Jarreth Merz: Filming democracy in Ghana

26,889 views ・ 2011-09-28

TED


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譯者: I-Hsiang Lin 審譯者: Wang-Ju Tsai
00:15
I was born in Switzerland
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我在瑞士出生
00:19
and raised in Ghana, West Africa.
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在西非的迦納長大。
00:22
Ghana felt safe to me as a child.
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我小時候,迦納是個安全的地方。
00:24
I was free, I was happy.
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我感到自由又開心。
00:28
The early 70s
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1970年代初期
00:30
marked a time of musical and artistic excellence in Ghana.
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迦納在音樂和藝術有卓越的發展。
00:33
But then by the end of the decade,
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但到了1970年代末期時,
00:35
the country had fallen back into political instability
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這國家陷入政治動盪
00:38
and mismanagement.
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和管理不善的局勢。
00:42
In 1979,
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1979年,
00:44
I witnessed my first military coup.
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我首次親眼見證軍事政變。
00:48
We the children had gathered at a friend's house.
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我們這些小孩聚集在一個朋友家。
00:51
It was a dimly lit shack.
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一間光線微暗的簡陋小屋。
00:53
There was a beaten up black and white television
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裡面有一台破爛的黑白電視,
00:55
flickering in the background,
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螢幕背景閃爍不定,
00:58
and a former head of state and general
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有一位前任國家元首,也是將軍,
01:00
was being blindfolded
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被矇住眼睛
01:02
and tied to the pole.
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且被綁在柱子上。
01:04
The firing squad aimed, fired --
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行刑隊瞄準,開火 --
01:07
the general was dead.
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將軍死了。
01:09
Now this was being broadcast live.
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當時這是實況轉播。
01:12
And shortly after, we left the country,
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不久之後,我們離開迦納,
01:15
and we returned to Switzerland.
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回到瑞士。
01:17
Now Europe came as a shock to me,
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歐洲帶給我很大的衝擊,
01:20
and I think I started feeling the need
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我想我開始認為
01:23
to shed my skin in order to fit in.
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我需要卸下外表以求融入。
01:26
I wanted to blend in like a chameleon.
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我想要像隻變色龍一樣混入其中。
01:28
I think it was a tactic of survival.
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我想這是一種生存的策略。
01:31
And it worked, or so I believed.
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而這確實生效,或者我相信是這樣。
01:34
So here I was in 2008
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到了2008年,
01:39
wondering where I was in my life.
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我對當時的人生感到困惑。
01:42
And I felt I was being typecast as an actor.
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而且我覺得身為一個演員,我已經被定型。
01:45
I was always playing the exotic African.
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我總是扮演外來的非洲人。
01:48
I was playing the violent African,
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我扮演殘暴的非洲人,
01:50
the African terrorist.
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非洲恐怖分子。
01:52
And I was thinking,
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而我想,
01:54
how many terrorists could I possibly play
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再這樣繼續扮演恐怖分子,
01:56
before turning into one myself?
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恐怕我自己真的也會變成恐怖分子?
01:59
And I had become ashamed of the other,
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而且我變得對另一個身分感到羞愧,
02:02
the African in me.
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我體內的非洲人。
02:05
And fortunately I decided in 2008
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幸運的是,我在2008年決定
02:08
to return to Ghana,
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要回到迦納,
02:10
after 28 years of absence.
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在消失28年之後。
02:13
I wanted to document on film
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我要用影片紀錄
02:15
the 2008 presidential elections.
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2008年的總統選舉。
02:18
And there, I started by searching
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在那裡,我開始找尋
02:21
for the footprints in my childhood.
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我童年的足跡。
02:23
And before I even knew it,
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在我發現之前,
02:25
I was suddenly on a stage
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突然間我在一個舞臺上
02:27
surrounded by thousands of cheering people
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被上千個歡呼的人們圍繞著,
02:29
during a political rally.
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這是一個政治集會。
02:31
And I realized that, when I'd left the country,
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而且我了解到,當我之前離開這個國家時,
02:34
free and fair elections in a democratic environment
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民主環境下的自由和公平的選舉
02:37
were a dream.
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只是個夢想。
02:39
And now that I'd returned, that dream had become reality,
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當我回去時,這個夢想已經成真,
02:42
though a fragile reality.
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雖然仍是個極脆弱的事實。
02:44
And I was thinking,
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於是我在想,
02:46
was Ghana searching for its identity
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迦納是否在尋找它的身分
02:48
like I was looking for my identity?
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如同我在尋找我的一般?
02:50
Was what was happening in Ghana a metaphor
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發生在迦納的
02:52
for what was happening in me?
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是否象徵發生在我身上的事情?
02:56
And it was as if through the standards of my Western life,
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這彷彿是透過我西方生活的標準,
03:02
I hadn't lived up to my full potential.
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我沒能完全發揮我的潛力。
03:05
I mean, nor had Ghana,
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我的意思是,迦納也沒有,
03:07
even though we had been trying very hard.
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即使我們已經非常努力嘗試。
03:09
Now in 1957,
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在1957年時,
03:11
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country
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迦納是第一個位於撒哈拉沙漠以南
03:13
to gain its independence.
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取得獨立的國家。
03:15
In the late 50s,
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在1950年代末期,
03:17
Ghana and Singapore had the same GDP.
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迦納和新加坡有相同的國內生產總值。
03:20
I mean, today, Singapore is a First World country
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我指的是,今日,新加坡是第一世界的國家
03:23
and Ghana is not.
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而迦納不是。
03:26
But maybe it was time to prove to myself,
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但或許那時是該向我自己證明,
03:29
yes, it's important to understand the past,
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是的,了解過去是很重要的事,
03:31
it is important to look at it in a different light,
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從另一個觀點看待它很重要,
03:35
but maybe we should look at the strengths in our own culture
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但或許我們應該關注於我們自己文化中的優點
03:39
and build on those foundations in the present.
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將這些當作當下發展的基石。
03:43
So here I was, December 7th, 2008.
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2008年12月7日,我人在那裡。
03:48
The polling stations opened to the voters at 7:00 AM,
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投票所早上7點開放選民投票,
03:53
but voters, eager to take their own political fate into their hands,
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而渴望親手決定國家政治命運的選民們,
03:57
were starting to line up at 4:00 AM in the morning.
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當天凌晨4點就開始排隊。
04:00
And they had traveled from near, they had traveled from far,
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有人從附近過來,有人從遠方趕來,
04:03
because they wanted to make their voices heard.
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因為他們要自己的聲音被聽見。
04:05
And I asked one of the voters, I said, "Whom are you going to vote for?"
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於是我問其中一個選民,我說:「你要把票投給誰?」
04:08
And he said, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."
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而他回答:「很抱歉,我不能告訴你。」
04:11
He said that his vote was in his heart.
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他說他的選擇在他的心中。
04:14
And I understood, this was their election,
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我才了解,這是他們的選舉,
04:17
and they weren't going to let anyone
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而他們不會讓任何人
04:19
take it away from them.
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剝奪他們的權利。
04:21
Now the first round of the voting didn't bring forth a clear winner --
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當第一輪投票的開票結果沒有產生明確的優勝者 --
04:24
so nobody had achieved the absolute majority --
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沒有一個參選者得到絕對多數的選票 --
04:28
so voting went into a second round three weeks later.
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三周之後選舉進入第二輪投票。
04:31
The candidates were back on the road; they were campaigning.
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參選者又回到路上;他們繼續宣傳。
04:34
The rhetoric of the candidates, of course, changed.
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想當然而,參選者使用的言詞改變了。
04:36
The heat was on.
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氣氛愈來愈火爆。
04:38
And then the cliche came to haunt us.
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接著舊戲碼上演紛擾人心。
04:43
There were claims of intimidation
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投票所傳出
04:45
at the polling stations,
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有人遭受恐嚇,
04:47
of ballot boxes being stolen.
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還有投票箱被偷的消息。
04:51
Inflated results started coming in
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誇張的消息開始散播,
04:54
and the mob was starting to get out of control.
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大眾也開始失去控制。
04:57
We witnessed the eruption of violence in the streets.
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我們親眼見證暴力行為在街上爆發。
05:01
People were being beaten brutally.
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人們被殘暴地對待。
05:04
The army started firing their guns. People were scrambling.
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軍隊開始開槍。人群竄動。
05:07
It was complete chaos.
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完全陷入混亂之中。
05:09
And my heart sank,
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而我的心也沉了下去,
05:11
because I thought, here we are again.
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因為我當時想,這真是老調重彈。
05:13
Here is another proof
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又是一個證明
05:15
that the African is not capable of governing himself.
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非洲人不能管理好自己。
05:18
And not only that, I am documenting it --
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猶有勝之,我還在記錄這場景 --
05:21
documenting my own cultural shortcomings.
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記錄我自己文化的短處。
05:25
So when the echo of the gunshots
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於是當槍聲的回音
05:28
had lingered,
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仍在耳邊迴盪時,
05:30
it was soon drowned by the chanting of the mob,
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群眾朗誦聲很快地掩沒槍聲,
05:32
and I didn't believe what I was hearing.
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我不敢相信我所聽到的。
05:34
They were chanting, "We want peace.
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他們呼口號:「我們要和平。
05:36
We want peace."
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我們要和平。」
05:39
And I realized it had to come from the people.
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於是我了解這必須來自於人們。
05:42
After all, they decide,
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追根究底,這是他們的決定。
05:44
and they did.
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他們也確實這麼做了。
05:46
So the sounds that were before distorted and loud,
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原本雜亂喧雜的聲音,
05:50
were suddenly a melody.
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突然間被旋律聲取代。
05:53
The sounds of the voices were harmonious.
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人們的聲音很和諧。
05:56
So it could happen.
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所以這是可以實現的。
05:59
A democracy could be upheld peacefully.
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民主可以和平地被執行。
06:02
It could be, by the will of the masses
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這是有可能的。
06:05
who were now urgently pressing
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藉由全心全意
06:07
with all their heart and all their will
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急切渴望和平的大眾意識
06:09
for peace.
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而達成民主。
06:11
Now here's an interesting comparison.
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現在這有個有趣的比較。
06:14
We in the West,
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在西方世界,
06:16
we preach the values,
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人們鼓吹
06:18
the golden light of democracy,
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寶貴的民主價值觀,,
06:21
that we are the shining example of how it's done.
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並自認為是落實民主的最佳範例。
06:24
But when it comes down to it,
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但是在實際執行時,
06:27
Ghana found itself in the same place
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迦納面臨到
06:31
in which the U.S. election stalled
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同美國在2000年總統大選時
06:33
in the 2000 presidential elections --
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陷入的選舉困境 --
06:35
Bush versus Gore.
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布希對抗高爾。
06:38
But instead of the unwillingness of the candidates
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但是與其在參選者不願意的情況下
06:41
to allow the system to proceed and the people to decide,
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允許體制繼續進行和人民自己決定,
06:44
Ghana honored democracy
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迦納實踐民主
06:47
and its people.
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榮耀它的人民。
06:49
It didn't leave it up to the Supreme Court to decide;
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它並沒有讓最高法院決定;
06:52
the people did.
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而是讓人民做決定。
06:55
Now the second round of voting
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後來到了第二輪投票
06:58
did not bring forth a clear winner either.
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也沒有產生絕對性的當選者。
07:00
I mean, it was so incredibly close.
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我的意思是,參選者得到的票數驚人地相近。
07:02
The electoral commissioner declared,
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取得不同黨派的同意後,
07:05
with the consent of the parties,
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選舉委員會長官宣布,
07:07
to run an unprecedented
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再進行一次前所未有的
07:09
second re-run.
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第二輪投票。
07:11
So the people went back to the polls
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於是人民回到投票所
07:15
to determine their own president,
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決定他們自己的總統,
07:17
not the legal system.
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而不是讓法定系統決定。
07:19
And guess what, it worked.
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你知道嗎,這真的成功了。
07:23
The defeated candidate
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落敗的參選者
07:25
gave up power
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放棄他的權力
07:27
and made way for Ghana to move into a new democratic cycle.
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為迦納讓步以求邁向新的民主境界。
07:30
I mean, at the absolute time
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我要說的是,在那個時間點
07:32
for the absolute need of democracy,
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為了民主的絕對需求,
07:34
they did not abuse their power.
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他們沒有濫用他們的權力。
07:39
The belief in true democracy and in the people runs deep,
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對於真的民主和人民的信任根深蒂固,
07:43
proving that the African is capable of governing himself.
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證明非洲人有能力自治。
07:48
Now the uphill battle for Ghana and for Africa
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至今迦納和非洲的艱難戰役
07:51
is not over,
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尚未結束,
07:53
but I have proof that the other side of democracy exists,
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但我已經看到民主的另外一面確實存在,
07:57
and that we must not take it for granted.
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而我們一定不可以將它視作理所當然。
08:00
Now I have learned
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現在我知道
08:02
that my place is not just in the West or in Africa,
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我的定位不只是在西方或者非洲,
08:06
and I'm still searching
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我仍在找尋
08:08
for my identity,
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我的身分,
08:10
but I saw Ghana
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但我看到迦納
08:13
create democracy better.
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創造更好的民主。
08:15
Ghana taught me
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迦納教導我
08:17
to look at people differently
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用不同的角度看待別人
08:19
and to look at myself differently.
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和看待自己。
08:22
And yes,
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是的。
08:24
we Africans can.
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我們非洲人可以的。
08:26
Thank you.
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謝謝。
08:28
(Applause)
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(掌聲)
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