雙語社評齊齊聽

英語 (足本收聽)

普通話 (足本收聽)

【明報專訊】THE PARAGRAPH about food trucks in the Budget has fewer than a hundred words. It has unexpectedly aroused heated discussion though it is like "a glimpse of a passing beauty". That befits Hong Kong's reputation as a gourmet city, and that actually shows matters about citizens' lives still draw much attention. However, after Financial Secretary John Tsang had delivered the Budget, the buck passed from one government department to another for a while. On which department is it incumbent to carry out the idea? John Tsang said the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, which said that was none of its business. The dust has now settled. The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau will study the idea together with related departments. We hope its "study" will not just drag on and come to nought.

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想不到《財政預算案》短短不到百字的美食車（Food Truck）內容如驚鴻一瞥卻引起社會熱烈討論，除了不負「食在香港」的美名，客觀上也說明，牽涉民生的議程依然受到注目。不過，在財政司長曾俊華宣讀之後，政府內部究竟由哪些部門具體研究和執行，出現一陣子「踢皮球」之風，曾俊華說是由商務及經濟發展局負責，但商經局則說「與我無關」。到了後來始見塵埃落定，商經局牽頭，與其他相關部門共同研究，希望這一「研究」勿以拖拉告終。

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It is of course not right to allow things in Hong Kong to relapse into what they were in the 1960s and 1970s, when cooked food hawkers swarmed streets and hygiene was awful. After all, no city should take the road back in its development. However, it does not follow that there should be no cooked food hawkers in a new era. Bureaucrats should feel what society needs and make use of their ability to open up possibilities for society. During Chinese New Year, hawkers were driven away from Kweilin Street, Sham Shui Po. That has set people off thinking. If services like those hawkers' are in demand, how should the government departments responsible for dealing with such things face and deal with this matter? That brings us back to a crucial question of government: How can the authorities reconcile "making things convenient and beneficial to citizens" with "regulating and imposing restrictions on their activities"?

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當然，香港不可能走回六七十年代熟食小販滿街、衛生情况差勁的昔日，畢竟一個城巿的發展是不可能走回頭路，但這並不代表在新的年代不可能再出現熟食小販。官僚的能力，應該體現在感受社會的需要，從而為社會開創更大空間。農曆年間深水埗桂林街夜巿小販被驅趕，在社會中間引發更多思考﹕倘若社會對類似的熟食供應有需求，政府有關部門應當如何面對及處理。這就回到「便民/利民」與「規管/限制」兩者如何得到統一的核心管治問題。

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Food trucks are characteristic of the meal-provision industry in a US or Canadian city. Furthermore, it is advisable to draw lessons from night markets in Taipei. It is worthwhile to find out how those places are run and kept hygienic. "Stones from other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one." It is common knowledge that it is against local backdrops that food trucks and night markets have come into being. Food trucks now adorn streets in US and Canadian cities, and night markets in Taipei epitomise communities of citizens. Taiwan is one of Hong Kong people's favourable destinations of outbound travel. Many Hongkongers would agree that a reason why one would fly east for about an hour to that island is that one wants to take a stroll and have snacks in a night market there. Opportunities to win citizens' hearts rarely come with political issues, which arise only once in a number of years. The SAR government has hardly been able to make any moves in recent years. If they are well handled, matters that affect citizens' lives may be a valve that allows it a respite.

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美食車是美國及加拿大城巿的飲食特色，台北的夜巿也有參考價值，在管理以及衛生兩方面，這些地方是他山之石，可以攻錯。眾所周知，美食車及夜巿的出現，都有當地的背景因素；發展下來，美食車變成美加街頭的另類風景，台北夜巿更是巿民社會的折射，台灣是港人出外旅遊的主要目的地之一，不少港人都會同意，到台灣夜巿逛逛走走、吃吃小食，就是乘搭個把鐘頭飛機東渡的原因。民心工程往往不在於若干年始能一見的政治議題，民生若能善於處理，對近年幾乎無法動彈的特區政府施政，或許是一個可以噓一口氣的閥門。

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The food truck idea and suchlike may in actual operation be regarded as that with which people can start their own businesses. Some say it costs more than $1 million to put a food truck into business. But is that the case? Must those vehicles be brand new? Must the necessary kitchen equipment be brand new? As rents are going up steeply, we believe it costs less to start a food truck operation than a business that must have its own premises. When all in the government are talking about young people starting their own businesses, the food truck idea may prove a solution.

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於具體操作而言，類似美食車之類的意念，更可以視作創業階梯。有說若要辦一輛美食車可能要逾百萬元，然而事實是否即為如此——車輛是否必須全新、廚具是否也需新簇簇才可？相對於租金大幅上升的當下時代，相信第一筆美食車的成本，必然比諸在街上開店為低。當政府上下都在談論年輕人創業，美食車也許是一條出路。

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明報社評2015.03.02

Presented by lecturers of Hong Kong Community College, PolyU and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Frieda Kwok

HKCC Lecturer

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/social_communication/details.php?id=110&lang=eng

周文駿

香港專上學院講師

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/social_communication/details.php?id=92&lang=chi

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