《中英對照讀新聞》Number of people sleeping in Hong Kong McDonald’s branches soars six-fold 香港麥當勞分店夜宿人數激增6倍
◎陳正健
In Hong Kong, the number of people sleeping in McDonald’s outlets has increased six-fold over the past five years, a trend partly driven by rising rents and substandard housing that makes life especially unbearable in the city’s baking weather, a study has found.
一項研究發現,過去5年來,在香港麥當勞經銷門市睡覺的人數增加6倍,此一趨勢部分是房租上漲及低於標準的居住環境所致,以致在該城市灼熱天氣下生活特別難受。
The survey, organized by Junior Chamber International’s Tai Ping Shan branch and conducted in June by volunteers, found 334 people had slept in a McDonald’s outlet nightly over the past three months. Of the 110 branches that operate 24 hours in the city, 84 had seen overnight sleepers.
這項調查是由國際青年商會太平山分部規劃,並由志工於6月間進行,發現有334人過去3個月來曾在麥當勞門市睡覺過夜。該城市110家24小時營業的麥當勞分店中,84家有夜宿者。
This is a six-fold increase from a similar study in 2013, which found only 57 such people, popularly dubbed McRefugees or McSleepers. A branch in Tsuen Wan hosted more than 30 sleepers, the highest among all branches, according to the latest study.
2013年一項類似研究發現,只有57名這類被普遍稱為「麥難民」或「麥宿者」的夜宿者,這次研究的數據增長6倍。這項最新研究顯示,荃灣一家分店有超過30名夜宿者,是所有分店之最。
Researchers were able to interview 53 McRefugees aged between 19 and 79, and found 57 per cent of them had a job and 71 per cent of them had flats that they rented or owned. Saving on air conditioning costs, as well as comfort and security, topped a list of reasons given by these interviewees.
研究人員得以採訪53名「麥難民」,他們的年齡介於19至79歲之間,發現其中57%擁有工作,71%擁有自租或自有公寓。這些受訪者提出的一系列夜宿原因中,居首的是節省冷氣費用,以及舒適及安全性等。
新聞辭典
outlet:名詞,經銷點,零售門市。例句:Their albums are available only online, not at any retail outlets.(他們的專輯只在網路販售,而非在任何經銷點。)
substandard:形容詞,不合格的,低於標準的。例句:Many of the tenants lived in substandard apartments.(許多房客住在低於標準的公寓裡。)
baking:形容詞,灼熱的,烘烤的。例句:It’s baking outside.(外頭天氣灼熱。)