令人震惊：西方背包客一路乞讨旅行

“背包客”这个词现在已经不新鲜了，而近来来自欧美的一些背包客却引发争议，因为他们本身并不差钱，却在东南亚一些国家街头乞讨，只为了资助自己的旅行。这种做法遭到了当地很多人的谴责，批评他们拿走了好心人原本应捐助给真正有需要的人的善款。

Poverty, sickness and pure survival - just a few reasons why genuinely needy people beg on the streets for money.
贫穷，疾病或仅仅是为了求生——真正生活艰难的人来到大街上乞讨钱币的原因不过就这么几个。

But as these images show, the poor in southeast Asia are increasingly being joined by wealthy Western backpackers who are begging simply to fund their trips.
但正如这些照片所展示的那样，越来越多来自西方的有钱背包客加入了东南亚穷人乞讨的行列。这些西方人之所以乞讨，仅仅是为了赚钱旅行。

The trend has caused outrage among locals, who say the tourists are taking money from the truly needy in order to finance lifestyle choices many consider a luxury.
这种趋势引起了当地人的不满。他们认为，这些游客拿走了那些真正生活艰难的人的钱，并且把这些钱花在了被很多人认为是奢侈的生活方式上。

Travellers also appear to be openly flouting strict laws on street begging in many of the countries they visit. For example, in Singapore, only visitors with a work visa are allowed to busk.
在很多国家，许多旅行者似乎公然藐视该国关于街头乞讨的严格法律。比如，在新加坡，只允许有工作签证的外国人进行街头卖艺。

Maisarah Abu Samah, who is from Singapore, posted two images of people begging on Twitter - one couple selling postcards and another playing music.
来自新加坡的麦莎拉•阿布•沙玛在推特上发布了两张“乞丐”的图片——他们是一对情侣，其中一个人在卖明信片，另一个人在演奏音乐。

Expressing her fury, she wrote: 'It was the first time I've seen something like that and it stopped me in my tracks.
为了表达她的愤怒，她这样写道：“我第一次见到这样的事，惊讶得把车都停了下来。”

'First of all, you don't see many people selling knick-knacks or playing music in the street in Singapore because there are strict rules governing these activities.
“首先，大街上有人卖饰品或演奏音乐在新加坡并不常见，因为政府对此有严格规定。”

'And, if you do happen to see street vendors or street performers, they are usually in the town centre and not near a bus stop in a relatively middle class neighbourbood like this. I've also never seen white people doing that.
“而且，如果你碰巧看到了街上小贩或街头艺人，一般也只会在市中心见到。他们绝不会来这种相对富裕的社区里面的车站附近。还有，我从没见过白人做这些事。”

'We find it extremely strange to ask other people for money to help you travel. Selling things in the street or begging isn't considered respectable.
“我们会觉得向其他人要钱去旅游是一件极其奇怪的事。在街上贩卖东西或是乞讨并不令人尊敬。”

'People who do so are really in need: they beg in order to buy food, pay their children's school fees or pay off debts.
“这样做的人都是被逼无奈：他们用乞讨得来的钱买食物，付孩子的学费或还债。”

'But not in order to do something seen as a luxury.'
“而不是来做什么看上去很奢侈的事。”

 

Part of the outrage comes from a perceived unfairness between locals and tourists.
一些人之所以愤怒，部分是因为感觉到当地人与游客间的不平等。

Louisa, a Malaysian woman who studied political economics, told France 24 that tourists are often feel they can behave however they want while travelling in an 'exotic' place.
路易莎是一位学习政治经济学的马来西亚女士。她告诉法国24小时电视台说，游客身处异国他乡时，总是认为他们可以随心所欲。

She said: 'I want to ask these tourists: what makes you think that this kind of behaviour is normal in Asia? Why don't you do the same thing at home?'
她说：“我想问一问这些游客，你们到底凭什么认为这种行为在亚洲是正常的？你们在自己的国家怎么不这样做？”

The same trend has also taken hold online, where people use crowdfunding or charitable giving websites to ask for donations for them to go on voyages.
这种趋势也蔓延到了网上。人们利用众筹网站或慈善网站谋求捐款来支付自己的旅行费用。

There is even a dedicated website, fundmytravel, which allows people to appeal for donations to 'fund meaningful travel experiences.'
有人甚至还成立了一个专门的网站，名叫“资助我的旅行”，帮助人们筹集捐款来“资助有意义的旅行”。

While many projects on the site seem to be linked to worthy causes - such as humanitarian work in impoverished countries - others seem to be less deserving.
尽管该网站上的很多资助项目看起来非常有意义有价值，比如在贫困国家进行人道主义帮助，但还有很多项目似乎没什么值得称道的。

One recent appeal, entitled 'David and Bash extreme budget backpackers take on SE Asia!', seeks funding for David and partner Sebastian to enjoy 'outrageous adventure, eating bugs, cliff diving, scuba and jungle trekking.'
最近有一个富有吸引力的项目，标题为“十分拮据的背包客大卫和巴什来东南亚旅行了！寻求资金支持二人享受非凡的冒险，试吃昆虫，尝试悬崖跳水、水肺潜水、和丛林探险。”

Created two days ago, the pair are asking for $2,850 - $1,000 for airfare, $850 for accommodation, and another $1,000 to spend. So far they have received $20.
这个项目创建于两天前。他们二人希望获得1000美元（约合6886元人民币）至2850美元的机票费，850美元的住宿费，还有1000美元的其他开销。目前为止，他们已经拿到了20美元的资助。

英文来源：每日邮报
翻译：王雪薇（中国日报网爱新闻iNews译者）
编审：yaning