Put on their thinking caps

A government plan to use the popular Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui for a new museum to showcase the development of the Chinese Communist Party, national security, and other themes surprised me. What further surprised me was the plan to use the Heritage Museum in Shatin for the Science Museum. The Heritage Museum items will be scattered in other museums. I half-joked to myself that this seemed like an early April Fools’ joke. The plan involves demolishing the Science Museum to make way for the new museum about China and demolishing the Heritage Museum to make way for the Science Museum.

This means demolishing two museums to build one new museum. The government wants the new museum about China to be in the popular Tsim Sha Tsui area. But Hong Kong has many areas popular with locals and tourists. I thought of Ocean Park off the top of my head. The expression “off the top of my head” means expressing an immediate reaction or providing information based on memory. Ocean Park is no longer profitable. The government had to give it $784 million. The park is huge and has an MTR station.

The government could use part of the park’s land to build from scratch the new museum overlooking the harbour without having to demolish the Science Museum, which is Hong Kong’s most popular museum with over one million visitors last year. To build from scratch means to start from the beginning. There must also be suitable sites along the Central or Admiralty harbour-front. Officials need to put on their thinking caps, which means to think seriously about something.

政府計劃將尖沙嘴受歡迎的科學館改作新展館，展示中國共產黨的發展、國家安全以及其他主題，這個計劃令我很驚訝。更令我驚訝的是，要將在沙田的文化博物館改為科學館的計劃，而文化博物館的館藏亦即將散落於其他的博物館。我跟自己半開玩笑說，這實在好像早來的愚人節笑話。計劃牽涉到拆除科學館以讓路改建為關於中國的新展館，以及拆除文化博物館以讓位給科學館。

這意味着要拆除兩個博物館來建成一個新的博物館。政府希望這個關於中國的新展館坐落於受歡迎的尖沙嘴區。然而，香港有許多地區，都受本地人和遊客歡迎。我不假思索（off the top of my head）便想到了海洋公園。習語“off the top of my head”是用來表達一個即時的反應，又或提供記憶所及的資訊。海洋公園已經不再賺錢了，政府之前還要給它7億8400萬元的撥款。公園很大，又有一個港鐵站。

政府可以用一部分的公園用地，從零開始（from scratch）建立新的展館，既可眺望海港景色，又不用拆除科學館——這個科學館可是香港最受歡迎的博物館，上年就有超過100萬名遊客。To build from scratch意即從頭開始。在中環又或金鐘海旁亦必定有合適的選址。政府官員需要put on their thinking caps，意即動動腦筋，認真思考某件事情。

[email protected]
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻