2016年9月21日 《頭條日報》專訪

採訪：張灼祥

不曾試過與曾鈺成Jasper同枱吃飯，隔着一張枱，倒是試過。在會所用膳，坐下來準備點菜，才察覺「香港的希望」（Hong Kong’s Hope）：《時代周刊》二○一六年九月十二至十九日封面人物坐在另一張枱。WhatsApp一句短訊給當了兩屆立法會主席的Jasper，說：很高興見到你。Jasper回了一句：Me too。

幾天後，與Jasper在他的「Think Tank」辦公室見面，他是「香港願景計劃」召集人（Convenor, Hong Kong Vision Research Programme）。

《Time》（時代周刊）稱Jasper為「香港的希望」，他笑着說：「希望愈大，失望愈大呀。」Jasper的Think Tank，是切實希望為香港做點實質工作：「首先，這個機構是獨立於所有政府、財團，是完全的independent。只有這樣，做出來的報告才夠中立。其次，我們着重Quality，做出來的研究質素有保證。最後則要有Impact（有影響力）。我們是個Advocacy Think Tank，發表的報告，是要爭取社會支持。我們希望研究過程，不受任何一方影響，報告才有說服力。」

曾鈺成大學畢業，想做學術研究，結果去了教書，然後當上校長：「我原是個內向之人，最怕應酬，從政初期出席酒會，我都不知道該站在哪裏，其實是想遠離人群，不用交談，就最好了，只是事與願違。」

Jasper說的是他創立了政黨，又當上了立法會議員、立法會主席：「原來人的性格是可以改變的，我的interpersonal skills就是這樣建立起來的。」

今時今日的Jasper，在酒會，在所有公開場合，皆可談笑風生。誰會想到二十多年前，他在酒會上，苦不堪言。

問Jasper會不會「誤入塵網中，一去三十年」，他說「無悔今生」。離開立法會，該可以遠離政治了，但當「香港願景計劃召集人」，還是離不開政治。

談到一些禁忌話題，Jasper說「討論」不等同「鼓吹」：「我們該多去了解年青人。你愈緊張，不准他們這樣，那樣，他們會愈不開心的。我們應該多與年輕人對話，知道他們在想甚麼才是。」

講到「香港該多去關心弱勢社群」：「香港貧富太懸殊了，資源分配出了問題，要落實『全民退保』計劃，這可不是三言兩語就可說個清楚明白。解決當前香港困局，大家要齊心協力才成的。」

後記

離開立法會，曾鈺成笑說日後「更上一層樓」，其實指的是他會到電台主持一個「鈺成千里目」節目，九月過後，他亦會到大學授課，教「議會程序」。

曾鈺成說愛行山：「行山好處多，可以想東想西，又可欣賞沿途風景，那是十分寫意自在的活動。」

談到閱讀，曾鈺成說Thomas Piketty的《Capital in the Twenty-First Century》（21世紀資本論）有此結論：我們得設法去解決社會不公平現象（「世襲財富」已成了一頭殺傷力甚強，不好應付的怪獸）。

曾鈺成說喜歡看驚悚小說：「Lee Child筆下的Jack Reacher，是個人物，有勇有謀。」我倒想起他寫的《矛盾集》其中一篇〈知所進退〉：「知其可而為之，知其不可而安之。」曾鈺成的解釋：「擁有懂得辨別『能』與『不能』的智慧，誰就是成功的人。」

曾鈺成的「更上一層樓」，會只是到電台開「咪」麼。

（完）

Accidental extrovert fights final corner   

The dust hasn’t settled

I’ve never dined at the same table with Jasper Tsang Yok-sing. But recently I saw him at a clubhouse restaurant over at the next table. I sent him a WhatsApp message: “So happy to see you!"

He replied: “Me too."

Tsang, the outgoing two-term president of the Legislative Council, was the subject of the cover feature in the September 12 issue of Time magazine, which called him “Hong Kong’s Hope."

I met him a few days later in his office at the Hong Kong Vision Research Project, where he serves as convener of the think tank, and asked him about being hailed as “Hong Kong’s Hope." He laughed and responded self- deprecatingly: “When hope is high, the ensuing disappointment will be great."

Hong Kong Vision, Tsang said, aims to do real work for the SAR.

“Most importantly, the project has no connection with any government or consortium. That is the only way to be truly independent, truly neutral," he said. “We strive for quality. As an advocacy think tank, we try to garner community support for our reports. Only when we are free from third-party influence can our reports have credibility." After graduating from university, Tsang had wanted to go into academic research, but ended up being a teacher, then a headmaster.

“I was an introvert, and feared going to parties. So when I first entered politics and went to cocktails, I stood in an obscure corner to avoid speaking to anyone. But things don’t always turn out the way you think they will," he chuckled.

One can’t really stay a shrinking violet for very long when one forms a political party, gets elected to the lawmaking body and becomes its president, so Tsang changed.

“I discovered that your personality can actually change. I built up interpersonal skills," he recalled.

Seeing him totally at ease at public functions these days, you would never have guessed the misery such occasions had caused him at one time.

Tsang said he has no regrets about going into politics. He’s leaving Legco, but that doesn’t mean he is quitting politics – he still heads a political think tank.

He said we should talk to young people even about sensitive topics. “Discussing is not the same as advocating," Tsang said.

And to resolve our community’s conundrums, everyone needs to chip in.

Terence Chang Cheuk-cheung is the retired headmaster of Diocesan Boys’ School