又中又英 | Letting the grass grow under its feet | 褚簡寧

　　Some people spend hours patiently watching birds to learn about them. When Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was the chief executive, he told me he liked birdwatching as a hobby. He also enjoyed watching his many goldfish at Government House. I once watched him feed his goldfish in a pond at the garden of Government House. Leung Chun-ying likes to grow vegetables. He had a vegetable garden at Government House when he was chief executive and watched his vegetables grow. He once invited me to lunch at Government House and served vegetables he grew himself. Whale-watching is also a hobby of some people.

　　Is watching the grass grow a hobby? I don’t think so! But there is an expression about it. Some of my friends say watching speeches on TV by government officials is like watching the grass grow. This means it's boring. A recent news report I read made me think of the expression "letting the grass grow under their feet". This means wasting time or delaying for a long time in doing something important. The report was about taxi drivers demanding government action against ride-hailing apps such as Uber. The government bowed to the taxi trade by promising new laws to regulate unlicensed ride-hailing services.

　　But the government has said this before. It is letting the grass grow under its feet with its delays. The government's own surveys show most HK people prefer ride-hailing services. Uber provides clean, punctual, and polite service. Many taxi drivers are rude and dishonest. That's why I prefer ride-hailing services. The government should stop letting the grass grow under its feet and legalize ride-hailing services. Legalizing ride-hailing services will make taxi drivers provide better services.

　　有些人會花上無數個小時，滿有耐性地觀鳥，去了解牠們多一點。當曾蔭權還是特首的時候，他跟我說他的嗜好是觀鳥。他也喜愛觀賞禮賓府的許多金魚。我曾經見過他在禮賓府的花園餵他那池塘內的金魚。梁振英喜歡種植蔬菜，他當特首的時候，在禮賓府有個蔬菜園圃，會觀看蔬菜長成。他有次邀請我在禮賓府共晉午餐，以他自己種的蔬菜奉客。賞鯨也是一些人的嗜好。

　　盯着草長大（watching the grass grow）又是不是嗜好？我認為不是吧。但我們卻有這樣一個習語。我有一些朋友說，在電視上看政府官員發表講話，就像 watching the grass grow，意即沉悶之至。我最近讀到的一則新聞報道，讓我想到習語"letting the grass grow under their feet"，意即浪費或耽誤時間，沒有去做一些重要的事情。報道是關於的士司機們要求政府採取行動，打擊網約車程式例如Uber。政府屈從於的士業界，承諾會立新例去規範無牌網約車服務。

　　然而，政府之前已經說過了。這樣耽誤，就像甚麼事也不做，讓草在腳底下長出來（letting the grass grow under its feet）。政府自己的調查顯示，大部分香港人較喜歡網約車服務。Uber提供整潔、準時和有禮的服務。許多的士司機都是粗魯無禮又不誠實。因此我也較喜歡網約車。政府不應再拖延（letting the grass grow under its feet），給網約車服務合法化。網約車服務合法化可以令的士司機提供更優質的服務。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻