又中又英｜A megastar

Taylor Swift is a megastar, but she was never on my radar until Singapore enticed her to perform there and nowhere else in Southeast Asia. Swift performed six sold-out shows there, causing bad blood towards Singapore by its neighbours. Media reports said the Singapore government paid her millions of dollars to perform exclusively there. She agreed and her Asia tour included only Japan, which is in East Asia, and Singapore, which is in Southeast Asia. In addition to the money Singapore paid, Swift earned many more millions from ticket sales. A megastar is a very famous person, especially a pop singer or an actor. A megastar is higher up than a superstar.

If someone is on your radar, it means you are aware of, and know about, the person because the person is important. To entice people means to persuade them to do something in return for advantages. Bad blood is a feeling of unfriendliness or hostility between people. Singapore’s exclusive deal with Swift caused bad blood in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand and the Philippines, where politicians accused Singapore of being a bad neighbour. One Philippines politician accused Singapore of operating by the law of the jungle. This expression is used to describe a situation in which people do whatever is necessary to succeed.

Swift’s six concerts drew 300000 fans. About 70 percent were tourists who flew to Singapore to attend. Estimates showed Singapore’s economy earned about US$370 million from these tourists. The Singapore concerts put Swift on my radar. Hong Kong should chase after such money-making events, not night markets or fireworks.

泰勒絲是超級巨星（megastar），但她從來沒有引起過我的注意（on my radar），直至新加坡利誘（enticed）她到那裏表演，兼且是全東南亞唯一演出的地方。泰勒絲在那裏剛舉辦了六場演出會，全部售罄，亦引來其鄰國對新加坡心存芥蒂（bad blood）。傳媒報道指，新加坡政府付了她上千萬美元，讓她在那裏舉行獨家演唱會。她答應了，以致她的亞洲巡迴演出只設在東亞的日本，以及在東南亞的新加坡。除了新加坡付她的錢之外，泰勒絲在門票收入上還賺了更多個百萬美元。A megastar是非常知名的演藝巨星，尤其是流行音樂歌手或演員。A megastar的地位要比a superstar來得高。

若某人是 on your radar，意即你注意或知道某人，因為那人是重要的。To entice people就是用好處引誘人去做某事。Bad blood是人與人之間的嫌隙或仇恨。新加坡向泰勒絲開出的獨家演出條件，導致東南亞國家之間有嫌隙（bad blood），尤其是在泰國和菲律賓，他們的政客指責新加坡是個壞鄰居。一個菲律賓政客指責新加坡以 law of the jungle去操作——這個習語是指叢林法則、弱肉強食，用來形容人人皆不擇手段去獲取成功的一個情況。

泰勒絲的六場演唱會吸引了30萬名歌迷，有約七成是專程飛往新加坡觀賞的遊客。估計顯示，新加坡的經濟從這批遊客中賺取了約3億7千萬美元。新加坡的演唱會令泰勒絲引起我的注意（on my radar）。香港好應追求這種賺錢的活動，而非夜市或煙火。

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