Journalists worth their salt never forget their most important interviews. To be worth your salt means to be good at your job. I no longer do TV shows or write columns except for this newspaper. Friends who followed my TVB shows and columns in other newspapers still say I am worth my salt! They often ask me to describe my most important interviews. That’s as easy as pie, which means it’s easy to do because I never forget my most important interviews.
I still remember my interview with US senator Mitch McConnell when I worked in Washington DC in the 1990s. He gave me the exclusive on the 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act, which he introduced in Congress. It allowed the US to treat Hong Kong separately from mainland China even after the 1997 reunification. I interviewed Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, who became the House of Representatives Speaker years later. I won’t list other important interviews because I want to describe my interview with former US President Jimmy Carter.
Carter turned 100 on October 1, the first time a former president lived for a century. I flew to Atlanta in September 2018 to interview him for my TVB Straight Talk show. He accepted my interview to discuss the 40th anniversary of US-China ties, which he formalized in 1979. He was 94 when I interviewed him but still had a sharp mind. He was a humble and hardworking president, but Americans voted him out in 1980 after one term because the US faced many global challenges during his presidency. Many Americans now consider him one of the best presidents because he continued to help unprivileged people until he became too weak. His dying wish is to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris on November 5.
稱職的（worth their salt）新聞工作者永遠不會忘記自己做過的最重要的訪問。To be worth your salt意思是你勝任你的工作，做得相當稱職。我已沒有做電視節目或寫專欄，除了本報的這個專欄。那些曾經追看我無綫電視節目以及我在其他報章專欄的朋友們，仍然說我做得稱職（worth my salt）！他們不時叫我去述說我最重要的訪問。那實在是 as easy as pie，意即容易之至，因為我永不會忘記我記者生涯中最重要的那些訪問。
我仍然記得，1990年代我在華盛頓特區工作時，訪問美國參議員米治‧麥康奈爾。他給了我有關1992年《香港政策法》的獨家訪問，這個法案是由他起草並提交美國國會的。它容許美國即使在1997年香港回歸之後，仍可將香港與中國內地作區別對待。我亦曾訪問女性眾議員蘭茜‧佩洛西，她於多年後成為了眾議院議長。我不會再列舉其他重要的訪問，因為我想特別述說我跟前美國總統占美‧卡特的訪問。
剛剛的10月1日，卡特滿100歲了，是首位活了一個世紀的美國前總統。我於2018年9月，為我的節目《清心直說》特地飛往亞特蘭大訪問他。他接受了我的訪問，討論中美建交40周年，就是他於1979年正式確立的。我訪問他的時候，他已年屆94歲，卻依然有清晰敏銳的頭腦。他是一位謙遜又勤奮的總統，可惜只做了一任，便於1980年被美國人投票出局，因為在他任內美國面對眾多國際事務的挑戰。現在有許多美國人視他為最優秀的總統之一，因為他努力不懈地協助弱勢社群，直至自己變得太虛弱才罷休。他的臨終遺願是於11月5日當天投票給副總統賀錦麗。
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
