Wednesday, December 31, 2014

10 questions about the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 tragedy

By Laura Smith-Spark and Ashley Fantz, CNN
December 30, 2014 -- Updated 1628 GMT (0028 HKT)
(CNN) -- The discovery of debris from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 means investigators have taken a big step toward answering the questions haunting the families of those aboard the doomed plane. What are the key questions, and what might come next?

What caused the plane to crash?

It's the million-dollar question. And as yet, nobody knows. Ahead lies a possibly months-long investigation into what happened after the Airbus A320-200 lost contact with air traffic control early Sunday.

Shortly beforehand, the pilot requested permission to turn and climb to a higher altitude because of bad weather, according to Indonesian officials.

Some experts have said the aircraft might have experienced an aerodynamic stall because of a lack of speed or from flying at too sharp an angle to get enough lift.

Analysts have also said that the pilots might not have been getting information from onboard systems about the plane's position or that rain or hail from thunderstorms in the area could have damaged the engines.

The key to understanding what happened is likely to be contained in the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, commonly known as black boxes.

"Until we get the black boxes, we won't know what's going on with the engines," Bill Savage, a former pilot with 30 years of experience, told CNN.

How will search crews retrieve bodies?

The recovery of the victims is the first priority for those involved in the operation.

Helicopters can lower divers to help recover bodies and debris from the surface of the water. Surface vessels may also play a role, as may submersibles if bodies are trapped in wreckage below the surface.

There are some victims who will be on the surface of the water and others trapped in the wreckage at the bottom of the Java Sea, about 140 feet (43 meters) down, said Peter Goelz, the former managing director of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

It will be a challenge for divers to reach bodies because that depth is as far as a diver can descend, he said. The divers will probably have to use recovery chambers -- systems to help their bodies acclimate and continue. "It will take time," Goelz said. "You have to find the debris field, and that will take a week or 10 days."

How will they be identified?

Hospitals in the Indonesian city of Surabaya are being prepared to help house and identify bodies recovered off the coast of Borneo.

To help them, heartbroken relatives have already been asked to bring along photographs of their loved ones and to provide DNA samples.

But finding and identifying the bodies of all 162 people on board is a big task. And not all bodies may be found.

A recovered body wasn't wearing a life jacket. What could that indicate?

Goelz said that could mean that whatever happened to the plane, it happened quickly. It's possible that passengers didn't have time to act, said Mary Schiavo, a lawyer and former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Could any of the passengers have survived?

There have been air crashes in the past where there has been a sole survivor, said Deborah Hersman, president of the National Safety Council and former chairwoman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. But finding anyone alive from Flight 8501 would be an incredibly unlikely scenario, she said.

A searcher said he could see the shadow of a plane through the water. If that's true, what then?

If that claim is true, searchers will be able to more quickly recover its flight data recorder, Schiavo said.

With the help of sonar, it shouldn't take long to recover recorders that contain an account of what happened on the plane, said Tim Taylor, a diver with 30 years of experience and an expert on submersible techniques and tools.

The plane's pingers, or underwater locator beacons, are still going off, Taylor said, so that should help speed up recovery of the recorder.

How will they find and retrieve the wreckage?

The debris was found in the Karimata Strait, about 110 nautical miles southwest of the Indonesian city of Pangkalan Bun, AirAsia said. That's just 6 miles from the plane's last known point of contact.

Divers and ships with sonar equipment are being sent to the site, where the water depth varies between 25 and 30 meters (about 80 to 100 feet), said Bambang Sulistyo, head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency.

As was the case in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a towed pinger locator could be used to pinpoint the flight data recorders.

Schiavo said the proximity of the wreckage to the last known radar point suggested that there was not an inflight breakup and that the plane may have hit the water intact.

The shallow depth of the water also means that heavy pieces of wreckage are not likely to have drifted very far before reaching the bottom.

Any large pieces of the plane will be brought up so that they can be reconstructed as part of the crash investigation.

But first, the site must be mapped because the location of the separate pieces is an important part of figuring out what happened, Taylor said.

What does the debris found so far indicate?

The sight of an emergency exit door floating free on the water, as well as some life jackets, may raise questions about whether the crew had time to deploy safety equipment before the plane hit the water. But Schiavo said she has seen other crash sites where the emergency exit door or chutes had popped out without being deliberately deployed.

"In many cases, those things just come apart as the accident aircraft breaks apart in the water -- but we certainly need to know that," she said.

When found, the cockpit voice recorder will probably help determine whether orders were given to prepare for a ditching in water.

What's next for the relatives of the victims?

The families of those on board got the news they were dreading Tuesday with confirmation that the wreckage of the plane had been found.

Some fainted as they live watched a news conference about the discovery of the debris and saw video of a helicopter lowering a diver to what appeared to be a floating body. Others burst into tears.

The key element is to keep the relatives informed while the investigation continues, said Hersman.

"It's about making the decisions to share the information with the family," she said. Those in charge also need to maintain credibility by making sure they have the facts correct and share them in a timely manner, she said.

It's also important to protect families amid the media frenzy, she said, particularly when distressing scenes are broadcast -- for example, of bodies being brought up.

Hersman also pointed to the impact of the news of the AirAsia crash on the relatives of those lost in other air disasters, such as the mysterious disappearance of Flight 370 in March. The search for that plane continues, 10 months later.

"The lack of ability to close things down emotionally is just exhausting," Sarah Bajc told CNN on Monday night. Her partner, Philip Woods, was on board MH370.

When news broke that another plane had disappeared this week, Bajc said, "I just started to shake."

Flight 8501 took off two hours ahead of schedule. Is that something investigators will consider?

Schiavo said they will take that into account. A plane leaving before its scheduled departure time is unheard of in the United States, but that doesn't mean it isn't common practice in other countries, she noted.

"The question I would have is why," she said. "Were they trying to beat the weather?"

CNN's Will Ripley contributed to this report.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/30/world/asia/air-asia-whats-next/

Monday, December 29, 2014

What happened to AirAsia flight QZ8501?

Published: 29 December 2014

A child looks on at a viewing gallery overlooking AirAsia planes on the tarmac at Changi Airport in Singapore today. The missing AirAsia plane carrying 162 people is presumed to have crashed off the Indonesian coast, an official said today, as countries in the region offered to help Jakarta in the search and recovery effort. – Reuters pic, December 29, 2014.

A day after it disappeared en route from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore, mystery surrounds the fate of AirAsia flight QZ8501 and the 162 people on board.

No debris from the Airbus A320-200 has so far been recovered, and Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo said today "the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea".
Following are some questions surrounding the disappearance and search, and answers by industry experts.
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the twin-engine aircraft around an hour after it left Juanda International airport at Surabaya in East Java at 5:35 am Sunday (2235 GMT Saturday).
Shortly before disappearing, AirAsia said the plane had asked permission from Jakarta air traffic control to deviate from its flight plan and climb above bad weather in an area noted for severe thunderstorms.
Gerry Soejatman, a consultant with the Jakarta-based Whitesky Aviation chartered flight provider, said the verdict is still out on whether bad weather conditions was the "primary factor or just a contributory factor" for the disappearance.
"Based on the public information we have, the pilots turned to the left of its designated route, and also requested to climb to a higher altitude," Soejatman told AFP.
"Approval was given for the left turn but there are indications the plane climbed without approval. If that is the case, the turbulence could have been severe and the pilots made a decision to save the aircraft rather than wait for approval," he added.
Anthony Brickhouse, a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators, said it "is not atypical to have a pre-programmed flight path and then something happens and the pilots try to adjust it".
"Airliners in general tend to avoid thunderstorms as much as possible to give passengers a smoother ride," Brickhouse, an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told AFP.
"Right now, the fact that they were trying to avoid bad weather doesn't tell us a lot in the grand scheme of things."
Have there been other plane mysteries like this?
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew.
The Boeing 777-200 aircraft is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean far off Australia's west coast after diverting off course for an unknown reason and flying for several more hours over the remote waters.
An intense air and sea search failed to find any wreckage from the aircraft, while an underwater search has been underway for weeks with no result.
Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009 while on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing 216 passengers and 12 crew. Debris was not found for days and it took years to locate the wreckage. Investigators eventually concluded that both technical and human error were to blame.
Adam Air Flight 574 with 102 people on board disappeared from radar in January 2007, also at its cruise phase during a domestic flight in Indonesia. Debris was found nine days later after an extensive search and it took months to recover the plane's black box.
Indonesian authorities said the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.
Was Flight QZ8501 flying too slowly when it disappeared?
Some experts have said initial readings of radar data have shown the plane was flying much slower than it should have been when it disappeared.
In the Air France Flight AF447 crash in 2009, it is believed a build-up of ice on "pitot tube" instruments caused the pilots to receive distorted data on airspeed before the aircraft went down.
"Although any attempt to explain the reason for the disappearance of the AirAsia flight is pure speculation at this time, we can’t but notice at least one apparent similarity with another famous crash: Air France 447," wrote aviation blogger David Cenciotti on theaviationist.com.
He added that low ground speed could have been caused by strong headwinds.
Soejatman said early readings from a leaked air traffic control image circulating online showed Flight QZ8501 was "extremely slow".
"If the plane happened to be going below stall speed, then well, you will fall out of the sky," he said.
Can we rule out terrorism or a hijack attempt?
Experts say it is too early to rule out any possibility.
"As an investigator, I am trained to keep all possibilities on the table until evidence suggest otherwise," said Brickhouse.
"Right now, I have not seen anything that could be associated with any kind of criminal act."
Why have authorities not picked up signals?
Aircraft have an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), which is designed mainly for when the plane crashes on land and pilots are still trying to control it. In the event of a major crash, it may not work.
The plane also has a "black box" consisting of the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. If immersed in water they should activate a "pinger" that can draw investigators to the location. However, the sound cannot be heard over long distances.
Soejatman said AirAsia "does not subscribe" to ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) – which sends short messages to ground controllers – even though the Airbus A320-200 is equipped with the system.
He said authorities must move quickly to improve technology that help locate aircraft when they go missing.
"Even with MH370 the beacon did not go off. Why aren't we getting the beacon in large-scale incidents?" he said.
"I am not saying it is a faulty system. The beacon (ELT) is the best thing we have at the moment. But we have to work on improving it," he said.
Brickhouse said "advanced tracking technology is out there" but "financial and logistics ramifications come into play in terms of installing them".
What are the difficulties faced by search teams?
National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo said today search teams are scouring an area where the sea is 40-50 metres deep.
He said Indonesia was coordinating with other countries to access any equipment that may be needed to scour the seabed.
Soejatman said despite the shallow water in the search area, "mud and hard rocks" could interfere with sonar pings emitted by the plane's ELT. – AFP, December 29, 2014.
Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/what-happened-to-airasia-flight-qz8501

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

聖誕蒙恩

作者:張立德

下星期四就是聖誕節了。在臉書,公司飯廳的飯桌上,都可以看到、聽到網友和同事,分享自己去參觀欣賞了哪座商場的聖誕裝置,比較哪一個地方的佈置更美更有氣勢。

朋友說,聖誕節是他最喜歡的節日,高大漂亮的聖誕樹,雪景裝飾,聖誕老人,麋鹿,禮物,天使……組成了一副美麗的圖畫,予人溫馨的感覺。農曆新年收到長輩或友人的紅包,是別人給自己的祝福,那聖誕節交換禮物,就是朋友、親戚、同事之間相互傳送溫暖、溫馨、友愛和關心的舉動,交換禮物近年來是越來越夯了。

基督徒每年聖誕必然會感慨一番,聖誕節的主角似乎不見了,迎接救主耶穌才是慶祝聖誕節的真正目的,現在在商業化下,聖誕節只剩下禮物和派對。為了向更多人傳達聖誕節的神聖意義,不少教會主動走入社區和商場,與商家配合,到mall去報佳音,或者在舞台上呈獻耶穌誕生的劇目,傳播福音。通常mall呈獻的聖誕表演節目,不外是比較世俗化的歌舞,與聖誕老人拍照;在教會的參與下,還原聖誕精神,還可以加入慈善活動項目,商家也因此履行了企業社會責任,可謂兩全其美。
有非基督徒朋友對我說,聖誕節演變成普天同慶的節日(或假日),不再局限於基督徒,讓聖誕的精神更加生活化,甚至內化到廣大民眾心中,成為一種生活價值觀,也未嘗不是一件好事。我明白朋友的意思,我向來也有一種想法,如果聖誕節不淪為狂歡的節日,平安夜可以不會被人誤以為是“失身夜”,人們都能瞭解聖誕節,除了快樂之外,還具備其他的神聖意義和價值,大家一起來過聖誕,當然是美事一件。

也許許多非基督徒並不知道,天主教會在每一年踏入冬季時序(以大馬時節計算即12月),會特別制訂“將臨期”,包含兩個重要的課題:即紀念基督的第一次來臨,以及虔敬、愉悅地期待基督在光榮中的再次來臨。

如果在聖誕節期間有機會踏入天主教堂,會看到祭台旁置放一個“將臨圈”,將臨圈的習慣從德國開始,是用常青樹枝編織而成的圓圈或花冠。

一般上,在商場的聖誕裝置也可以見到。將臨圈的圓形象徵天主的無始無終及永恒。常青樹枝象徵天主的永恒不變及新生命。蜡燭的光,則象徵基督之光。花環中的四支蜡燭,代表將臨期四週,每個主日點燃一支,其中三支蜡燭是紫色,一支是粉紅色,分別代表不同主題和意義:紫色有期待、渴望,有補贖之意;也可以說是日出前的黎明或代表深夜的陰暗。粉紅色顯示喜樂。

介紹了這麼多,在聖誕前夕,大家也可以依循4個主題觀察自我、他人、社會國家和世界,尤其是在這個全民抗極端,力挺中庸的運動期間,思考如何戰勝極端,彰顯中庸。

邁向正義,才是真正的生命之道。在生命中,為追求真理,必須棄絕極端。人人擁有一顆渴望真道的心,是大家所期待和渴望的。我們要以“愛”與“公義”來接觸和擁抱這個世界,但願那些言行極端者能夠認清自己的不足和錯失。當人人回歸正道,當社會團結,國泰和睦,世界和平,我們才能迎來真正的喜樂。

聖誕過後即是迎接全新一年的時刻,回首2014年,可以發現我們無論是在經濟、政治、宗教、教育等層面,都浪費了太多的時間在一些無謂的事情上,做好的正事似乎不多,多數精神耗費在無意義的口舌紛爭中,原本看到了民主的曙光,卻被政治化和宗教化拖宕,絆住了前進的步伐。幸好臨近年終,一場中庸運動,讓我們看到了希望,希望這道曙光不會是流星般一劃星空而逝,稍縱即逝,而是像引領3位賢士前往朝拜耶穌的明亮之星,永恆地照亮大馬的天空和我們的心田。

(星洲日報/騎驢看本‧作者:張立德‧《星洲日報》主筆)

来源:http://opinions.sinchew.com.my/node/35062?tid=55

Friday, December 19, 2014

圣诞节传达包容和中庸信息


陈亚伦牧师与孙女安娜
2014年12月19日
作者:陈亚伦牧师

        圣诞节是传达包容别人和中庸信息的大好时机,尤其在一个日益排斥别人和极端的世界更合时宜。在马来西亚一个多元种族和宗教的国度,人民仍然在个别的佳节彼此祝贺。

        近年在购物广场互相竞争下,无不想尽办法摆设吸引人的圣诞节装饰,我们不是看到不同种族的人士都以它们为背景拍照吗?不少广场播放着传统的圣诞圣诗,也邀请教会来报佳音。这些动作都传达大马人民的和谐气氛,彼此尊重对方,国家才能安稳地前进。

        在一个教会神圣的12月份,竟然发生警方没收麻坡天主教会的31本圣诗簿,实在遗憾。长辈都记得马来亚独立及马来西亚成立初期,大家和睦共处,各种族持守信仰都相安无事。其实大马人普遍上都爱好和平的,只是,有一小撮政客为议程制造极端课题,让人以为这般情况是一个事实。

       极端的行动包括只要自己不喜欢的东西,就设法禁止别人去做。以美国为例,一群非基督徒不喜欢到了圣诞节佳期使用“Merry Christmas”(圣诞节快乐),施压政府推行“Happy Holidays”(假期快乐)来取代。虽然这群人得逞,越来越多人弃用前者而使用后者,但庆幸美国的圣诞节还看到教会聚会的来宾比平常要多。这证明了美国人仍然是喜欢圣诞节的。

        大马12月份发生上述不愉快的事,但也有愉快的事。即有25名马来显要公开促请政府推动中庸行动,继再有33名华、巫、印三大种族社会知名人士也如此呼吁政府,这些行动已经点燃了良性的“星星之火,足以燎原”之希望。我断定还会有更多有影响力的人士表态支持中庸!

        几年的伤害种族宗教之言论,越演越激,只有一群在野政治人物在抗拒,当想到“为何那些有识之士不敢发言,或者难道他们认同?”时,人民就对国家前途失信心。哦,沉默不等于认同,沉默的大众有多少人,没人知道。不过,这已经是第21世纪,马来西亚成立超过半世纪,人民已经很有见识了。沉默人士好比一个被压缩的弹簧,一旦把它释放,那个爆发力是不容忽视的!他们的行动,是大马的雨后甘霖!

        这也是第一个圣诞的原意:“在至高之处,荣耀归与上帝!在地上,平安归与祂所喜悦的人。”人民互相打斗,上帝不喜悦,所以他们失去平安。只有和睦共处,才能获得祂的喜悦,他们才有平安。同时使徒保罗形容祂的降世是取了奴仆的形象,这意味着谦卑。所以我们不要自私自利,只要谦卑,看别人比自己强。如果国人都这样做的话,就会彼此包容,秉持中庸,国家即幸福矣!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Dengue times: Not much fun

Published: December 17, 2014 07:37 AM
Erna Mahyuni









DECEMBER 17 — While the actual physical experience of dengue was terrible (10/10 would not want to repeat it again), it was entertaining looking back.
My friends were very solicitous and shared their own dengue war stories. They were very useful, honestly as they did prepare me for things like the itching. Why is there not a collective handbook for this? 
Handbooks are boring so instead I will share my dengue chronicles. Warning: very banal and maybe only five per cent useful to actual dengue sufferers who are likely too sick to read this.
Day 1: I have a fever. On the tail-end of my holiday? This sucks. Oh well, suck it up, I will have Panadol and go to the book sale preview. 
Hours later: I am cold. I am tired. I have acquired the 50th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings. I will go to bed now.
Day 2: Still feverish. What is this? Never mind, I will go have a nice lunch in a very nice part of town. I hear the Strato lunch set is excellent value.
Hours later: The only thing I could taste was the strawberry panna cotta. Service was excellent, location excellent. My feelings? Very unexcellent. More Panadol.
I’m still sick but I am on holiday damn it. Off to see the pandas.
Many hours later: I could only bear Zoo Negara for an hour. Fortunately, the pandas felt the same way. The furry things were either asleep or so sick of humans they decided to hide out in their enclosure. 
Day 3: It is Saturday and I am in bed. Normally this would be a delightful state of affairs but I literally can’t get out of bed. Not without wincing anyway. I think I should see the doctor tomorrow.

Day 4: Badger friends to go out for late lunch. Fevers are at least useful ways to guilt your friends into spending time with you. Alas, I am so sick that even the smell of coffee makes me nauseous. I resist the temptation of crying into my cold, lime-y concoction. Can’t drink anything warm despite being cold because they make me want to throw up.
Doctor’s advice: You’ve been feverish this long? Here, take some meds. If your fever doesn’t break by tomorrow, get a dengue test. Oh, perhaps drink some 100 Plus? 
Thanks, doc but the taste of 100 Plus along with 80 per cent of known foodstuffs makes me want to chuck up whatever little dinner I could stomach. I go to bed after taking pain killers, anti-nausea pills and praying I get better by tomorrow.
Day 5: My text to a friend: “I feel like dying.” Cue trip to the nearest GP who does 15-minute dengue tests.
New doctor: Oh my. Yes, you have dengue. Go home and rest and we’ll call you when we get your bloodwork to see if you need to be hospitalised. 
Friends on FB: Get well soon! Drink 100 Plus? How about papaya leaves? Try bathing in pomegranate juice! Don’t die!
Day 6: I don’t have to stay in the hospital hurrah. The meds have perked my spirits somewhat and am amused by all the dengue stories I’m hearing. 
My hands and feet are starting to itch though. It seems this will be at least a two-day state of affairs. Itching won’t kill me, right?
Day 7: I was wrong. The itching was murder. I could sleep through fever, joint pains and my annoying little dog’s barking at the neighbours. But the itching. I want to kill all mosquitoes with a flamethrower. One problem though: even standing for more than 30 seconds gets me winded.
Clinic: Hello, miss. Have you gone for a followup at the hospital? Of course you have to go. You have dengue. 
Doc at hospital: Do you have insurance? You could let it pay for a hospital stay. No, you don’t actually need to stay at the hospital. Your platelet count is 146,000. But your insurance company would pay for it, right? Why are you giving me dagger eyes? You need to sleep from the itching? Fine, then, have some Xanax.
Note to self: Never visiting this hospital again. 
Day 8: The Xanax helped. The antihistamines? Not so much. Less itching. More sleeping. I had sambal sotong. It’s nice to be able to eat without wanting to up chuck everything.
Day 9: And the nausea’s back. I hate the world.
Day 10: Feeling a little better. I can finally stay on Facebook for a record 10 minutes. This is an achievement as dengue had me so tired I can barely manage even a Facebook update. Everything is too tiring. Standing is tiring. Sitting is tiring. Social media is tiring. Tweeting feels like actual work. Haven’t checked my email for days. 
Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/opinion/erna-mahyuni/article/dengue-times-not-much-fun

Monday, December 15, 2014

马来西亚教育政策导致英文水准每况愈下

2014年12月15日
作者:陈亚伦

    我跟今天的青少年以英语沟通,断定他们的理解能力差劲。马来西亚的确面对英文水准每况愈下的状况。教育部长为此感叹乃无济于事,因为我们在致力于提升它时,只采用治标的政策。当初废除英校,及升中学以马来文取代英文教学,我国其实就注定了为竞争力被削弱付代价。敦马哈迪发觉弊病为时已晚,来一个推行英文教数理政策,实行几年后结果现任教育部长又恢复这两科以马来文教学。我国还花费千万令吉算的费用聘请英国和美国教师。我看不到这政策有什么效果!现在又建议增加上课时间多几小时到下午,部长应该跟教育界团体及家长探讨后才来发言,不然真的让人感到教育政策变化无常!

        学生英文水准差,因为我们绝大多数的英文教师不能掌握英文。有个学生投诉说她的英文老师不能分辨“horse”(马)和“donkey”(驴)!政府不该批评私人公司或跨国企业歧视某种族,因为它们录用职员以能掌握英文为重要条件。每年都有好几万大学生毕业,今年刚毕业了10万人。20年以前,大学毕业生非常吃香。现在,你随便丢一块石头都能打中一个大学毕业生!毕业就是失业,尤其今年开始令人担心,因为原油价跌已经影响我国经济,首当其冲就是外资撤导致股市降及马币贬值,加上4个月后实行消费税,我国的竞争力就被削弱。每一年,大学毕业生因为英文不好而失业,政府又花费另外训练他们,这做法只在大马有(Only In Malaysia),这情况也造成我国大学排行榜在400所大学以外。

    本来读大学就是“有料”的,毕业后应该是帮助别人的,但他们却要国家动用金钱时间帮助!教育是长远的路途,如今的困境,要摆脱的话,最少需要30年,这也断乎于如果敢敢釜底抽薪的话!

“Perception” 不是 “印象”

2014年12月15日
作者:陈亚伦

   Perception”被翻译为“印象”乃不正确,其实之前已经有人在《言路版》提起。最近首相纳吉为巫统联邦直辖区联委会大会开幕致词,他提到巫统成为“victim of perception”被有些传媒译为“印象受害者”。当部长说对于贪污猖獗是人民持的“perception”,警方说对于罪案上升是人民对它的“perception”,这些传媒都译为“印象”。

        我认为正确的翻译是“概念”。“Impression”才是“印象”,它乃是你对一个人或一件事留下的“好或坏”的记忆,可以是深刻的,也可以是肤浅的。这也是说你带有某程度的批判。但对于一个政党的表现,或贪污事件的状况,或罪案的风气,你没必要批判它们,你却乃经过一段时期观察作出结论,这就是“概念”。

        翻译比写作更难!语文之间的语法不少是前后颠倒的,你必须掌握两种语文。你也不可以按字面直译,因为字或词可以有超过一个意思。你必须看它用在什么性质上。譬如,整年前媒体报道 Hard Rock Café打 算在布城营业,部长说可以,只是不能售酒。某些媒体把“Hard Rock Café”译为“硬石”咖啡厅。“硬石”没表达咖啡厅的营业性质,因为咖啡厅内一贯都会播放或有人驻唱摇滚歌,所以译为“劲(Hard)”“摇滚(Rock & Roll)”咖啡厅才对称。(虽然名称不包括“Roll”,使用“摇滚”比“摇”更佳。)不过它源自西方,目前没有意思设立中文招牌,这导致译者自译,没咨询业者的缘故。

Friday, December 5, 2014

It’s official: America is now No. 2

Published: Dec 4, 2014 11:18 a.m. ET


By Brett Arends

Chinese economy overtakes the U.S.’s to become the largest

Hang on to your hats, America.
And throw away that big, fat styrofoam finger while you’re about it.
There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it: We’re no longer No. 1. Today, we’re No. 2. Yes, it’s official. The Chinese economy just overtook the United States economy to become the largest in the world. For the first time since Ulysses S. Grant was president, America is not the leading economic power on the planet.
It just happened — and almost nobody noticed.
The International Monetary Fund recently released the latest numbers for the world economy. And when you measure national economic output in “real” terms of goods and services, China will this year produce $17.6 trillion — compared with $17.4 trillion for the U.S.A.
As recently as 2000, we produced nearly three times as much as the Chinese.
To put the numbers slightly differently, China now accounts for 16.5% of the global economy when measured in real purchasing-power terms, compared with 16.3% for the U.S.
This latest economic earthquake follows the development last year when China surpassed the U.S. for the first time in terms of global trade.
I reported on this looming development over two years ago, but the moment came sooner than I or anyone else had predicted. China’s recent decision to bring gross domestic product calculations in line with international standards has revealed activity that had previously gone uncounted.
These calculations are based on a well-established and widely used economic measure known as purchasing-power parity (or PPP), which measures the actual output as opposed to fluctuations in exchange rates. So a Starbucks venti Frappucino served in Beijing counts the same as a venti Frappucino served in Minneapolis, regardless of what happens to be going on among foreign-exchange traders. 
PPP is the real way of comparing economies. It is one reported by the IMF and was, for example, the one used by McKinsey & Co. consultants back in the 1990s when they undertook a study of economic productivity on behalf of the British government.
Yes, when you look at mere international exchange rates, the U.S. economy remains bigger than that of China, allegedly by almost 70%. But such measures, although they are widely followed, are largely meaningless. Does the U.S. economy really shrink if the dollar falls 10% on international currency markets? Does the recent plunge in the yen mean the Japanese economy is vanishing before our eyes?
Back in 2012, when I first reported on these figures, the IMF tried to challenge the importance of PPP. I was not surprised. It is not in anyone’s interest at the IMF that people in the Western world start focusing too much on the sheer extent of China’s power. But the PPP data come from the IMF, not from me. And it is noteworthy that when the IMF’s official World Economic Outlook compares countries by their share of world output, it does so using PPP.
Yes, all statistics are open to various quibbles. It is perfectly possible China’s latest numbers overstate output — or understate them. That may also be true of U.S. GDP figures. But the IMF data are the best we have.
Make no mistake: This is a geopolitical earthquake with a high reading on the Richter scale. Throughout history, political and military power have always depended on economic power. Britain was the workshop of the world before she ruled the waves. And it was Britain’s relative economic decline that preceded the collapse of her power. And it was a similar story with previous hegemonic powers such as France and Spain.
This will not change anything tomorrow or next week, but it will change almost everything in the longer term. We have lived in a world dominated by the U.S. since at least 1945 and, in many ways, since the late 19th century. And we have lived for 200 years — since the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 — in a world dominated by two reasonably democratic, constitutional countries in Great Britain and the U.S.A. For all their flaws, the two countries have been in the vanguard worldwide in terms of civil liberties, democratic processes and constitutional rights.
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-official-america-is-now-no-2-2014-12-04?link=sfmw_fb&fb_ref=Default&fb_source=message