This afternoon I received an SMS message notifying me of service disruptions, and it said one of the evening services was ‘undefined’. What can this rather mysterious message mean? Perhaps the train company has become bored of the word ‘cancelled’?
今天下班收到火車公司通知服務改動的手機短訴，曰其中一班車「不能界定」（undefined），究竟何解？可能是說「取消」說得太多要搞點新意思吧？
At the station, one of the escalators leading to my platform was still closed after three weeks of repair works. How long can this possibly take? That’s probably enough time to replace the escalator completely!
到了火車站，其中一道電動扶梯封閉了三個多星期維修也沒修好，究竟修一修這麼簡單的扶梯也要這麼久嗎？整道換過也可以了！
Also taking its time is a mobile phone shop in the lobby of the hospital building where I work. It’s been saying ‘Opening soon’ for at least two months, but the interior décor would suggest ‘Closed ad infinitum’ instead if no one is going to work on it.
同樣，上班的醫院大樓，地下大堂有一家手機店，說「即將開幕」不止兩個月，可是內部裝潢祇可用「原封不動」形容，看來開幕無期了。
Last week the Australian police unearthed a potential ‘terrorist plot’ (well, this is really to be confirmed; see the last paragraph) against a military base. The day after the police action, journalists uncovered that the security of that military base, as well as that of many others, was outsourced to external security companies. The government sought to explain that the military had more important duties like training than running their own security. Let’s not even contemplate the scenario when the attackers had an opportunity to team up with or infiltrate the security company in their plot. How can one have faith in a military force to defend the country when they didn’t even bother defending their base?
澳洲上週破獲一個準備襲擊軍營的「恐怖集團」（為何用引號稍後自有分曉），翌日記者採訪，發現該軍營及其他不少軍營的保安原來是外判的！政府解畫道，軍人的職責是軍事訓練而非保衛軍營此等閒事，且不說襲擊者可收買、串通或滲透保安公司從而策劃和進行襲擊，一隊軍隊連自己的營地也不管，又如何令人對他們保衛國土有信心？
On all international flights to Australia, there’s an extra security checkpoint on the air bridge where all liquids or containers over 100 mL in capacity would be confiscated (likewise for the USA, but other countries do not implement this extra check and all liquids purchased after the main security check at the airport can be brought on board). This extra security procedure may well be justifiable, but it’s the complete opposite for Australian domestic flights where there is absolutely no restriction on liquid allowed on board. Is there no similar security concern internally? Do terrorists only come from abroad, one has to wonder?
乘國際航機前往澳洲，臨上機在登機橋上有另一重安檢，所有超過100毫升的液體和容器都要沒收（前往美國亦然，其他國家則無此限，經過機場安檢在禁區購買的液體可無限制帶上機），本來出於保安，此舉也無可厚非，但奇則奇在，澳洲的內陸航機是無任何液體攜帶限制，何也？難道祇有外國才有恐怖分子嗎？
But whether Australia has home-grown terrorists is not so easy to say. Since the action taken last week, the police have yet to uncover any weapon or other concrete evidence for such a plot against the military base. At the time of the arrest, the police proclaimed an attack was just weeks away, but it’s difficult to conceive how the attack could be carried out in such a short time frame when the weapons were not even in hand! Let’s see whether the case will lead to a farcical end, if the charges have to be withdrawn because of a lack of evidence.
不過澳洲有沒有恐怖分子，此問題也愈來愈說不準，上週那集團的人被捕後，警方甚麼武器或其他犯罪證據也找不着，目前祇靠當初蒐集的線報而已，當時「破案」時說襲擊祇是數星期的事，但連武器也未張羅又如何行事？如果此案最後真的因為證據不足而無疾而終的話，那就真的匪夷所思了！
今天下班收到火車公司通知服務改動的手機短訴，曰其中一班車「不能界定」（undefined），究竟何解？可能是說「取消」說得太多要搞點新意思吧？
At the station, one of the escalators leading to my platform was still closed after three weeks of repair works. How long can this possibly take? That’s probably enough time to replace the escalator completely!
到了火車站，其中一道電動扶梯封閉了三個多星期維修也沒修好，究竟修一修這麼簡單的扶梯也要這麼久嗎？整道換過也可以了！
Also taking its time is a mobile phone shop in the lobby of the hospital building where I work. It’s been saying ‘Opening soon’ for at least two months, but the interior décor would suggest ‘Closed ad infinitum’ instead if no one is going to work on it.
同樣，上班的醫院大樓，地下大堂有一家手機店，說「即將開幕」不止兩個月，可是內部裝潢祇可用「原封不動」形容，看來開幕無期了。
Last week the Australian police unearthed a potential ‘terrorist plot’ (well, this is really to be confirmed; see the last paragraph) against a military base. The day after the police action, journalists uncovered that the security of that military base, as well as that of many others, was outsourced to external security companies. The government sought to explain that the military had more important duties like training than running their own security. Let’s not even contemplate the scenario when the attackers had an opportunity to team up with or infiltrate the security company in their plot. How can one have faith in a military force to defend the country when they didn’t even bother defending their base?
澳洲上週破獲一個準備襲擊軍營的「恐怖集團」（為何用引號稍後自有分曉），翌日記者採訪，發現該軍營及其他不少軍營的保安原來是外判的！政府解畫道，軍人的職責是軍事訓練而非保衛軍營此等閒事，且不說襲擊者可收買、串通或滲透保安公司從而策劃和進行襲擊，一隊軍隊連自己的營地也不管，又如何令人對他們保衛國土有信心？
On all international flights to Australia, there’s an extra security checkpoint on the air bridge where all liquids or containers over 100 mL in capacity would be confiscated (likewise for the USA, but other countries do not implement this extra check and all liquids purchased after the main security check at the airport can be brought on board). This extra security procedure may well be justifiable, but it’s the complete opposite for Australian domestic flights where there is absolutely no restriction on liquid allowed on board. Is there no similar security concern internally? Do terrorists only come from abroad, one has to wonder?
乘國際航機前往澳洲，臨上機在登機橋上有另一重安檢，所有超過100毫升的液體和容器都要沒收（前往美國亦然，其他國家則無此限，經過機場安檢在禁區購買的液體可無限制帶上機），本來出於保安，此舉也無可厚非，但奇則奇在，澳洲的內陸航機是無任何液體攜帶限制，何也？難道祇有外國才有恐怖分子嗎？
But whether Australia has home-grown terrorists is not so easy to say. Since the action taken last week, the police have yet to uncover any weapon or other concrete evidence for such a plot against the military base. At the time of the arrest, the police proclaimed an attack was just weeks away, but it’s difficult to conceive how the attack could be carried out in such a short time frame when the weapons were not even in hand! Let’s see whether the case will lead to a farcical end, if the charges have to be withdrawn because of a lack of evidence.
不過澳洲有沒有恐怖分子，此問題也愈來愈說不準，上週那集團的人被捕後，警方甚麼武器或其他犯罪證據也找不着，目前祇靠當初蒐集的線報而已，當時「破案」時說襲擊祇是數星期的事，但連武器也未張羅又如何行事？如果此案最後真的因為證據不足而無疾而終的話，那就真的匪夷所思了！
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