說，不會再延期了。然而，環境及生態局局長謝展寰再一次延期至八月一日，以讓市民有更多時間去明白法例的要求。

人們有這麼愚笨，未能明白法例嗎？還是他解釋不來？這就留待公眾去解答了。要是謝展寰再延期，我也不會意外（wouldn’t put it past Tse Chin-wan），即使他足足多了近八個月的時間去解釋法例。若你 wouldn’t put it past someone to do something，意即要是某人做了某事，你也不會感到奇怪、訝異。

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