(頭條日報P.26 20 Nov 2012) Last week I asked if Hong Kong people were getting
value for money by paying our top government officials excessive（more than normal or necessary）salaries. Some readers emailed me to say people are
definitely not getting value for money for our excessively-paid（overpaid）officials. I agree.
For example, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor earns around $300,000 a
month. She lives in a huge mansion on the Peak paid for by taxpayers. And she
has a car with a chauffeur （driver） also paid for by taxpayers. What value has she brought to
Hong Kong people in return for her huge pay and perks？
The word perk has several meanings. When used as a slang word it means special benefits, such as a housing allowance (津貼) or a car with a driver. Value for money, as I explained last week, means getting good value, or a good deal, for the money you spend. Lam was the development secretary for many years but we still have a shortage of land for affordable housing and people living in subdivided flats. It is easy to conclude （make a decision or judgment） that she was not value for money as our development secretary.
How can officials understand the needs and thinking of ordinary people when they are given such generous pay and perks? They live in cloud cuckoo land. This means they live in an imaginary world of their own and are out of touch with reality. Our top officials need to stop living (不應再住在)in cloud cuckoo land(世外桃源) . They can only do that if their salaries are cut to the level of what officials in other societies earn. We must take away (削減) expensive perks (昂貴的津貼) such as housing allowances, education allowances for their children, and chauffeur-driven cars. We must force them to pay for their own housing and for their children's education. We must make them use public transport such as the MTR and live for a month in subdivided flats. Only then will they know how it feels to live like normal people.
上星期我問過，到底香港人納稅付一眾政府高官過高（excessive）的薪金，是否物有所值（value for money）？有好些讀者寄電郵給我，說那些薪酬過高（excessively-paid）的官員當然絕非物有所值（value for money）。我很同意。例如，政務司司長林鄭月娥月入三十萬。她住的半山大宅是納稅人付款的。她還有輛私家車，有司機（chauffeur）接送，也是納稅人付款的。她這些龐大的開支與津貼（perks），又為香港人換來甚麼益處？
Perk有幾個意思，用作俚語時就解作額外津貼，例如房屋津貼或房車和司機。Value for money，正如我上星期解釋過，就是物有所值。林鄭當了多年的發展局局長，但我們仍然缺乏可以用作興建價格相宜房屋的土地，人們還住在房裏。那就很容易下定論（to conclude），她當發展局局長根本不是物有所值（value for money）。
一個享受如此豐厚俸祿和津貼（perks）的官員，怎能明白到普通市民的需要和想法？他們簡直就是住在世外桃源（cloud cuckoo land），住在他們自己想像出來又脫離現實的地方。我們的高官們不應再住在世外桃源（cloud cuckoo land）。只有當他們的薪金與其他地方官員的薪金看齊，他們方能做得到。我們得削減他們那些昂貴的津貼（perks），例如房屋津貼、子女教育津貼和有司機（chauffeur）的房車。我們得強迫他們去為自己的房屋和子女的教育付費。我們得迫使他們用港鐵這些公共交通工具代步，還得住進房一個月。只有這樣，他們才明白像普通人一樣的生活是怎樣的滋味。mickchug@gmail.com Michael Chugani
中譯:七刻
The word perk has several meanings. When used as a slang word it means special benefits, such as a housing allowance (津貼) or a car with a driver. Value for money, as I explained last week, means getting good value, or a good deal, for the money you spend. Lam was the development secretary for many years but we still have a shortage of land for affordable housing and people living in subdivided flats. It is easy to conclude （make a decision or judgment） that she was not value for money as our development secretary.
How can officials understand the needs and thinking of ordinary people when they are given such generous pay and perks? They live in cloud cuckoo land. This means they live in an imaginary world of their own and are out of touch with reality. Our top officials need to stop living (不應再住在)in cloud cuckoo land(世外桃源) . They can only do that if their salaries are cut to the level of what officials in other societies earn. We must take away (削減) expensive perks (昂貴的津貼) such as housing allowances, education allowances for their children, and chauffeur-driven cars. We must force them to pay for their own housing and for their children's education. We must make them use public transport such as the MTR and live for a month in subdivided flats. Only then will they know how it feels to live like normal people.
上星期我問過，到底香港人納稅付一眾政府高官過高（excessive）的薪金，是否物有所值（value for money）？有好些讀者寄電郵給我，說那些薪酬過高（excessively-paid）的官員當然絕非物有所值（value for money）。我很同意。例如，政務司司長林鄭月娥月入三十萬。她住的半山大宅是納稅人付款的。她還有輛私家車，有司機（chauffeur）接送，也是納稅人付款的。她這些龐大的開支與津貼（perks），又為香港人換來甚麼益處？
Perk有幾個意思，用作俚語時就解作額外津貼，例如房屋津貼或房車和司機。Value for money，正如我上星期解釋過，就是物有所值。林鄭當了多年的發展局局長，但我們仍然缺乏可以用作興建價格相宜房屋的土地，人們還住在房裏。那就很容易下定論（to conclude），她當發展局局長根本不是物有所值（value for money）。
一個享受如此豐厚俸祿和津貼（perks）的官員，怎能明白到普通市民的需要和想法？他們簡直就是住在世外桃源（cloud cuckoo land），住在他們自己想像出來又脫離現實的地方。我們的高官們不應再住在世外桃源（cloud cuckoo land）。只有當他們的薪金與其他地方官員的薪金看齊，他們方能做得到。我們得削減他們那些昂貴的津貼（perks），例如房屋津貼、子女教育津貼和有司機（chauffeur）的房車。我們得強迫他們去為自己的房屋和子女的教育付費。我們得迫使他們用港鐵這些公共交通工具代步，還得住進房一個月。只有這樣，他們才明白像普通人一樣的生活是怎樣的滋味。mickchug@gmail.com Michael Chugani
中譯:七刻
超正，跟住你的分享，學到不少生字！世外桃園 cloud cuckoo land !
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