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.
 

香港人有多快乐？根据全球快乐报告，就不怎么快乐了。西方国家横扫（a clean sweep）了全球20个最快乐的国家。在20个最快乐的国家中，欧洲占了15个；纽西兰、澳洲、加拿大和美国都在前20名之内。被视为西方的中东国家以色列，排名第4。前10名快乐国家中，大部分位于斯堪的纳维亚。芬兰排首位，是全球最快乐的国家，其后是丹麦，以及冰岛。瑞典排第6，挪威排第7。香港位列很一般的（dismal）82，远低于排25的新加坡，以及64的中国内地。它排82，相比与最快乐的芬兰的距离，它与全球最不快乐、排137的阿富汗还要近。

若你 make a clean sweep，意即你一网打尽、大获全胜。一队足球队若能赢得每一场联赛，那它就是 makes a clean sweep。Dismal在这里是指很不起眼、不怎么样的。为甚么跟西方、新加坡和中国内地相比，香港是一个如此沮丧的（dismal）城市？它排82，只是比排名92的乌克兰前10名，但乌克兰在打仗啊！Dismal在这里是指忧郁的、阴沉的。或许新冠病毒大疫症影响了香港的快乐指数，然而调查反映疫情并无影响全球的快乐。

我不知道政府的「开心香港」活动，能否square with 全球快乐报告——to square with是指令两个情况相符、一致。政府想令人开心，但全球快乐报告则说香港人不开心。身为一个在香港出生的人，我希望香港快乐，但认为政府应该再加把劲。

mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻