Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-Po has put a damper on giving consumption vouchers to Hong Kong people when he unveils (makes public) this year\'s budget on February 28. He said recently that most of the people who gave their feedback during the budget consultation period were dead set against consumption vouchers this year. He said the people who took part in the consultation felt consumption vouchers were unnecessary because of the government’s shrinking coffers. To put a damper on something means to make it less appealing or enjoyable. The financial secretary made the budget less appealing when he strongly hinted Hong Kong could not afford consumption vouchers.

To be dead set against something means to be completely opposed to it. A coffer is a large and strong box to store money and other valuables. But the government’s coffers refer to the money the government has available to spend. Chan Mo-po did not clearly say how many people took part in the consultation and what sectors of society they were from. It seems from media reports that mostly political parties and business groups took part in the public consultation. My guess is those who opposed consumption vouchers must be loaded. The word “loaded” has many meanings but if used this way it means to be rich.

It is unlikely that low-income families would be dead set against consumption vouchers. I don’t know if the financial secretary visited families living in public housing or subdivided flats to ask about consumption vouchers. There is still time if he hasn’t consulted such families for their views on consumption vouchers.

財政司司長陳茂波將於二月二十八日揭曉（unveils）今年的財政預算案，在會否給予香港人消費券上一直在掃大家的興（put a damper on）。最近他說，財政預算案諮詢期間，許多給予意見的人士都堅決反對（dead set against）今年繼續派消費券。他說，參與諮詢的人都認為消費券是不必要的，因為政府庫房（coffers）縮水。To put a damper on something是指令某事物不那麼吸引或愉悅。當財政司司長強烈暗示香港承負擔不起再派一次消費券時，他就減低了財政預算案的吸引力。

To be dead set against something是指堅決反對某事。A coffer就是存放金錢和其他貴重物品的金庫或保險箱，但政府的coffers則是指政府的財政儲備。陳茂波並未清楚指出有幾多人參與了諮詢，也沒說他們是來自社會哪些行業。從傳媒報道中看來，似乎大部分的政黨和商業團體也有參與公眾諮詢。我的估計是，那些反對派消費券的人一定相當 loaded—— loaded一字有許多意思，但若放在這裏則解作很有錢。

低收入家庭是不大可能會堅決反對（dead set against）消費券吧。我不知道財政司司長可有探訪那些住公屋又或劏房的家庭，詢問他們對於消費券的意見。如果他還未諮詢過那些家庭對消費券的看法，還有時間啊。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻