An Australian school was under fire last week after erasing the word “gay” from iconic song Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree to stop children tittering.
Garry Martin, head of Melbourne’s Lepage Primary, said he did not mean to insult gay people by replacing the word with “fun” in the chorus, which normally goes: “Laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra, gay your life must be.”
“I knew if we sing ‘Gay your life must be’ the kids will roll around the floor in fits of laughter,” Martin told commercial radio.
“I just suggested to kids, ‘Nowadays that can mean different things, so let’s just sing fun’,” he added.
Martin admitted he had probably been “hypersensitive,” but said the word was commonly used as a playground insult and he was keen to minimize disruption in the classroom.
In hindsight, he said he should have simply explained the meaning of “gay” as another word for “happy,” and told the children it shouldn’t be used disparagingly.
“I wasn’t trying to insult gay people ... it was just a decision at the time that I thought would minimize a disruptive atmosphere with grades one and two.”
Kookaburra, penned for a 1935 Girl Guides jamboree, has been in the news this year after a judge found its tune was ripped off in Men At Work’s Down Under, a global hit in 1981 and an unofficial Australian anthem.
Men At Work and their record label were ordered to pay five percent of profits from Down Under to Larrikin Music, which had bought the rights to Kookaburra.
(AFP)
上週澳洲一家學校為了制止學生因為唱「笑翠鳥之歌」時竊笑,而將歌詞中的「歡樂(gay)」字改掉,但此舉遭來批評。
墨爾本勒佩吉小學校長蓋瑞•馬丁表示,他從副歌中將「歡樂」這個字改成「快樂(fun)」時,原本無意冒犯同性戀者。歌詞中應該是「笑啊,笑翠鳥,笑啊,笑翠鳥,你的生活一定歡樂多」。
馬丁透過一家商業電台表示,「我知道如果我們唱『你的生活一定歡樂多』,小朋友會倒在地上又滾又笑的。」
他表示,「我就建議小朋友,『現在這個字有不同的意思,所以我們改成快樂吧』。」
馬丁承認他也許「太敏感了」,但他說這個字經常在學校遊戲場被用來罵人,而他決定減少校內的分歧。
後見之明,他說應該跟小朋友解釋說「歡樂」也代表「快樂」,也應該叫孩子們不能以貶抑的口吻使用這個字。
「我並不是冒犯同性戀者…這只是個當時我認為能夠減低對低年級學生干擾的決定而已。」
「笑翠鳥之歌」是於一九五三年,為了女童軍大露營而寫。最近幾年因為一位評分員發現該歌曲遭「工作者合唱團」抄襲,放在「南方大陸」這首歌裡,且於一九八一年成為全球暢銷曲,進而變成代表澳洲的一首歌。
「工作者合唱團」樂團跟他們的唱片公司,必須將「南方大陸」這首歌收益的百分之五給惡棍音樂公司,該公司購買了「笑翠鳥之歌」的發行權。
(法新社╱翻譯:吳岱璟)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110