Explanation of Hacken's song "City Surrounded by Heaven and Water - TinSuiWaiSing". The translation took over an hour so I'd appreciate crediting if it's reposted elsewhere..!
天水圍是香港的一個地名，位於元朗（這個地方聽說過的人應該就很多了）。這個地方以新建的屋村居多，所居住的人大都是香港的中下層階級，但區內也不乏有錢人。同時很多從內地來的移民也都居住在這裡。
“Tin Sui Wai Sing” is a place in HK near Yuen Long (many people should have heard of this place). Tin Sui Wai Sing (TSWS) has lots of newly built houses, with the majority of residents being middle to lower class, but there are also some richer people. There are also lots of immigrants from mainland China living there.
天水圍是備受爭議的香港城市新興規劃的一個典型代表。無論是居住環境，購物條件，交通、教育、市民娛樂等等，天水圍都是極其糟糕的。舉一個簡單的例子，有很多住在天水圍，但工作在九龍的人，經常因為交通不便利，要幾個小時到深夜才回家，或者根本就無法回去。而且即便交通尚可，交通費也高得嚇人。而在建筑天水圍時，因為政府提出一些不合理的規劃，例如要在某某年達到修建多少多少戶這樣的目標，而使得天水圍中拼了命似的大興土木，造成整個天水圍居住環境日益惡劣。
TSWS is an example of a ‘model’ of bad urban planning in HK. Whether it’s the living environment, traffic, education, entertainment etc – all of it is badly designed. For example – lots of people who live in TSW work in Kowloon, and because of the inconvenient traffic they don’t return home until late at night after a few hours travel, or simply don’t have a way of going home. The cost of transport is also astronomical, when it is existent. When planning TSW, as the government suggested some illegal plans (eg in X years, had to construct Y number of places) which meant construction in TSW had to be fast to reach the goals set, leading to a bad environment.
而縱觀天水圍的市民生態環境，綠化差，公園差，甚至連一家醫院都沒有。而這樣的地方卻有一個意義不大的濕地公園，實在是令人諷刺。而在天水圍中，家庭因為擠迫而發生的爭執，學生因為得不到良好的教育發生的惡性事件也在逐年上升。近幾年也有多起學生自殺、殺人的惡性案件發生，去年更成為全香港家庭慘劇最多和青少年犯罪問題最嚴重的地區。
Public welfare is also bad in TSW. There is little greenery, badly maintained parks, and there isn’t even a hospital. This place also has a meaningless wetland, adding to the irony. In the middle of TSW, because of the cramped surroundings, families often argue. Students are disadvantaged in education and thus often become rebellious, increasing crime rate. In the past few years there have been many cases amongst students of murder-suicide, and last year it became the worst place in HK with the most family dramas and highest youth crime rate.
相對於內地，香港的住宅條件整體是要高於國內的。而很多抱有多香港憧憬的內地人，都朝著活得更好之類的原因奔往香港，其中最多的又是嫁過去、漂洋過海的內地女性。當這些人到了香港之后，住進天水圍這個新興的移民市鎮之后，發現並不是他們所想的那樣，在內陸面臨的問題不但沒有解決，反而變得更嚴重，各種各樣的家庭、社會危機就接踵而至。
Compared to the mainland, HK living environments are higher. Lots of mainland Chinese come to HK in search of better living environments, and lots of these immigrants are girls who marry to HK. When these people arrive in HK and find they are living in TSW, they find it is nothing like that they imagined at all – not only are the problems they faced in China not solved, but are even worse. After each family, the social crisis follows on the heels of another.
例如去年一個案例，天水圍中三名中年女性在屋中燒炭自殺，年齡均在30-40歲之間。這三個人中，一個有虐兒記錄，其余兩個則有精神病史。
For example, last year, there were 3 cases of women committing suicide by gassing themselves in their houses, all of whom were aged between 30-40 yrs old. Of the three, one had a record of being abused, and the other two had a history of mental illness.
如果抽開來看，這個案例的死者都比較特殊。但她們所代表的年齡層，恰恰也就是天水圍的主流。很多嫁來香港的女人，在香港沒有根基，沒有學歷，沒有朋友，沒有自己一個完善的可認知空間，有的隻是自己的香港籍丈夫，而自己的丈夫整天外出工作，這些留守在家的婦人的心境又是該由誰去調解呢？在天水圍這樣一個連醫院都沒有的地方，市民娛樂基本為0，區內影院、球場、圖書館、商場等等都少得可憐，常常人滿為患，試問一個人若想在圖書館裡清淨看書，卻要排隊等上個把鐘頭才能進到館內，他還想有靜下心來閱讀的心情麼？
If we break it apart, these deaths aren’t out of the ordinary. However the age group these women represented are the core of TSW. Lots of women who marry down to HK lose their family ties, don’t have a good education, don’t have friends, and don’t have their own personal space or identity. For some who marry because their husband has a HK-ID, their husbands spend all day working outside TSW, and these wives spend all day inside their houses with no one to talk to. In a place like TSW that does not even have a hospital, there is no entertainment, and only a few badly maintained cinemas, soccer fields, library, shopping centres etc. These places are often overcrowded – the queue outside the library is over an hour long, would someone who has lined up for an hour be in the mood to study or read?
天水圍是香港移民問題造成的種種惡果一個簡單的縮影，而林夕的《天水•圍城》在歌詞裡將天水圍的困境時而含蓄時而直白的抒發了出來。
TSW is an example of all the immigration problems in HK, and Lam Jik’s “TinSui.WaiSing” expresses all the frustrations and horrible conditions in TSW.
“圍住了的血汗、跌宕、厚望”，因為很多人是抱著希望來到香港，卻沒想到依舊面臨同樣的困境﹔
“The surrounding blood and sweat, failures, initial great hopes”, as a lot of people harbour hope of a better life with them to HK, without realizing they’d meet the same problems as before;
“圍住了升學、收獲，便了解何謂罪惡”這段著重提到的教育問題，天水圍中惡劣的教育環境使得孩童得不到心智體的發展，隻能走到犯罪的道路﹔
“The surrounding graduations, results, when surrounded you will understand what is the true evil”. This line is about the education in TSW. The education in TSW is insufficient to develop children, leading them only to the road of crime.
“誰策劃這寸地尺土，人擠逼中便容易退步” 這段話林夕在質問，是誰導致了天水圍今日的局面？誰令天水圍的居民越生活越往下坡路走？其中的憤怒不言而喻。
“Who planned this piece of land, when so crowded it is easy to fall behind”. In this line, Lam Jik is asking who is responsible for making TSW into the place it is now? Who has neglected the residents of TSW until their conditions get worse and worse? The anger in this line is evident.
“他親身真正感到 尺地寸金人便會無余地平和獨舞” 這段則直接告訴聽眾，正因為天水圍嚴重的規劃問題，擠迫的空間，失敗的城市建設，才造成了惡性事件逐年遞增，使得居民“無余地平和共舞”﹔
“He can feel it inside him. When there’s riches everywhere you look, we lose our space to stand and dance our own dance” This line is telling the listeners that because of the failures of TSW, the lack of breathing space, the failed city planning, this nightmare has come about, leaving no space for residents to “dance together”
“氣候太涼像殘酷得天生等天養 怨恨暴燥壓抑唯有記住 人靜便心涼
誰憑權力照料這寸地尺土難為他不管平日惡耗 ”這段指責憑手中權利管理著天水圍的政府，對糟糕的現狀熟視無睹，猶如讓一直“惡耗”的居民“天生等天養”一樣，不去解決問題，內裡發生的種種怨恨、暴躁、壓抑，隻能讓居民自己去“人靜心涼”。但，又有多少人做得到這一點？
“The air is too cold, like the cruelty of leaving everything to fate. Hate, frustration, constraint, can only remember - When you are quiet your heart will cool. Which authority tries to look after this place? It’s just too bad they don’t care for the crimes” This line says that the government responsible for TSW has given up, simply letting the “bad people” (as the residents are dubbed) be left to fate, not solving the problem. The hates, frustrations and constraints – the residents should “be quiet, and their heart will cool”. But how many people can do this?
最后林夕也沒有完全灰暗，給了聽眾一個希望
At the end, Lam Jik doesn’t leave it as a dark place devoid of rescue – he lets the audience have a glimmer of hope.
“圍住了的國度、血路 他都肯照做
牆沒有給拆掉 城沒有給棄掉牆令到他攀登進步”
“The surrounding angles, blood-tinged road, he is willing to take.
The walls have not broken him, the city has not made him feel abandoned
The wall makes him climb and progress”
即使政府造成天水圍今日的局面，讓天水圍自成一國，這個無形的大牆拆不掉，天水圍也依舊繼續存在，而這份負擔，也是“我”繼續生活，奮斗的動力。
The situation that the government has created today means that TSW has been left to be a nation unto itself. This invisible wall is hard to knock down – TSW continues to exist and this burden means that the concept of “I” continues to exist, fighting to gain power.
《天水•圍城》的確是今年來香港樂壇難得的良心之歌。相比《愛得太遲》中看似捫心自問，實則浮於表面的行貨，林夕在《天水•圍城》中，詞作相當具有現實意義。
TinSui.WaiSing is definitely one of the deeper songs in HK this year. Compared to “Loving too late” (Leo Koo’s song), loving too late seems very superficial. In TinSui.WaiSing, Lam Jik’s lyrics are really a meaningful reality.
Credits: http://post.baidu.com/f?kz=193944513
Translation: peggy jean @ http://hacken-lyrics.blogspot.com
