马来西亚应向新加坡学习 Leader Malaysia can learn from Singapore governance

Fifty years ago, Malaysia expelled Singapore from the federation and the two entities went their separate ways. So distraught was Lee Kuan Yew, then Singapore’s chief minister, that he shed tears in public for the first and last time in his long and extraordinary career. Half a century later, it should be Malaysians who are crying.

50年前，马来西亚将新加坡驱逐出马来西亚联邦，两个实体从此分道扬镳。时任新加坡首席部长的李光耀(Lee Kuan Yew)当时如此悲痛，以至于他首次——也是漫长而非凡的政治生涯中最后一次——在公开场合落泪。半个世纪后，流泪的应该是马来西亚人。

Undoubtedly, Singapore has its problems. Its brand of authoritarian guided development has delivered prosperity and produced the world’s slickest city state. But many Singaporeans feel something is missing in their controlled society, a hole that cannot be filled by economic growth. Yet whatever difficulties Singapore faces, these pale in comparison with those of Malaysia. Not only is Malaysia going through its worst political crisis in years after hundreds of millions of dollars found their way into the bank account of Najib Razak, the prime minister. More critically, Malaysia has been undergoing a long-term meltdown in which the political, religious and ethnic compact that has underpinned the country since independence groans under its own rotten contradictions.

新加坡无疑有它的问题。其特有的威权指引发展模式带来了繁荣，缔造了世界上最高效的城市国家。但许多新加坡人觉得，他们身处的受控社会是有缺失的，而这种缺失是经济增长填补不了的。然而，无论新加坡面对什么困难，这些困难与马来西亚相比实在算不了什么。马来西亚正在经历多年来最严峻的政治危机，起因是该国总理纳吉布拉扎克(Najib Razak)的银行账户不知怎么多出了数亿美元。更严重的是，马来西亚正走在长期的下坡路上，自独立以来支撑着该国的政治、宗教和民族“契约”在自己造成的严重矛盾下岌岌可危。

For all the doubts that nag at Singapore, from democracy to demography, the city has been an incredible success. Its per capita gross domestic product, $56,000 in nominal terms, is more than five times that of Malaysia’s $11,000.

尽管有各种疑虑困扰着新加坡（从民主体制到人口结构），这个城市国家仍是一个令人难以置信的成功故事。其5.6万美元的名义人均国内生产总值(GDP)，是马来西亚1.1万美元的五倍多。

True, in the post-Lee era, Singapore’s People’s Action party, which has held power since independence, has lost its aura of infallibility. Nearly 40 per cent of Singaporeans voted against it in the last elections. Yet, the PAP is still widely regarded as honest and competent. The same cannot be said for the United Malays National Organisation, which has clung on to power for nearly six decades. Its leader is now embroiled in a scandal linked to state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which has racked up $11bn in debt. The country’s anti-corruption agency has denied media allegations that $675m in Mr Razak’s account came from 1MDB — it says the money came from an unnamed Middle East donor. Mr Razak denies any wrongdoing. But whatever the truth in that case, UMNO has long fronted a thoroughly corrupt political system. Malaysia’s public senses this. In the 2013 election, UMNO lost the popular vote but scraped into power thanks to an electoral system stacked in its favour. Since then, the state, too often synonymous with UMNO, has turned its guns on the opposition, jailing its leader Anwar Ibrahim, on charges of sodomy.

没错，在后李光耀时代，自新加坡独立以来一直执政的人民行动党(PAP)失去了绝对正确的光环。在近期的选举中，近40%的新加坡人投票反对该党。然而，人民行动党仍被普遍认为是诚实和能干的。这样的评价不适用于在马来西亚抱住权位近60年不放的马来民族统一机构（UMNO，中文简称：巫统）。其领导人现在卷入了涉及政府投资基金——背负110亿美元债务的“1MDB”(1Malaysia Development Berhad)的丑闻。该国反腐败机构否认了有关纳吉布账户上的6.75亿美元来自1MDB的媒体指控；该机构称这笔钱来自一中东捐赠者，但未披露姓名。纳吉布否认自己有任何不当行为。但是，无论该案的是非曲直如何，巫统都长期领导着一个彻底腐败的政治体制。马来西亚公众意识到这一点。在2013年的选举中，巫统在票数上失利，但借助一套对其有利的选举制度勉强继续掌权。自那以来，往往已成为巫统同义词的马来西亚政府对反对党开刀，以鸡奸罪名监禁反对党领导人安瓦尔易卜拉欣(Anwar Ibrahim)。

In one sense comparing the two countries is unfair. Singapore, with a population of only 5m, is a city. Malaysia, with 450 times the land area and a population of 30m, is harder to govern. Lee, Singapore’s founding father who died in March, held Singapore tightly in his mostly benevolent grip. It is hard to see how such micromanagement could have worked in a much bigger country.

在某种意义上，对比这两个国家是不公平的。人口仅500万的新加坡是一个城市。陆地面积是新加坡450倍、人口3000万的马来西亚显然更难治理。3月去世的新加坡开国总理李光耀以总体上仁慈的手腕牢牢掌管着国家。很难看出这样的微观管理能在一个大得多的国家奏效。

Still, both countries have potentially combustible ethnic mixes. Singapore has done better at forging a sense of fairness and national unity, through language, meritocracy and incorruptibility. Malaysia, in the name of protecting Malays through positive discrimination, has by contrast created a crony capitalist state. It should learn from Singapore. It should show zero tolerance for corruption, starting with Mr Najib, who must clear his name or step down. Preferential treatment for Malays should be phased out and the government should forge policies of national unity, not ones of division based on religion or Malay ethnicity. Singapore has created a strong foundation from which it can move forward. Malaysia must stop the rot, or slip disastrously backwards.

话虽如此，这两个国家都存在容易产生冲突的多民族问题。新加坡借助语言、任人唯贤和廉洁制度，在营造公平和民族团结意识方面做得更好。马来西亚则以保护马来人为名明确实行歧视政策，搞成了一个裙带资本主义国家。马来西亚应该学习新加坡的经验。它应该表现出对腐败的零容忍，从纳吉布开始，他必须要么证明自己清白，要么下台。优待马来人的政策应该被取消，政府应该出台民族团结政策，而不是基于宗教或马来族裔的分裂政策。新加坡夯实了一个让国家能够向前迈进的坚实基础。马来西亚必须刮骨疗毒，否则就可能灾难性地向后倒退。