【Yuen Long 7.21】Prosecution says “blow the whistle” means calling people together and could be used to summon villagers to congratulate a new father; judge says it is “triad jargon”
【元朗7.21】控方稱「吹雞」指召集人 可用於添丁時叫村民恭賀 官認為屬「黑社會術語」
In the 21 July 2019 Yuen Long incident, former Legislative Council member Lam Cheuk-ting and six men are charged with rioting. The trial entered its 31st day today (the 18th). Lam earlier called then Yuen Long District Council member Zachary Wai Yin Wong to testify, and the witness was cross-examined by the prosecution today. Wong previously said that, in village affairs, he understood “blow the whistle” to mean “showing force”. The prosecution asked: “Could ‘blow the whistle’ mean calling other people together, and not necessarily ‘showing force’?” Judge Chan Kwong-chi considered that the witness was unable to answer. The prosecution then asked: “If the chairman of a rural committee had a new baby, could he ‘blow the whistle’ to call villagers to come and congratulate him?” Judge Chan said the concept was mistaken and disallowed the question, saying: “Everyone knows, and also believes, that ‘blow the whistle’ has a bit of triad jargon to it and carries a special meaning.” Judge Chan stressed: “I am not saying this based on the testimony of an expert witness. Everyone knows that ‘blow the whistle’ has a special meaning. If these two concepts ... are combined and you say that even eating poon choi involves ‘blowing the whistle’, with respect, that is somewhat laughable.” The prosecution responded: “I am really sorry; I often tell my friends to ‘blow the whistle’ for a meal.” Judge Chan said: “Whether in films or stories, jargon that is not used by ordinary people has been transformed into so-called language commonly used by Hong Kong or Cantonese people, with what ‘Mark Gor’ says also becoming everyday language.” (“Mark Gor” is the character played by Chow Yun-fat in the film A Better Tomorrow.)
2019年7.21元朗事件中，前立法會議員林卓廷與6男被控暴動罪，今（18日）踏入第31天審訊，林卓廷早前傳召時任元朗區區議員黃偉賢作供，他今接受控方盤問。黃早前稱，理解鄉事說「吹雞」指「曬馬」。控方問：「『吹雞』意思可能係召集其他人，唔一定係『曬馬』？」法官陳廣池認為證人無法回答。控方再問：「如果鄉事委員會主席添丁，係咪可以『吹雞』叫村民嚟恭賀？」陳官認為概念有錯，故不批准問題：「大家知道，亦都相信『吹雞』有少少黑社會術語，有特殊意思。」陳官強調：「我唔係話畀緊專家證人口供，大家知道吹雞有特殊意思。如果將呢兩個概念⋯⋯話食盆菜都『吹雞』，恕我直言，有少少貽笑大方。」控方回應：「真係唔好意思，我成日都叫朋友『吹雞』食飯。」陳官表示：「電影又好，故事又好，將不是普通人嘅術語，變化咗所謂香港或者廣東人常用嘅（用語），將『Mark哥』講啲嘢都變咗日常用語。」（「Mark哥」為電影《英雄本色》中，周潤發所飾演的角色。）