Pedestrians are treated like trash by government officials

(Headline daily P.28  20 Dec 2012)I want to write about pedestrians again today. I hope you don't mind. Pedestrians in Hong Kong get a raw deal(不公平的對待). They are treated like trash (被視如敝屣) by drivers and government officials. Most sidewalks (pavements in British English) for pedestrians are narrow so the government can have more space to build wider roads for vehicles. Traffic lights give pedestrians only a few seconds to cross busy roads but give vehicles over two minutes. Drivers behave as if they have more rights than pedestrians. The police behave in the same way.

Last year the police gave me a penalty ticket for crossing Des Voeux Road Central during a red light. Vehicles often block pedestrian crossings during a green light for pedestrians. This means people have to walk around the vehicles. But the police never ticket (票控) (used as a verb) drivers for doing that. The American slang expression "raw deal" means unfair treatment. You are getting a raw deal if your wife forces you to eat a lousy dinner she cooked but goes out to an expensive restaurant herself. To be treated like trash means to be treated like rubbish or very badly.

In the US, where I have lived for many years, pedestrians have the right of way. This means drivers stop to let people cross roads where there are no traffic lights or where there are pedestrian crossings without traffic lights. But Hong Kong drivers never stop for people, even at pedestrian crossings without traffic lights. Last week I saw an elderly woman who looked about 80 trying to cross Arbuthnot Road in Central. She was at a pedestrian crossing without traffic lights. Not a single(沒有任何一個) driver stopped for her. When she finally reached halfway across the road she had to suddenly stop because a taxi, which was going very fast, didn't stop for her. She was so frightened by the speeding (going very fast) taxi. Hong Kong is supposed (本該) to be a developed (已發展的) society but it treats pedestrians (對待行人) in an uncivilized way (跟文明沾不上邊).

＊ ＊＊
我今天又想談一談行人了，希望你不會介意。香港的行人得到的是不公平的對待（raw deal）。他們被駕車人士和政府視如敝屣（treated like trash）。大部份的行人路（sidewalks，或英式英語的pavements）都很狹窄，政府便可以留更多空間去建闊路給車輛。交通燈只給行人幾秒時間過繁忙的道路，給汽車的時間卻是兩分鐘有多。駕車人士的姿態好像他們比行人有更多的權利，警察的態度亦如是。
　　上年警察因為我在德輔道中衝紅燈而賞了我一張罰款告票。當行人綠燈亮時，汽車卻不時擋斑馬線，那即是說行人得繞過車輛。但警察卻從不票控（ticket，當動詞用）這樣做的司機。美國俚語raw deal即是不公平的對待。要是你太太迫你吃她煮的難吃晚餐，自己卻去了高級餐廳，那就是raw deal了。To be treated like trash即是被視作垃圾一樣，或被惡待。
　　我在美國住了多年，那裏的行人有道路優先使用權（right of way），即是說，在沒有交通燈的地方或行人斑馬線，司機會停車讓行人先過。但香港的司機卻從不讓路，即使在沒有交通燈的行人斑馬線。上星期我在中環，見有一位年約八十歲的老婆婆在橫過亞畢諾道。她在沒有交通燈的行人斑馬線，但沒有任何一個司機停車讓她。當她終於過了馬路的一半時她要停下來了，因為有輛的士直闖過來，絲毫沒有要停的意思，她被那輛急速的（speeding）的士嚇呆了。香港本該是已發展的城市，但行人的待遇卻跟文明沾不上邊。

中譯:七刻

Michael Chugani 褚簡寧