又中又英 | Better Safe Than Sorry | 褚簡寧

　　You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. This idiom means a person will be criticized whatever decision that person makes. Supposing you are a top government official who must decide if you should shut the airport because of information of a possible terrorist attack. If you decide to shut the airport and there is no terrorist attack, you will be criticized by angry passengers who missed their flights. But if you keep the airport open and terrorists using remote control bombs kill many people, you will be angrily criticized by the public. You are damned if you do, damned if you don't.

　　Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki faced a similar, although less serious, predicament, last week. He had to decide if he should suspend schools because weather forecasts had warned of extreme rainstorms. He decided to suspend schools to keep students safe. He said it was better to be safe than sorry. The proverb "better safe than sorry" means it's better to take precautions even if it seems unnecessary than to risk harm or regret later. Parents sharply criticized him when severe rainstorms did not affect Hong Kong. Some people misunderstand the proverb "better safe than sorry".

　　It doesn't mean something bad must happen if you decide to be safe than sorry. It is also a precaution in case something bad happens but does not. I think the Chief Secretary made the right decision. Climate change has made it very difficult to forecast violent weather. Texas forecasters did not predict the recent rainstorms and floods which killed over 130 people. The Hong Kong Observatory did not predict the 2023 rainstorms and floods, the city's worst in more than a century.

　　You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. 這句成語的意思是，無論一個人做甚麼決定，都會被批評。假設你是一個政府高官，因着收到一個可能會發生恐怖襲擊的消息，你必須決定是否要關閉機場。若你決定關閉機場，而最終並無恐襲，你就會被那些因為錯過飛機航班的憤怒乘客所批評；但若你容讓機場繼續開放，而恐怖分子用遙距控制炸彈殺了許多人，你就會被公眾憤怒地抨擊。你做也不是，不做也不是，兩邊都不討好（damned if you do, damned if you don't）。

　　政務司司長陳國基上星期就面對一個近似，但沒那麼嚴重的困境。因為天氣預報提醒可能會出現極端天氣，他需要決定是否停課，保障學生安全。他說那是better to be safe than sorry——諺語better safe than sorry是指「小心駛得萬年船」，即使那防範看起來是多餘、不必要的，但也比去冒危害的風險又或事後才後悔要來得好。最終香港並未受狂風暴雨所影響，家長們猛烈地批評他。有些人誤解了better safe than sorry這一諺語。

　　它的意思並非說，若你決定了有備無患（safe than sorry），壞事就一定會發生。這也是一個以防萬一壞事會發生但並無發生的預防措施。我認為政務司司長做了正確的決定。氣候轉變導致很難預報惡劣天氣。德州的天氣預報員也未能預測最近導致超過130人身亡的暴雨和水浸。香港天文台也預測不了2023年的暴雨和水浸，是這個城市超過一世紀以來最惡劣的天氣。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻