It's high time

Facebook的外洩風波未完。社交網站搜集用戶資料和大數據，並將其用於商業或政治用途，乃人所共知的事，Facebook並非唯一一家。現在是時候加強私隱法。（It's high time for stronger privacy law.）

It is high time解「應該立即做某事」（something should be done now），或者「早就該做某事了」（something should have been done a long time ago）。例如，It is high time the government set up more stringent privacy law to provide Internet users.（政府應該立即制定更嚴格的隱私法，以保障互聯網用戶。）You've already graduated from the university for a whole year. It's high time you started looking for a job.（你已經從大學畢業整整一年了，現在該找份工作了吧。）Massage won't help you. It's high time you got that sore arm looked at by a doctor or a physiotherapist.（按摩不會幫到你，你早就該找醫生或物理治療師看看那隻痠痛的手臂。）

留意，由於it is high time暗示已經太遲行動了，早就該做某事，所以要用過去式（past tense）描述後接的事情--It is high time somebody did something。

（本欄逢周一、三、五刊登）