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这是前天我替香港《东方日报》编译的本地大报《The Age》上的社论，参考一下：
奥运魅力掩饰尖锐问题
奥运会具有神奇的魔力。当比赛开始，几乎全世界都为之着迷。北京奥运开幕式令人惊奇地展现了充满科技精确性的舞台艺术和中国五千年历史并预示着一个辉煌的未来。包括近600万澳洲人在内的全球数十亿电视观众观看了这场耗资巨大的文化盛宴。
但是，在这场盛宴背后又掩藏着什么样的问题呢？是否开幕式耗资越昂贵越好？下一届伦敦奥运会是否只能做得更好否则就要甘拜下风呢？这些难道真的就是奥林匹克运动的精神所在？
中国一些有勇气的人已在提出这些问题。因支持天安门学生运动曾被囚禁七年的前中共高干鲍彤就质疑中国是否能承受本届奥运会的费用。他告诉香港《南华早报》说，“目前中国至少有两亿人每天仅挣不到1美元而中国政府却大肆洒钱并动员一切人力举办这样一场奥运会。”
这并不局限于中国，澳洲也有类似问题。本届奥运会澳洲共派出434名运动员，仅次于中、美、俄、德，成为世界第五大代表团。上周，澳洲奥委会主席约翰•科茨（John Coates）向陆克文总理提交了一项注资1600万澳元的金牌奖励计划。显然，澳洲奥委会忧虑下届伦敦奥运会上英国将比澳洲夺得更多的金牌。为此，在2005～08年间，澳洲奥委会已在奥运会项目上耗资4200万澳元，澳洲纳税人已通过澳洲人体育基金注入7800万澳元。
澳洲代表团将在北京表现出色，我们预祝他们成功，但我们也希望，当欢呼声渐渐远去，奥运魅力逐渐消失之后，澳洲必须头脑冷静地展开讨论：我们对体育的资金投入究竟应在什么样的合理水平。
:si89
The spell of the Games masks the critical questions
August 10, 2008 Editorial from The Age
THE Olympics have a strange power. While the Games are being played, much of the world appears spellbound, never more so than at the start of these Games. China's Olympics are as much about announcing China's place in the world as they are about fit young people running, swimming and jumping. Its opening ceremony was an astonishing display of no-expense-spared technical precision and choreography, paying homage to China's history and proclaiming a bright future. It was watched by billions of television viewers, (almost 6 million in Australia) and cost tens of millions of dollars to produce.
Most of us are happy to sit back and enjoy it, basking in the success of Australian athletes and appreciating the performances of international stars. But, at the risk of being boring while Olympic fever is upon us: is this all a bit much? Was there not a sense during the spectacle that one of its drivers was an insistence this ceremony, and these Games, must be better, more expensive, more awe-inspiring than any before? Will London, which hosts the Games in 2012, now have to go one better or feel like a loser? Is this, really, what the Olympic movement is about?
The question of cost is being asked in China, although only by the brave. Bao Tong, a former senior Communist Party official who was jailed for seven years for his support of the Tiananmen Square student protesters and who has been under house arrest since his release, asked whether China could afford the Games. "There are at least 200 million people in China who still earn less than $US1 a day and you (the Government) are splurging all that money and mobilising everyone to hold a fancy Olympics," he told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
Losing perspective is not confined to China. Australia has sent 434 athletes to the Games, the fifth-biggest team after China, the US, Russia and Germany. Last week, Australian Olympic chief John Coates presented Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with a plan to bolster the $16 million gold medal incentive program begun under Paul Keating in the 1990s. The Australian Olympic Committee is apparently concerned Britain will win more gold than Australia when London hosts the Games. For the record, the AOC spent $42 million on Olympic programs between 2005 and 2008. It has spent $19 million on team preparation and $14 million to get the team to China. Taxpayers have contributed an extra $78 million, largely through the Australian Sports Commission.
The Australian team is tipped to do well in Beijing. We wish them success, but we hope, too, that once the cheering has faded the nation can have a cool-headed conversation about what is a reasonable level of funding for elite sport. Inspiring as it is to see athletes perform at their peak, it might be a sign of maturity if we were able to declare that Australia is quite confident enough, thank you, whether it beats the Pommies or not.
There was something about the opening ceremony that invited these questions: China will do anything to make these Games the best (although one of the ceremony's themes was that China is peace-loving and poses no threat to anyone). Writ small, Australia will outspend (almost) any nation to bask in reflected gold. When the spell of the Games wears off, we might ask: why, precisely? |
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养金鱼 (2007-3-14) coldair 
发表于 2008-5-14 01:24
也难怪在澳洲这种地方……
