咩強制自我檢疫
形同虛設 #a #sham
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明報英文 毛孟靜
//政府早前宣布，所有由大陸來港的人都要強制檢疫。原來，所謂強制並非真的強制（compulsory、mandatory），而係靠自律（self-discipline）。
事實是，抵埗之後即可以自行乘車離開，基本上去哪兒都沒問題。After arrival, you can take any transport to go home or practically any other destination, unguarded.
《明報》有這樣的相關報道：「有人明言不會遵守檢疫令，照常上班；另有夫婦返家途中到街市買菜，未有於兩小時限期內返抵住所。」Some made it clear that they wouldn’t comply with the quarantine order, and would go back to work as usual; there was also a couple who went shopping at a wet market on their way, failing to get home within the two-hour time limit.
有官員解釋：It’s quarantine, not isolation，是檢疫，不是隔離。如此說來，所謂強制檢疫（mandatory quarantine），說到底不過是自律隔離（ self-disciplined isolation）罷了。也即是說，整個機制形同虛設：It's a sham mechanism.
Sham，a thing that is not what it is purported to be，並非如聲稱中真實的東西，一般會譯做虛幻，可作名詞或形容詞。另例：
* Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters call the "one country, two system" promise a sham. 香港的民主抗爭者認為一國兩制承諾只屬虛幻。
視乎上文下理，用英文講形同虛設，另一些選擇是：
* It's a mere pretence. 不過是裝個樣子。
* It's a feigned setup. 這是一個騙局
* It exists in name only. 亦即等於中文的「有名無實」。
面對一場嚴重疫症，林鄭政府的取態給詬病為not preventive（ 非防禦性），not even interactive，甚至不是互動的，而是純粹reactive、passive（被動的）。出事了，就去回應、籌措一下，惹來一些嚴厲批評。《彭博商業周刊》網站一篇評論Hong Kong Is Showing Symptoms of a Failed State 有這兩句話：
* A fragile state is usually defined by its inability to protect citizens, to provide basic services and by questions over the legitimacy of its government. 脆弱政權的一般定義是：未能保護公民、未能提供基本服務，以及管治合法性受到質疑。
* After an epidemic and months of poorly handled pro-democracy demonstrations, Hong Kong is ticking most of those boxes. 經過一場疫症及連月來處理民主抗爭的失誤，香港政府符合大部分條件。
這篇評論的附圖，見一家超市內的貨架都被一掃而空，文字說明道：It's not Kinshasa or Caracas. But it doesn't look much like a global financial centre either.這不是（剛果首都）金沙薩，也不是（委內瑞拉首都）加拉加斯。但看起來也不像世界金融中心（香港）。//
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《每日翻譯挑戰》Day 255 “Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.” Buddha 「不怕敵人惡意傷害，只怕自己粗心大意。」 ... <看更多>