反思新加坡骚乱 外籍劳工之痛

A rare riot here, staged by hundreds of workers from South Asia, is reviving public concern about the socioeconomic impact and sustainability of Singapore's heavy reliance on overseas labor.

来自南亚的数百名劳工在新加坡掀起一场罕见的骚乱，再度引发了公众对新加坡过度依赖外籍劳动所带来的社会经济影响及其可持续性的关注。

Sunday's incident in Singapore's Little India district-a popular weekend hangout for South Asian expatriates and migrant workers-ended a riot-free period extending more than four decades and has blotted the city-state's image as one of Asia's safest countries. Analysts and labor activists say the unrest points to a growing challenge for policy makers trying to maintain social cohesion and curb antiforeigner sentiment amid festering tensions among its large migrant workforce.

周日发生在新加坡“小印度”区的这起事件不仅终结了新加坡40余年无骚乱的历史，也给这座城市国家作为亚洲最安全国家之一的形象抹了黑。“小印度”是新加坡南亚侨民和外籍劳工周末的聚集地。分析人士和劳工维权人士说，新加坡有大量外籍劳工，不同民族之间的紧张情绪不断加剧，这场骚乱凸现出新加坡决策者在试图维护社会凝聚力和抑制排外情绪方面所面临的日益严峻的挑战。

Police and eyewitnesses say the riot started at about 9:30 p.m. after a bus hit and killed a 33-year-old Indian man. South Asian workers at the scene reacted by attacking the bus with sticks, stones and garbage bins, and later assaulted arriving police officers and paramedics, TV footage showed.

警方和目击证人说，骚乱始于周日晚上9点30分左右，当时，一辆巴士撞死一名33岁的印度男子。电视画面显示，南亚外籍劳工在事故现场用棍棒、石块和垃圾桶袭击那辆巴士，随后又攻击了闻讯赶来的警察和医务人员。

The violence was quelled by 11 p.m. by about 300 police officers-but not before injuries were inflicted on at least 39 law-enforcement and emergency-services personnel, as well as the driver and conductor aboard the bus in the accident. Dozens of police, emergency-services and privately owned vehicles were damaged, including five vehicles that were burned.

在大约300名警察的帮助下，骚乱于当晚11点前平息，但至少有39名执法人员和紧急服务人员以及肇事巴士的司机和售票员受了伤。警方、紧急服务机构和私人拥有的几十辆车受损，其中五辆车被烧毁。

Public violence is virtually unheard of in Singapore, where public assembly is strictly regulated. But 'incidents like this were, in a sense, waiting to happen,' especially given the dense weekend crowds in Little India numbering in the thousands, said Hui Weng Tat, an economic professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Some migrants' resentment against perceived discrimination and poor working conditions could have contributed to the outburst, Mr. Hui said, adding that policy makers may need to consider improving migrant pay and treatment.

公开暴力行为在新加坡几乎可说是闻所未闻，民众集会在新加坡受到严格控制。但新加坡国立大学李光耀公共政策学院(Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy)经济学教授Hui Weng Tat说，从某种程度上讲，像这样的事件是一定会发生的，特别是考虑到“小印度”周末会有成千上万的人聚在那里。他说，一些外籍劳工对所谓的歧视和恶劣工作条件不满，可能是导致这场骚乱的原因之一。他还说，决策者或许应该考虑提高外籍劳工的薪资和待遇。

'The workers who have been arrested in connection with the rioting incident are employed by different employers and housed in different locations. There is no basis to link their unlawful behavior to workplace issues,' Singapore's Manpower Ministry said in response to queries. 'In any case, whatever the cause, no one is above the law.'

新加坡人力部(Manpower Ministry)在回应外界询问时说，被逮捕的与骚乱事件有关的外籍劳工受雇于不同雇主，他们被关押在不同地点；没有证据表明他们的不法行为与工作场所的问题有关；无论如何，没有人可以凌驾于法律之上。

Police said they arrested 27 people-24 Indian nationals, two Bangladeshis and one Singapore permanent resident, ages 23 to 45-who haven't been named. It wasn't clear if and when the 27 may be charged, or whether they had received legal counsel. Authorities classified the violence as 'rioting with dangerous weapons,' an offense that carries penalties including up to 10 years' jail, as well as caning. More arrests could follow, police said.

警方说，他们已逮捕了27人，其中24人为印度籍，两人为孟加拉籍，一人是新加坡永久居民，年龄在23岁到45岁之间。这些人的名字尚未公开。不清楚这27人是否以及何时会被起诉，也不知他们是否得到了法律帮助。新加坡当局将这起事件定性为“持危险武器参与骚乱”，一旦被定罪，将面临最高10年监禁和鞭刑等惩罚。警方说，可能会有更多人被逮捕。

Police arrested the bus driver in the accident-an unnamed 55-year-old Singaporean-and plan to charge the person with causing 'death by a negligent act,' an offense punishable by up to two years' jail and fines. The driver couldn't be reached for comment.

肇事司机为55岁新加坡人，姓名不详，警方已将其逮捕，并准备以疏忽致死罪对其进行起诉，这项罪名最高可判两年监禁和罚款。记者未能立即联系到该巴士司机发表评论。

In a statement Monday, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he ordered an inquiry into 'an isolated incident caused by an unruly mob.' The probe will review factors behind the riot, including management of the incident by officials and how authorities oversee areas where foreign workers congregate, he said.

新加坡总理李显龙周一在公告中称，他已下令调查这起由不法暴徒引起的孤立事件，并表示将彻查骚乱的起因，包括官员对这起事件的应对，以及政府部门对外籍劳工聚集区的管理方式。

The riot has sparked concerns of further unrest amid the large foreign workforce, numbering about 1.3 million as of June, in this island state of 5.4 million people. Researchers say South Indians number in the hundreds of thousands here.

截至6月底，新加坡外籍劳工已达到130万人左右，而新加坡总人口只有540万。骚乱事件发生后，人们担心庞大的外来劳工还可能引发更多动荡。研究人员称，新加坡有大量南印度劳工。

Singapore has used liberal immigration policies in the past decade to fuel economic growth, boosting its population by 27% in the past decade. Amid concern that such a growth model wasn't sustainable, the government has curbed inflows of foreigners over the past three to four years, hoping to assuage voters disgruntled by stagnant low-end wages, rising living costs and infrastructural strains, which many citizens blamed on high immigration.

为了推动经济增长，新加坡过去10年实行了自由移民政策，使其人口增加了27%。由于担心这种增长模式难以为继，过去三、四年里新加坡政府限制了外来人口的流入，希望安抚选民的不满情绪。许多新加坡市民将低工资、高物价和基础设施紧张归咎于大量移民。

Foreign workers have also increasingly bristled under the system. Some-particularly low-wage laborers in construction-have in recent years resorted to protests against alleged exploitation by employers, including an illegal strike last year by about 170 public-bus drivers hired from China, which ended a 26-year strike-free record for Singapore.

而外籍劳工的怨气也在这一制度下不断加深。近年来，一些工资特别低的建筑工人已经组织抗议活动反对所谓的雇主压榨。去年，170名华裔公交司机举行非法罢工，结束了新加坡26年无罢工的历史。

Prime Minister Lee sought to allay worries about the unrest. 'The vast majority of foreign workers here obey our laws,' he said in his statement. 'We must not let this bad incident tarnish our views of foreigner workers here.'

李显龙试图缓解骚乱事件引发的忧虑。他在公告中称，大多数的外籍劳工是遵守新加坡法律的，绝不能让这起不好的事件抹黑新加坡人对外籍劳工的看法。

Police have avoided drawing conclusions on the cause of the riot. Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew suggested that alcohol might have been a factor, but labor activists countered that most low-wage foreigners can't afford much alcohol.

警方不愿给这起骚乱的原因下结论。新加坡交通部长吕德耀说，酒精可能是引发骚乱的一个因素。但劳工维权人士反驳说，多数低薪外籍劳工买不起太多酒。

Police officials said they would 'pay extra attention' to Little India, foreign-worker dormitories and other places of congregation.

警方表示，他们将格外关注小印度、外籍劳工宿舍和其他聚集地。

Singapore last experienced a major riot in 1969, when racially charged violence broke out between the city-state's majority ethnic Chinese and minority Malay residents, leaving at least four dead and 80 injured.

新加坡上一次骚乱发生在1969年，当时，占人口多数的华人和占人口少数的马来人之间爆发了一场种族暴力冲突，造成至少四人死亡，80人受伤。