据报道，最近在美国西雅图举行的世界电玩大赛上，来自台湾的选手刘佑辰夺得了“世界街头赛车3”项目的第三名，领奖时拿出台湾的旗帜，从台上下来就遭到来自大陆选手的辱骂，“你们是狗生出来的吗”。在这个两岸关系外加台湾大选的微妙时刻，岛内的政治人物自然愿意就此做文章。绿营的自然乐得其所的扯上“对台湾的打压”，顺道对“中国人”大发一通议论。蓝营的也生怕被扣上“不爱台湾”的帽子，同样是义正言辞。
就事件本身而言，在公开场合对获奖运动员恶语相向在我看来是极不合适的，刘佑辰也应该得到骂人者的道歉，不赞同刘佑辰的行为根本不能成为借口。我不是当事人，从我读到的报道中也看不很明显骂人者的动机究竟是什么。我自然是更愿意相信这纯粹是骂人者的个人好恶，与政治毫无关系，可人总是会疑邻盗斧。我也相信倘若两岸关系友善，纵然骂人者真有什么动机，也完全可以大事化小。遗憾的是，现实总是现实。
台湾有清末来多少人为之奋斗的体制，这里的领导者需要接受民众的检验，似乎也因而必然关注民众的呼声。可是，现实里，这里倾听民众声音的制度似乎总是有这样那样的问题。我搞不清究竟是民众的声音被倾听了，还是被当权者肆意的扭曲了。当权者腐败丑闻缠身的时候，他们可以主动挑起事端，转移民众的注意力，于是铜像叮呤咣啷被推倒了，明知会挑起事端的政策被采纳了，不管内部是不是会产生族群对立，不管会不会带来和平危机。如果对这些政策有意见，那么就请戴上一顶红帽子，立刻就成了坏人。
“捧LP”也好，“他，马的，就是爱台湾”也罢，骂人者，终究是应该道歉的。
I complain a lot of things about Beijing, but public transportation, well I should put it this way - the direction the public transportation is moving to, is not one of them.
A new subway line, Line Five, launched in Beijing yesterday, with the mayor’s address and media’s applauds. I am not surprised to learn from different papers that the line “represents the most advanced subway technology in China” and “is 100% made in China”. Less than one year ahead of the Olympics, you could hardly find anything in Beijing that is not the best.
What I want to talk about is actually not the subway line itself, but a new price system took effect yesterday also. The ticket price for all subway lines, no matter how many times you transfer (as long as you do not go to the airport), is set at RMB 2 (USD 0.26). The ticket price for buses has been cut to RMB 0.4 (if you use public transportation card) last year. I guess Beijing now has the cheapest public transportation system in China, perhaps even among the world major cities. (Do they pay for subways/buses in Pyongyang?)
On the other hand, the transportation of Beijing is deteriorating. China has a booming auto industry nowadays, and has the second largest auto market only after US. So it is not a surprise to learn some Chinese call their capital “Shou3du3 (首堵）“, means the worst traffic, instead of “Shou3du1(首都)” the capital. Cutting the ticket price is suppose to encourage more people using public transportation instead of driving their own cars (for the great Olympics of course).
The only question I have right now is how long the price will last. There is no doubt the public transportation system is losing money for this, and Beijing government is subsidizing it. But is the Government doing so only for the Olympics? Subway systems are well-known for losing money. Hong Kong’s subway system is perhaps by far the most successful one, as it earns something. Guess who will run Beijing’s next subway line (Line Four)? MTR Corporation (Hong Kong’s subway system operator)! Will Beijing invite MTR Corp. only to make its subsidies more efficiently? Let’s wait and see what happens when Line Four launches.
标签: English, 时评, 民生
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