Across Lartgnages and Ctrlttrres

6 (1)' pp' 95-1 1 1 (2005)

THE SECOND BEST THING.

IMPOSSIBLE OR
GAME PLANNiNG FOR A MISSIOI{ OF THE
JUST FOR ENJOYING THE PROCESS
WORK'

YONG ZHONG
School of Modern Language Studies
UniversitY of New South Wales
SvdneY NSW 2052' Australia
' fet.: 612-93853812
E-rnail : Y.zhong@unsw'edu'au
and the prac-
use of gatne theory in thinking about
Abstract: This paper discusses the context of sirnultaneous lnterpretlng
tice of interpreri"g, .r;;;iuliv i" ,rr.
often impossible
accompanylng rea-
(sI). By introductng g;;lf;; t;gether wiih the basic concepts and
a manageable and rationalised way of pre-
and present
soning, the authonnt"'lJ* to e*piore ofhis ideas, partly
SI-assigrrlnent. so, in í-r" developrnent
oaring and ttndeftaktng a difficult pt"*tnting a case stull of a real life SI
it.ougl', telling a Chi"ill;;"; and
part-ly ttttougt'
the interpreter must have a good
assignment, he will ;"Híü f"li;.iing,po.o."rirst,
of assignrrent and must
ano órine natue and difficulty
knowledge of his/her o.in .i,.ngm,
ie"onaty, on the basis of this knowledge'
undertake research a'""rr""". That
knowledge.
through re-
oulective ror the assignrnent' Thirdly'
he/she rn.st set an opt"irnJ^uno-r.uriui. objectives and, at the sarne
to achieve the selected
search, he/she must d;s'i;;.uagi". then design specific
research, he/she must as.sess the tott' und risks and
tirne, through the risks in order to optirnise the
costs and ,oanage/minimize
strategies to containrreiuce the evaluate the game plan designed
rr.lrr* must
results of the ur.ign-J,it.iu.1 tu,
no, r"u.t,
of garne theory, SI becomes a
planning. In the spirir
for the job to ru.it,tuilR;;c"." p'o""t' of inechanic reproduction' pe-
is no longer u
very brainy, int"rre"tuut u"iiuit! uta
rrnmanageable chancy behaviour'
ááJ.i. .",'pir"tiorr of glossary arrd an

Keywords:gametheory'sirnultaneousinterpreting'objective-basedsolution'problern-
risk management
cost and cost management' risk and
based so'lutrons, opportunity cost'

1. TNTRODUCTION
and objective interpreting is a mission
I believe that accurate, comprehensive
impossibleinatruesimultaneousinterpretingtstlsituation'Indeed'Iwould
accurate, complehensive and
to argue, aS I did i" p'""iá'' pub'ications,1hat teach.
Jl-:p;;.'b .jt1":'g'tlóa; and that'the practice and
'ike
obiective translation of accu-
should-better transcend the discourse
*J;,;;;r#* "ral""rpr*ng articulate (and totally
racy (zhong 2OOz). di;illffrp""i..r is thoroughly in-
interpreter) and unless-you are an artificial
manageable/manipulatable by the that capture
including ears
device *ril th; capacities oi a superman,
telligence

Kíadó, Budapest
1 585-1923/8 20.00 @ 2005 Akadémiai
96 YONG ZHONG

super speed and a

every minute syllable, a mouth that delivers utterances at a
brain that more than equals the CPU of the Deep Blue, you
will make mistakes'
You will misunderstand the speaker, miss or mistreat his/her words'
sentences
too fast or too slowly or wit1r too loud or too
and even whole segments, spéak
you do not know you are saying and fai1 to
low a voice volume, suy tí'ings that
the speaker would have liked
say t6ng, that you ttro* yo" rhould have said or
or tenib1e about it if
yorr to say. Howev.,, yoű do not have to feel miserable
to live with
yor'r u.""pt that interpieters are mortals', And if you are
prepared
your job - many
ihese irreuitable unfortunate mishaps as the cost of completing
level of satis-
simultaneous interpreters do compiete their jobs to an acceptable
and as the cost of enjoying your job -
faction to their users and themsólves;
manysimultaneousinterpretersdoenjoythechallenge,thepayandthe]ife-
a strategy that I ra-
style that come with the j;b. This study aims to re-examine
with enjoy-
tiánally designed to taclile and complete a difficult SI assignment
ment. This strategy I call game planning'
In this pup.i, I will first present a task, a reallife assignment, which I per-
sonally undóriook as a simultaneous interpreter at * Al'A9
Miuisters' Forum
Bali in october 2003. Tlre assignment was
and Sénior officers' Meeting he1d in
.,mission impossible" and was typical of the sort of jobs that most simultane-
a
later in their professional
ous interpreters have done or will encounter sooner or
of the pub-
life. However impossible as it was, the imagination and expectalions
lic and especially the patrons and users of the SI service would still
require the
simultaneóus interpreter to come up with a credible result.
to tackle the job
Then, I will introduce a game ilan, which I myself adopted
What I will be sug-
and which actually rendered1he jób rationally manageable.
gesting is a process of intellectuál calculation and planning to complement the
glossary compilation and
conventional and familiar preparation for SI, such as
of game plan-
literature search. To anticipate forthcoming detailed discussions
I would like to point to a number of essential elements
as follows:
ning,

or ade-
t. Do not try to produce a perfect, one hundred percent accurate
quate rendition.
z. Éuu.u plan, eitlrer drafted in black and white or drafted si1ently in your
mind.
includ-
a
J. undertake research to acquire an understanding of the mission,
ing possible problems, coits, risks and solutions involved in
completing
it.
Prepare a hierarchy of strategies to be implemented and be
flexible
4.
enough to adapt to the changing situation'

in game plans
The elements are basically the same ones that have been featured
designed for different disciplines and endeavours, such as
cold-war intema-

Across Langtnges and Cultures 6 (1) (2005)

 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 9'7
GAME PLANNING FOR A

The point I am
and nynciaf-
tional relations, gambling 1'fanning/investment' and rational way of
lud a
is that garíe planning p,ouij.,.á niunageable
trving to makc perfect solution - somc
tke s.
impossibl.t;ir'.";;. i'f.'"igf.' it.is not a totally
tu.t ting an solution may
nces
h;il;;;t"n".in hinJsight. The sácond best
'too other options might interpreters who' I repeat
urruituUt.,o .i..riturr"o,ts
to actually be the U".t ,Jfution the propoiition of this article'
this as it is an.r'..lr1r"*f"r.ripfrif"rd;;l;
111

iked
it if like everY one else, are mortals'
u itl-r
2. GAME THEORY
rany
ati s-
rb- JohnNaslriscreditedwiththemathematicaltheoretical,formulationofgame
;;';;",á"a .r'. Nou"ip,i"" in I994z in
recognition of the
which h"
life- theory for
;ffil-;l"rr" N"rrr *uny other,theorists' game the-
through ,h" ""J
I ra- fact trrat,
o ry w a s n ven e
d' ;;i ;i':#::::j"-tn:' *:: ;' n'# lt ll:': :"1 J#: ff;
!oy- ";
i t

ll,!:;;' gtv ch aotic s ituat ion s and

per- nf l * *"*,'l,u,|;;t;,'.'*Ti.'t]
similar ." i".. Á.oiy" oatea
" " ^in back long before
problems through i,"-"*",r.. a horseracing match
in
was mounteí;;íá" Ji'in
)TL]ITI

was }ohn Nash' one such attempt

ane- western case studies (e
g'' the pris-
onal ^*tffi;:#,11!#:;#fi:';t;".rular ú"'".u"* used to explicate game
theory.
oners, dilemma, simpJic-
f;; tú suk" of explicatory
cnősen Tian.Ji,s h",," ;;"
pub-
: the However, I have 'i,gi;;]óó3i"oyrá
explicit awareness of the
ity.Furthermore'Ifeelthatthelatteris.-o,"u""".sibletoreadersnotparttcu.
urro .ortuinr""" .q*il1
larly familiar with ".ono*i..
including ;;ű ouj".ti"".,
: job identifying problems,
sug- complexitie- g;;";h;;''
"f and evaluating output'
desi gning strate gres/solutions
rirrgao; i'n the Dynastv of the waning
t thc States
Tian Ji, ,"";;;;i;;; at great fortune to the emperor of
and
(about
"
4'15-Z21BC)' had lost eveyi1'""a " races
comprised three
legendary Ti"h Eact match
rlan-
the Kingdom rcfuJ'tftut tó win a match be-
and he had always i,ilri ín" thróe.. H;il; that he had
confidence in
he was-losffiyti
ade- cause, with every -""iti""' '"rtrt-1-:Tf"::"t't better than his'
ttre roiat stable were 11,*u"t
his compete""". i;;;;n" rror.".ln
eventually end un-
just by .;;i;urg-. Hi. losing streaks were not to
your even if
" which was based on the lat-
til after r'i. uoui.",t;;;i;;p,"po."d'Í;'űy, Bin's strategy wT analogous
to what
;lud- ter,s observutio" ;;ti.'f".i "rurcfr"*. L,rn
mission tn an
isknowntodayasagameplanandwillbeintroducedinthispaperinconJ.unc.
o
ior tackling the irnpossible
-tl rr
plan designed
tion wirh my owrl game
APAC ministers' forum'
iibie

rlans
)ma-
6 (1) (2005)
Across Languages and Cultttre^s
 YONG ZHONG :

3. THE 4tn MINtsrERs' FoRuM

oN INFRAsrRtlcruRE
AND THE
DEvELoPunxi lN THE AsIA PActFIc REGIoN
INTERPRETERS a

Theforumwasheldinoctober2003inBali,Indonesia,attendedbyministers
representingesiapacific"o..ntriesincludingAustralia'-Chile,Fiji'Indonesia,
USA.
Japan, Malaysia,
p.n.-ótrinu, Korea,ihai1a''d, Vietnam and the
South
which was
The subject matter or:rt " o""u.ion was financing for infrastructure,
ofgreatcurrencyandconcerninrecentyearsindifferentcornersoftheworld.
Theconferencewastofollowbasicallyapredeterminedschedule:theopening
Oificers' Meeting on the 2nd day, the
Ceremony on the ,r, Jriri ttre Senior
on the 31d. dáy In the Senior offi-
Ministers' Forum and thJ Ciosing Ceremony
each of the countries represented
cers' Meeting, mgf'-tu"iti"g i"tft""""t"q 1"- in
paper of.10 minutes discussing infrastructure
were each to deliver ;;;,t
were to form the basis of the com-
their respectiu" couniie.. rr'áii discussions I have
muniqué to be finalJ;í ""J signed
by the ministers on the third day.
in this
Chinese senior officer for discussion
chosen the paper d.iJilJúy iíre
*'o"ro,l"ilt?Tlllr, ro provide Sr for the
in"r,rai,.g myself, were commissioned
occasionover2days,thatis,theseniorofficers'Meetingonthe2nddayand who were
the Ministers, Forum'on the 3rd
day. Two rapporteurs were.also used
and transcribe all the English
to tape all the speeches and interpretations
speechesandinterpretations'Theinterpretersweretoworkinpairsratherthan on
nórm and to interpret between English
in teams of three u, *u. the desired My
Chinese or Spinish on the other.
tlre one hand and J;;";;, úanaarm profes-
close to 10 years and developed a
booth pafiner una r r'uá *oik"d for Senior C)fficers'Meet-
usual, ior the
sional and rather Ílexible partnership.'As each other out
ttt" b{ papers
ing, we agreed to aiviJe ttp l"tit ""0-11t:.::':elp
in the middle of a
by taking over the ;i;;il. if the oihl, p.rro,r got stuck
the China country paper was to become
paper. As a result ;';ht:ilivision'
my resPonsibilitY.
But,aswewerebothaware'merelyagoodworkingparlnershipwasnot job. I envisaged
automatiJally complete the
enough to guarantee that we would
;;;ö; o} awaiting us' including' among others:
íirti...tti"s
of time and literature' as we had
1. Lack of preparation, either in tetms
and not a single paper was Sup.
only a *..t.iá p'"pa,e for the forum
It was only in the middle of the
plied to us prior to our arival at Bali'
copy of the China country papeÍ
opening Ceremony that we received a
and a lew other scriPts'

(1) (2005)
Across Langttages ancl Culture's 6
 IMPOSSIBLE'
GAME PLANNING FOR A MISSION

papers, including their excessive

2. unfamiliarity with the nature of the
the áreas of infrastructure and financ-
E technicality and a lot or;u'go" in
ing' r-,^r r^-^,,nco Lonlzornrrnds ransed from
a
AccentsoftlrespeaKerswhosefirstlanguagebackgrounds'rang^e
Malavsian and Thai to Spanish'
Chinese, Indonesian, t*;""*' Korean'
Iters
4. Frequent und ,rnp..iitiable
switches between speakers and between
:sia,
rSA. interpreting
'á:Í;;:ns of faci'ities,by which I refer especia'ly to the
' equipment being more primitive than what *f nud been
was used to'4
l'ld.
6. Frequent uses of relay interpreting.'
ning with the status of the occasion and
the 7. Psychological pressure asso.ciated since all English interpreta-
lffi- the accompanyilg ftu' of failure',especially
tions togeth",,*iit'utt the possible
á*o,, *"." to be recorded and tran-
nted
re ll-l
:olt-l-
- ffi:T*;nce by interpreters accompanying different
delegations'5

rnust and have to be

rave
A professional interpretglyoYlg think that he or she of
this Ináeed' if interpreters ]rad the luxury
able to cope with th" ;;;1," Jifficulties. and of all the strate-
desired
all the time requireo, oiurithe possible.resources not be so difficult after all'
gies and tools needed, ;h;;"r;
r the difficulties would
and
Forexample,they"""ran"aandreadrelatedinformationandliteratureabout
through hard copy publications
previous or similar from such
3lish "oni.t.n..r/speakers/topics
was, as mortais, we were not exempted
and the Intemet. But the truth
;oipot*nity cost"' knowledqe and literature was
thar-r
natural pressures ut f":k:l
*" had. other concerns included psycho-
only one of the *"";;á;;;;.' in"i
h or-r

with such a high-ranking conference),

logical ones (e.g., oi;;;;iloc'iated
\11,
result of the workload; and coopera(ion
physical ones (e.8..' exhaustion as a
-f--
)IL'5-

tggL-
(e.g., the frequent o"tnuna for relay
interpreting' not to mention the technicality
equipment.
: out speakers u''d th" unsatisfactory
of the speeches, tlre accents of thó
ofa Becauseoftheenvisug"aoirn"rrlties,twaskeentodesignanactionplanwhich
ome the assignment'
t.Alttically faciTitate the completion of
"""iJ
i not
aged 4. APPRECIATING THE MISSION TMPOSSIBLE
paper
an English copy of the China country
As mentioned previously, I received Senior officers'
it-," nigt-tt-t"fore^the
in the middle of the opening ceremony
had a secretary. of the Chinese delega-
Meeting. I did it by coúrteouily approaching it and ex-
sup- the. abslolute necessity of having
tion, introdu.ing ,,,'r"ii "*ptairring give me a
f the their work. Yet,lre was unable to
pressiug a sincere aá'i*'t" facilitaté
,aper
rcgarding who was going to make the
Chinese copy ol tne paper or advice in
speech. Nor did t-,"-*á,'i to tell me
if the sp"""'h *u, going to be delivered
on the paper or improvised'
ihin"r. or English ", iii, *", going to be based
(1) (2005)
Across Languages and Ctrltures 6
100 YONG ZHONG

According to the conference programme, the speech was to last a mere 10

minutes. The envisaged shorl time was no reason for joy or comfoft. A short
time could be excruciatingly long if one was subjected to mental or physical tor-
ment, which was a common experience for many simultancous interpreters. I do
not know how long Tian Ji's match lasted. An average single race in Australia
and Hong Kong would last about 3 minutes. But then a short race would have
great consequences in relation to Tian Ji's face, fortune and even career. I' as
the scheduled interpreter for the China country paper, might end up worse. I
might get nervous, lose self-control, stutter, balk and even simply shut up both
mentally and ora11y.6 I might cause the senior officer representing the Chinese
interest and her counterparts representing other national interests to fail to un-
derstand or to misunderstand one another. Not to mention that I might let down
my agent, my partner, my professional aspirations and livelihood. Or, maybe, I
could somehow coax my paftner to take over. But by doing so, promises of all
the imaginable disasters were not dissolved except that the responsibilities, con-
sequences and blame were shifted to him.
I had fancied what Tian Ji must have felt like when facing the mission im-
possible. He had always wanted to win all the three races in a match by staging
his best horse against the best royal horse, his second best horse against the sec-
ond best royal horse and his third best horse against the third best royal horse.
Yet, he had lost not only all the matches but also all the races.
As I faced a mission of comparable impossibility, in addition to the general
difficulties discussed previously, I saw further complications associated with
the China country paper in the following aspects:

1. The size of the paper, which consisted of 4 sections, a total of 4,600

words and approximately 13,800 syllables.
2. The technicality of the paper, as it was concerned with infrastructure
and financing; the extensive use of jargon (e.g', TOT, BOT, TEUs,
DWT and KWT) shows the degree of technicality. Furlhermore, the pa-
per contained an excessive number of figures in the millions, billions
and trillions.
3. The linguistic mismatch between English and Mandarin. For example,
the paper contained many billion and trillion figures, which would be
extremely difficult to convert between the different linguistic systems
of English and chinese. For example, one trillion in English is trans-
lated into ten hundred billion in Chinese and one billion in English is
translated into ten hundred million in Chinese.

The paper had four sections, concetned respectively with the following:

1. Geo-social facts about China

2. Overview of existins infrastructure facilities in China

Across Langttages and Cultures 6 (l) (2005)

 loi
FOR A MISSION
IMPOSSiBLE
GAMB PLANNING

3.ChineseGoverrulent'seffortsandroleintheinfrastructuredevelop-
in China
ment development
ancl poiicy for financing infrastructure
4. Strategy
to provide a
the four sections
j;",il;il:,of
l*il.,á::xi"hilil1.,fi1-J,x',:

"""*fu ';5,.P;n'iil1i!*tr?:;1;n,i{"'r'ffi
r sl l
ll il :M -''
ff ffil:q i:.i Í* álH
; 1 Í'n: m!.u
j,.í . .
"
á. :

olii"'ő,.x jlff;'ff#'#lt! ffi u9,".p" "tiu.ty.

trillion RMB Y ';H*}tffi
,".,\",iíoo,,
the mileage of
Chinese]:TTjJ.; ftllilT ''jj.:!i \il.:1*.}i
.#íijT}'1tst.$.f Ti"iirl.l:.JtJ'J/":"|'Tt**lTi"ó",''-*l
coas'{aln""'Ti:X"TJTliTi*ift*ilft*;,:**nnT{:i!li
'-"*::#,$r'il,:;"#*1üles*ri[**:H;:ri:x'r*;llr"{

i;:*'íri J:; i 1 {'"ö:'i iii.J,.ffi i n*x ffi ffi í}:ll:l :

i ; ;; o rl d.
zwtt' .'"y-#ii''?i;'
n g1' á w
lóln ?IILI }:l'p,ii|
ry
the 4th.6th. t.i':.ff
r-, u !
,i
,i

i
Section
---.
3
ina.i p;r#l
j's ó i'ö=Íi iii1| fi
F ;"* l 99 8 to 2 00 3,
.Clr ::1:.,:x1l1lffi
"']^ t:
l o tt g.t e
rm .'"-:TT:j]:l.,"x.j:: ." I
i' r r i

of the anar "? "d''.:.ffi

itT.iiiiflfr,fi Íffifif *.#jü''f'ffi
#'?,#J.h;á,]:'"*.HT*1l#ÍI'{;}[tr;n'jffi :}'*J:''"p.*
lrotection..te:Hl':ÍJ Jr:i:""
cilitY cons

(1) (2005)
and Cttltures 6
Across Lattgrtages
102 YONG ZHONG

Section 4
In consistency with the commitments when entering into wTo, the chi-
nesegovemmentopenedupthemarketoftheinfrastructurefacilitiestothe
outside world in advance and according to international
practice' issued the
Cata-
regulations such as guidance for the Foreign Investment orientation,
Industry and so on to direct the
loiue of Gttidance"for Foreign Invested
in tlre market competition of Chinese
pu?l"ipution of the íoreign mórchants
infrastructure facilities.

Table I

Statistical representation ofthe size and figules ofthe

paper

No. of syllablesT

ofallthechallenges,Ienvisagedtwothatweremorelikelytobreakme
*sirnultaneous
than make me in the ápácity of a intetpreter. one was the time
available to the interpretér and the other the technicality of the paper'
I would have liked to perfotm the job successfully by simultaneously trans-
the truth, as inter-
lating the truth, all the truih, and nothing more (or less) than
lrave to be ab1e to do some
|,"tiíg is often idealized. But then to do so, I would the ST and producing the
or all of the following in addition to comprehending
TT accurately and adequatelY.
fast reader if
Firstly, i would t *. to u. a super fast speaker, that is, a super
I was to read out the
the speaker was to read out the Chinese sciipt and then
have be a super
e"gfirf, script provided to me the night before. Or, I would
to
In fact, both of
fu.í int",p,."ier if the speaker was to iead out the English script.
us would have to b" .,'rp., fast speakers, having to read about 4'600
words/13,800 syllables in the scheduled 10 minutes. That
is about 460
in one single
words/1,380 syliables in one minute, or over 7 words/21 syllables
competent speakers'
second, *tti.t *u. impossible for even the most
and all that
Secondly, t would have to be able to render all those figures
if
jargon simulíaneously into a different language System, especia1ly the
speaker
be a super fast
was to read out the English version. she wouid still have to
but also a Super
reader and I would havá to be not only a super fast speaker
to rendei all the technical terms into Chi-
competent interpreter. I would have

Across Languages and Culture.r 6 (l) (2005)

 GAME PLANNING FOR A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE I03

nese (e.g., TEU, DWT, KWH, BOT, TOT and worid Development Reporl) and
chi- convert into Chinese all those sophisticated figures in the hundreds of billions
o the and trillions.
d the Thirdly, I would have to be a super word detector, especially if the speaker
latq- was to read selectively from her Chinese scripts. This scenario would be highly
t the likely if the speaker was aware of the irnpossibility and irnpracticality of read-
inese ing the whole paper in the space of time available and so chose to read selec-
tively from the script. Now neither the speaker nor I, the interpreter would be
able to speak that fast against time. However, being inadequately knowledge-
able about the speaker's selection, I would have to divide my time and attention
between reading/interpreting and locating the speaker's selection.

5. WHAT COULD I HAVE DONE TO IMPROVE

THE CHANCE OF SUCCESS?

In spite of the challenges,I knew that I had about 12 hours to prepare myself for
them. I had the following possible options as regards how the 12 hours were to
be invested.

me l. I could try to fufther enhance my interpreting expertise/skills, which

llTle was desirable as I was to simultaneously interpret for a very important
occasion.
tns- 2. I could research into and work on the technical vocabularies towards
lter- compiling a glossary of tlre technical terms and Íigures, which was a
)me problem-based solution to the technicality of the paper/conference.
the 3. i could practice speaking and interpreting at a super fast speed, which
did not seem to be a smart option as I knew there was not much one
:r if could do in speed enhancement in one night.
the 4. I could go to bed early and have a good sleep so as to recover from an
per ! 8-hour flight to Bali the day before and to have a refreshed physique for
rof a busy schedule the next daY.
t00 5. I could undertake a dedicated study of the china country paper, either
160 spending about two hours writing out all the figures (about 250 in num-
gle ber) and terms in Chinese or translating the whole script into Chinese,
which would provide the ultimate insurance for a job satisfactorily com-
hat pleted.s
ker
a::

irst E I wished I could do all the above but then I had only 12 hours and each of
ter the options would constitute what was known as opportunity cost in modern
hi- economics. That is, any one or two options would exhaust the time opportunity

Acro,ss Languages and Culíures 6 (1) (2005)

 YONC ZHONG

at the cost of the other options. of

course, I could forego the rest of the
and a whole night of sleep to rnaximi ze ba'quet
the tirne availatle for preparation
execute the selected option thoroughly and to
or even to undertake extra options. But
then there would be other complicaiioís.
I would in.u. to,, or opportunify
good physical and psychorogical for a
rest, which is ers"ntiui ro, urry,nulo.
neous interpreting assig.t-"ttt. If I did simulta_
invest the night in a rough translation
the whole of the china-country paper, of
there woulJ;";;;"rtu'iry for study_
ing those other country pup"ru byinjon"rr
a, Japan,Korea, Malaysia and Thai-
land, etc.

6. ASSUMPTIONS
Tian Ji eventually won the iegendary
matcrr with a game plan, which had
designed bv Sun Bin. The ratt*er was been
a we'-know, ;;;,;g."";ln chinese
but I reckon he was a.keen researcher, history
too. He had obseóed Tian Ji,s previous
matches' researched.the strength of the
royal horses and Tian Ji"s horses and
of the i.'o oppon.nrs. on the basis of the
;::*:JH#ersonality ,"r"ur.h, h"

1' There was no way Tian Ji's fastest horse, 2nd fastest horse, 3rd fastest
horse could beat the fastest horse, 2nd
fasiest ho.." una 3rd fastest horse
in the royal line_up respectively.
2. Yet, there was u po.'ibility tÉat Tian Ji,s fastest
horse and 2nd fastest
horse could beat the 2nd fastest horse
and 3rd fastest horse in the royar
line-up respectively.
3' The emperor' who had won every match and
every race so far and who
was self-assured of SucceSS at tire for1hcoming
way predict Tian Ji's moves or could
á;;h",, would in no
not even b"" uoth"."o with predict_
ing them.

on the basis of these assumptions, he suggested

to Tian Ji that,i'stead of
trying in vain to win all the three races
in a match, he strive to win the best of
tn1 jh1e9 races by staging his fastest
horse against the royal 2nd fastest horse
and his 2nd fastest horse against the
royal 3rd ástest h"^.:H.Lew that,
of his assumptions were proved to be if any
unfounded, the game pran might be fius_
trated and the missio-rr. would fail tenibly.
This would"u" uí if, for
example, even Tian Ji's fastest horse
coűld not outrun ti," iná"u"ntuality
fastest horse or
the 3rd fastest horse of the opposirion
o, rr th" .;p;;.;-."jj p*oicr his move
and then made corresponding ádjustments
in his line-up B;. r,! also knew that
that eventuality wourd ltave 6.en
riun ii;. at. uny*uy'.u." *l,rrou, any active
on hi1parl. If, howevef, rhe assumprions
]l!::r"tt","
they turned out to be right) he would
happened to be right (and
then be ubr. to tu- ilr" match into
a mind

Across Languages and Cuhltres ó (l) (2005)

 GAME PLANNING FOR A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 105

ct game between a rational contender and an unprepared supelpower. He had noth-

:o
ing to lose from making a set of calculated assumptions and then a game plan.
"rt confronted with an equally impossible mission and inspired by Tian Ji, I
d
made a number of assumptions ViS-á-Vis the difficult China country paper and
l- the Chinese speaker.
rf
1. Like every other chinese official speaking on behalf of china in an in-
l- ternational arena, the Chinese senior officer would speak in a predict-
able manner. That is, helshe would toe the line of a meta-narrative, that
is, the same logic, whatever subject matter his/her speech was to cover.
2. The meta-nanative to be adopted for this occasion would be that China
was a huge country with a huge population, less than satisfactory infra-
lt structure and huge challenges, that the Chinese government had been
,V making great efforls and achievements in this area and that the Chinese
S government would adopt this or that reform strategy to fui1her improve
j infrastructure in the country.
3. There was no way that the speaker could read out the whole paper ver-
batim in the scheduled time and therefore he was to read out selectively
from the paper. This assumption was based on the actual size of the pa-
per and the time constraints as previously discussed.
+. ir tne speaker were indeed to read selectively from the paper' Sections 3
(Chineie Government's Efforts and Role in the Infrastructure Devel-
opment) and 4 (The Strategy and Policy for the Market-oriented Re-
fórm of Infrastructure Development in China) would be selected. This
assumption was based on knowing, from experience, that Chinese offi-
cials tended to talk about the chinese govemment's role in develop-
ment, that financing strategies and policies were the theme of the con-
ference and that, in a typical Chinese narrative, the concluding part was
more important than the opening part.
5. The officer was to use many technical terms and figures. This assump-
tion was based, on one hand, on the nature of the paper and on knowing
that the officer was a technocrat rather than a bureaucrat and, on the
other hand, on my empirical knowledge about Chinese senior officers'
fondness of substantiating claims with "facts" and "statistics"'

7. THE WINNING STRATEGIES

I would like to imagine that, with adequate preparation and cooperative speak-
ers, I should be able to perform up to the expectation ofthe Forum by translat-
ing the truth, all the truth, only the truth, and nothing but the truth. But then an
apparent fact was that I was bound by opporfunity cost and, therefore, adequate

Across Languages and CulÍure,s 6 (l) (2005)

 106
YONG ZHONG

preparation was beyond the question.

In addition, whether the speakers
cooperative was not under my were
control.
Even if though, I were io fail to
live up to the ideals of simultaneous
preting, I would srill rike ro inter-
come or,i or dr" d"t;li;;;d
also like to eniov it if I could in aignifiea. I wourd
u,,y *uy. Above áu, .l,,""-i
having nothing to ror", r *our,lttJ *as in a position of
," .1" it,p, pro-acrivery strercrring
jective thinking power, I my sub_
might roro.ho*pulr off trr" rrug"'*ission.
would like to believe myselfto be After all, I
the best candidute avaíluút"
had indeed. bgen appoinied to for the job and I
the posiiion that I had.

':';ff...i.#liii{l'Jí*ffi i*::ln#**";":lmf f
dence in tackring it..uniorr'nit.ty,
j;Í::'#:
irrui was not the case. Game
ally made me rnorc distressed pranning actu_
rr;"rt heavier, having bccome
"ni;y ln transtating
tivc to the specific obstaclcs i,'votveá more sensi_
,r.," p"-p., Nevertheless,
game planning, I dicr desig'
ancr adopt a stratcgy roi
by
copi,rg with trre assignment
witlr all thc clifIicultics co-ntainea
come away witlr a broad srnilc
i'li'ínl"i;";";l; and I would
":l""Y'i*",n
and a Íong round of appluu.á
,r'" next
lowing is a rccollection of Íüc't.ut.gi". day. Fol-
*itlr lrirrdsight touch-up. some
This stratcgy workcd fbr me ii ttri.
specific I wourd like to
wish|ully tlrink that it. could ue "ont"rit-nni
appheá to all other st situations
ments. The rcality is that all stratógies, and assign-
mine o. tt,o," u,.Jüy ottrcr practitio-
ners, have to bc thclught.out
*iu' ógu'o to tlreir p"ó";:,iu,u..,
agents/rccipicnts. Ancl, likc all setting and
.uggÁ.ion., past pcrfornla|lcc is
Íclr futurc pcrformanccs. Novcrthclá'"', t'to assurance
i ü"li"u. u.,á. ir.,".,pi,i, nr*on-,. p|arrning
in the prr.ll-cssiott of t.on'roii*"oncl'
:'-]::kl"l intcrprcÍing ancl it is ncctlocl to
in-
ou",j'u* in mccrranicar tran;rati;"]
Lll::::i'lffi::::]:Jll: ii'"-*u,.n ror oquiva-
So, ÍtlIlowirrg
is lhc stratcgy, in a ratltor silrlpliÍiccl
garcl to gcncral prcparalio', rcprcscntatitln. With rc-
f OJci,fca thai't woula:

l. Irinish (and cn"joy) Íhc banquct

alrd rctirc carly to havc a souttcl
abottt 7lttlttrs. AílcraIl, wlrcrc s|eep ol.
thcrc was only so nruch clnc
prcparc |or Ílrc assignmcnt, cou|cl tlo to
t|tcre was lro poirr. in su'*l.r:ring
and mcntally. fi.om aggravatcd p|rysically
cating an<l slccping ciisorclcr.
2' Invcst thc othcr 5 hirurs o. .o
ouuiruut" into'u,r-"i'r*ivc prcparatio',
skintnring through thc China .o,uri,
^
3. cornp i ci, .o,n1u,. r b i i ngua r
r, ;;Jlro,1!i'r"llil,i :fi i;Xffi;,
r

Bo.f, Gr;Pj whilcili::i

r

:
.I.n,., financi-ng "
Í'ill';;.ffi,,:l]:, ".g., lookirrg
4' tJnclcrlirkc inlcnsivc but sc|cctivc rcaclitrg
skintrrrirrg
if thcro was liInr: lcíl aflcr
íltc pa1lors. I'trrcltttlst in
tlrc sclJcti.,; li;; *.,..,r.' bc
ctlttntty;ra1lcr itttd írlrcnlost in thc Clrina
Íhc Chinr:'" pup.,:'*.,'i.i
o. Sr:ctions 3
,lt't'().r,\ l,itrt.qtilrr:1,,\.
lu(l (,tt/lttt,r;i (t (t) (2(X)S)
 ( lAM li l'l,ANNlN(i lrol( A Mlssl()N lM l'oslillll.lr

(i.c., cl.íilr.ts i|tX| ilchicVL:lllL:llts ||]Íldc $y lIrc (]lrirrcsc g()Vcl.|tlIlcllt) atttl 4

(i.c., íinancing stralcgias to lrc takcn)
5. Not aim to proclrrcc rcltclitions lor avcragc worcls, setltct]ccs, pal'agraphs,
d tcchnicaI tcrnls rtncl íigttrcs, apart |t.tlm tltc contpact glosslry' Any tirrlc
)f availablc woultl lrc invcstccl in studying or in jrrst thinking abotrt tltc at-
tituclc, position and sub.icct ntattcr oltho papcrs/spcakcrs.
I 6. Talk to co|lcagucs to soutrcl out tlrcir krrowlcclgc abouÍ (hc sttl-ljr:ct nlat-
I tcr, tlrc spcakors attd thc papcrs.

With rcgard to thc China country papcr, I clcciclccl lhitt I woulcl:

l. Not bc bothcrccl with trying to bc thc bcst intcrprctcr or to proclrroc a

pcrfcctly acouratc and aclccluatc rcnclition.
2. Ngt strivc to translatc tltc truth, all thc trutlt artcl nothing but thc trtttlt,
t but rathcr t wtlultl strivo ttl proclucc a cohesivc rcprcscntatiotr tlf onc
I
dimonsiun of what thc spcakerwas to sily, i'c., what lcnllcd thc "mcla-
narrativc'' tlÍ- hor spccclt.
J. Adopt a lricrarclry oí. trans|ation stratcgies and stick to thc casicst strat-
cgy unlcss l could comfoÍably lrancllc morc. Tlrc stratcgics wcrc tlrc
following, going frorn tlrc cirsicst to the rnost clifíjcuIt oncs:
a) Translating tlrc mcta-narrativc oÍ. tlrc papcr' cspecially in tlre worst.
case sccnario.
b) Making a rough rcprescntation of the idcas and mcssagcs of the pa-
pcr.
c) Translatittg dctails, including statistics, jargon and
facts.
4. Intcrprct instantaneously frorn short-tetm mcmory rather than undcrlak-
ing sight translation (i.e., rcading the script given to mc in parallel to
the spcaker).
5. Use short scntcnccs, or cvcn just scquences of terms so as to lct thc au-
dicnce rcad logical meaning into thc target tcxt.
6. Do literal translation and use neutral and generic words rather than
technical jargon.
1. Avoid overspending time on jargon by using signals like 'etcetera'
when interpreting into English.
8. Read out the jargon (BOT, DWT, KWH, TEUs, etc.) in English, if I
could not translate them when interpreting into Chinese, assuming that
the Chinese technocrats could recognize them.
9. Use only US dollar antounts and omit all reference to Chinese money
where the source text contained both Chinese and US money figures.
*22A390Á" would be-
10. Translate figures irrto approximate terms. Thus,
come "about 20 percent" and "I79.345 billion US dollars" would be-
come "nearly 200 billion US dollars".

Across Languages and Culttrres 6 (1) (2005)

!-',
. :,
:',
..-i
,,
108 YONG ZHONG

To explain what I mean by a hierarchy of SI strategies. I will cite a few possible ance
renditions of the extract taken from the 3rd Section of the Daner. which is cal I
printed below: mod'
tion)
From 1998 to 2003, China issued 660 billion yuan (79.5 billion US dollars) strut
long-term construction national bonds altogether and the total investment very
of tlre ananged projects added up to 3280 billion yuan (295.2 billion US whal
dollars). The operating effect of the national bonds was l:5. By the end of voic'
2002, the finished investment added up to 2460 billion yuan (296.4 billion thror
US dollars), which was mostly put in farming and forestry, water conser- rcst,
vancy, ecological construction, transportation construction, electric net- colle
work construction and transformation, urban infrastructure, environment cups
protection, technology improvement, industry upgrading, grain storage fa- prise
cility constructíon and so on.
the t
I decided that, in accordance with my game plan, should the Chinese offi- test'
cer read out the above paragraph, I would render the meta-narrative of the seg- brair
ment to the following effects in the target language (for the sake of English no l.t

readers of this paper, I will transcribe the target text in English rather than in the 1

Chinese). test
therr
The government has played an active role in infrastructure development, by shap
financing tens of billions of US dollars in various projects, mainly in farm-
ing and forestry conservation, transporl, etc. spok
man
Then, if there was more time, the speaker was not excessively fast and I achi
was in good control and shape, I would attempt to translate more detailed mes- OK
sages. In the latter case, I could render the ST to the following effects: well
ablc
In the last few years, China financed about 79 billion US dollars in infra- tentr
structure. But the total investment was about 290 billion US dollars. By verb
2002, the finished investment was 296 billion US dollars, mainly in farm- who
ing and forestry conselation, transport, electricity, technology improve-
ment, industry upgrading, grain storage, etc. wha
sens
stral
8. WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED ON THE DAY: had
USE OF THE GAME PLAN clud

On the day of the Senior Officers'Meeting, many of the general difficulties that lays
I had envisaged did actually materialize. The senior officers representing vari- Tha
ous APAC countries delivered country papers one after another. My perform- posi

Ácross Langttages and Cultures 6 (l ) (2005)

 GAME PLANNING FOR A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 109

,possible
ance was hampered by unfamiliarity with the diverse country situations, techni-
rvhich is cal terms and statistics contained in the presentations, the popular delivery
mode used (rcading rather than speaking, usually without power-point projec-
tion), the healy accents and the fact that some of the speakers had to constantly
I dollars)
struggle with English vocabulary, syntax and rhythm. The facilities were not
vestment very cooperative either. While sitting in the booths and trying to concentrate on
illion US what was being transmitted tlirough the headsets, I had to strive to ignore the
re end of
voices of the speakers and fellow interpreters directly piped into the booth
.4 billion
through the uncovered ceiling. When fellow interpreters walked out or in for a
r conser- rest, I could even feel the wooden platform quaking under the feet. But like my
:tnc net- colleagues, I did manage to complete my part of the job without any major hic-
lronnteltt cups. Looking back, I believe that the act of envisaging did minimise the sur-
rragc fa- prises and prepare me better for tackling the job.
When the Chinese senior officer was about to speak, I had been waiting for
the moment with great excitement and expectations, as I wanted to launch and
cse offi- test the game plan that I had designed for the speech. "This is it! I can test my
'the
seg- brainpower now", I told myself. There were no more fears, no more angst and
English no more worries about the immediate pressure and hardship. There were only
'than in
the thirst to hear what she was going to say and the will to concentrate and to
test my anticipation, prediction and strategies against the actual speech. And
there was also the secret desire to witness how my subjective thinking could re-
nent, by shape and influence the progress of the communication in the meeting.
in fann- As it turned out, the Chinese senior officer rushed through her speech,
spoke quite fast, randomly and improvisatorially, used a lot ofjargon and cited
many figures and jumped between Chinese status-quo, her government's
st and I
achievements and efforts and strategies to be adopted in the future. But that was
ed ntes-
OK with me as I knew she was going to toe the meta-narrative in which I was
well-versed and I had anticipated the way of her speaking. I was most comfort-
able thinking that I had a plan, a strategy with which I could, to different ex-
rn intia-
tents, manage whatever she said. As it turned out, she did not read the script
lars. By verbatim, making me feel happy for not having been stupid enough to spend the
n farm- whole night translating the script at the cost of necessary rest.
nprove- I had intended to translate the "meta-narrative" of the speech and that was
what I did to begin with. But then I soon gained composure and even felt a
sense of elation as things came under my control. I then proceeded to the next
strategy in the hierarchy, that of translating the messages. And again I felt that I
had the upper hand. Very soon, I fek that I was able to cope with the details, in-
cluding thejargon and the statistics.
In the last four minutes or so, the speaker initiated a debate with her Ma-
iics that laysian counterpafis over the right to host the next APAC ministers' forum.
rg vari- That was fine too, as I had already warmed to her way of thinking, her official
erform- position, her speaking style and her accent. And I had boosted my confidence

Across Languages and Cttltures 6 (l) (2005)

 t10 YONG ZHONG

(and also pride), knowing that I could render her speech. More imporlantly, I Zhonl
could see my partner thumbing up signalling admiration at my ability to antici- Zhonl
pate what she was going to say. Oh, what a feeling!
when the chinese senior officer concluded her speech and while I was in
the last few seconds of translating it, I could first hear silence and then a round
of applause erupted. The applause was apparently directed towards the chinese
senior officer, but I privately took the credits, as if it was intended for rne. After
all, but for my interpretation, made possible by the game plan, and for the relay 'Ithi
interpretation provided by *y colleagues, the senior officers representing thé
other countries would not get an idea of what she said.

9. CONCLUSION
,AB,
Game planning, when it is informed by serious research and proactive thinking,
provides an alternative approach to effective SI that could complement coÍnmon
existing ones. In this paper, I have demonstrated the process of designing a t
For,
game plan for a specific SI assignment. In short, game planning provides a pro-
active and rational way to comb and tackle a seemingly chaotic complex situa- IoÍ
tion by research to understand the problem involved and to design á hierarchy 5
Inde
of problem-based strategies.
To conclude, I would like to highlight what I consider essential for same
ó
planning for SI. Mos

l. Forget perfect translation and transcend the discourse of translating the

I nrs

truth, all the truth, only the truth, and nothing but the truth. 8
Ind"
2. Make sure that you can achieve the next best thing, i.e., identify what is
the next best thing and how to achieve it.
3. Get to know what is possible/impossible and what is feasible/infeasible.
Do not even try to do the impossible or infeasible.
4. Prepare a hierarchy of action options, including an emergency option.
5. Do not overlook the fun aspect of the job.
6. Think over what role your subjective power can play in the job.
7. Think over what it is that is most worthy of doing in the limited time
available and what it is that can be sacrificed.
B. Risk and risk manasement.

References
Moser-Mercer, B., Künzli, A. & Korac, M. 1998. Prolonged Tums in Interyleting: Effects on
Quality, Physiological and Psychological Stress (Pilot Study). Interpriting: International
Journal ofResearch and Practice in Interpreting Vol. 3. No. 1.47-64.
Stiglitz, J.1993. Principles of Economics. New York and London: Stanford Universitv. 426-32g.

Across Languages and Cultures 6 (l) (2005)

 lll
GAME PLANNING FOR A M]SS]ON IMPOSSIBLF'

tantly, I Zhong,Y.1998'DeathoftheTranslatorandBirthoftheInterpreter.BaáelNo.44.336-348.
in the Teaclring of Translation. Meta:
r antici- Zhong,Y. 20oz,.r..un,..nJing tr... Di..o.,l,,. ofÁccuracy
Translators, JottrnalYoÍ' 47. No. 4.515*585.

, was in
a round Notes
Chine se
e. After jou aÍ. the 4tl, Minis-
l I thank Conference lntelpreteÍ Setvices, Sydney based, for giving rne jt'e
he relay ters,ForuntonInÍrastructttreDevelopmentiníheAsiaPaci/icandIthankDrStanleySong'
for prwiding all'sorts of convenience
ting the my booth partner "n"outugt-tntsand
"il;;;;;'
toaccommodatemyresearchneeds.Dr.songhasread"thisarticleandagreestomyrefer- University, Tai.
Professor Chen Hrri Wen of YunTech
ence to hirn. l atn át,o ino.u,.o to Yi-Han of Capital Nor-
wan, Professor w..yi uni'.''ity and Professo'
T:nq
'""göi-"" "i
rnalUniversity,PRChirrafororganising'nyz,oo3intenrationallecfureseries,duringwhich
I develoPed ideas for this PaPer'
& New York) provides an tnterest-
2
A Beautiful Mindbys ]'J# iiíöa, r"9"1 & Faber, London
rinking, ingbiographicuru."*.ntotlot-,nNash.Foranintrodrrctiontohowgarnetheoryworks,the
books such as Stiglitz 1993'
:OITUnOn best place,o *u* trluy U" econotnics (translation)' 1963'
, For an introduction to Sun Bin,s warring strategies, 1 re"orirnend S. Griffith
gnlng a - -'
Press'
itrn lr, of War/Sun Tru, Oxford" Clarendon of which we could have a rnixture of
,s a pro- a uoot''s áij not have ceilings u, u ,.,..tt
For exarnple, tt-,e
podiurn and' intelprettng
,x situa- sounds fi'otlt tt'," t'taapnon"' the speakers
on the
interpretei.""."Áp""vi"g th" Jupo:n.,. Delegation did
crrrehrr 5Indeed, during the tr,tini.i"rs,Fotutn,.an
of rnine^frotn her seat and sat down
nrsh into the Japanesebooth, pushed away a colleagtró
to the forurn proceedings.
rt'e iniÁsion irninediately catlsed confusion
to interpret. for physical
)r game M. (1s98; have proposed coping strategies
6
Moser.Mercer, B., Künzli, A. & Korac,
and PsYchological stress' word has an aver-
, This is an approxi*rate figure and is based on the assumption that an English
ting the - copy of the China country paper decided
to under.
,"o.:::."l;[.".":JlÍiJff;..er whotn I gave
.."',í"j,.. as 'a
he cüirned to face sin-rilar challer-rges,
take a rough
what is "rih.;"ú

'easible.

)tlon.

ed time

rffects on
't'nutio,nt

t26 328.

(1) (2005)
Across Lattgttages and Ctrltures 6