新加坡已不再是李光耀时代 (from china web)

[therat]

http://sg.xinhuanet.com/2013-05/02/c_124654777.htm

路透社4月22日刊登题为《没有李光耀，你该怎样拼写新加坡？》一文。文章摘要如下：

　　人们挤进新加坡一家艺术咖啡馆，毫不掩饰地嘲笑以“铁拳”治理国家的专制官员，抱怨说那些拿着百万年薪 的政府部长们脱离人民。

　　一个中年职业女性说，现代新加坡的创始人李光耀曾经做过一些丰功伟绩，但是目前这些仍旧推行“照我说的 做的家长作风”的领导人必须另辟蹊径。她的说法得到大家的首肯。

　　在最近这次集会上的这种异乎寻常的坦率批评——这是政府就这个城市国家的未来而展开的“对话”的一部分 ——反映出这已不再是李光耀时代的现实。

　　LKY——这是李光耀为人所知的名字——把这个东南亚小岛建设成为世界上最富有的国家之一。现年89岁 、健康状况不断下降的李光耀已经从公众的目光和政治舞台上隐退，让他的大儿子李显龙的政府来解决这个有着5 30万人口的国家所面临的经济和社会挑战。

　　李光耀2011年辞去内阁之职时说：“是时候让年青一代带领新加坡渡过这个更加困难和复杂的局势了。” 当时，执政党遭受历史上最糟糕的选举结果。

　　李光耀担任新加坡第一总理长达31年，而后又担任名誉顾问。就在导致他退休的选举前，李光耀曾以典型的 直言不讳在2011年出版的《新加坡赖以生存的硬道理》一书中总结了自己的遗产。

　　他说：“年轻的新加坡人如何看待我与我无关。我已经活得够长，我知道人在活着的时候可能被美化，而在死 后却遭人唾骂。”

　　2012年8月，有谣言说李光耀已经病重或已经去世。当他出现在国庆游行从而驳斥了这种谣言时，挥舞旗 帜的人群爆发出一片欢呼声。2013年2月，他因为心律失常导致大脑缺血而住院。但一个月后，他在一个论坛 上露面，与美国联邦储备委员会前主席保罗·沃尔克登上讲台。

　　在回答有关中美关系、欧洲的困境和亚洲的未来等问题时，李光耀的表现显示他的智力完好无损，思维敏捷。 但他的讲话速度很慢，有时很难理解。他的许多回答简短而虚弱。

　　沃尔克的一句话引得人群发出局促的笑声。他说：“新加坡不得不要适应李光耀有朝一日不领导国家的现实。 ”

　　高官们表示，这个适应过程已经开始了。李光耀把制定政策的事情交给了现任领导人，他自己并没有在幕后指 手画脚。而变革的步伐是最大的问题。

　　2011年遭到选民的不满，2013年1月的中期选举又再次受挫，人民行动党必须小心翼翼，既要平息公 众的不安，又不能放弃缔造了一个金融强国的政策，因为新加坡稳定的局势和做生意的便利性吸引着投资者和跨国 公司。

　　李显龙对《华盛顿邮报》说：“我们必须以一种更为开放的方式工作。我们必须接受更多的不尽如人意以及进 进退退，因为这是正常政治的一部分。”

　　他说：“当然，这是一个重大的变化，我们希望我们能够在一段时间内安全航行，而不是突然变 化。”

虽然人民行动党在议会中的多数票地位已经从87个议席减少到80个议席，但没有人认为反对派能够在2016 年下届大选中胜出。但是高官们说，在人民行动党探索前进道路的过程中，内部对应该采取什么方针 也存在分歧。

　　部分分歧在2月份的议会中初露端倪。当时政府的一份文件设想，为了保持经济增长势头，新加坡的人口到2 030年必须增长30%，而这主要要靠更多的外国人。

　　人民行动党的陈佩玲在为期5天的辩论过程中说：“我对这份白皮书有很大的保留意见。”同样来自人民行动 党的殷吉星说：“过去十年人口的快速增长已经造成太多的问题，在采取下一步行动之前，我们必须首先解决这个 问题。”

　　在李光耀时代，人民行动党的政治家和公务员很少公开表达任何意见分歧。不过，不同意见也仅限于此。最后 ，没有一个人民行动党的成员投票反对白皮书，它以77票赞成13票反对得以通过。殷吉星并没有 参加投票。

　　一个受欢迎的公共事务网站《网民》的前总编、商人库马兰·皮莱说：“很多人民行动党的干部、基层成员和 精英在这个系统中有既得利益，他们不会因为李光耀的离去而让它土崩瓦解。”

　　手臂上有条龙文身的大学生布伦丹·莫说：“我不觉得反对派足以带来积极的变化，但我们希望有更多的辩论 。”

　　当人民行动党被迫去倾听的时候，“我们的新加坡全国对话”活动引起了更大的共鸣。

　　在新加坡，政府在TCC咖啡屋等场所组织了关于国家角色的对话。在这间咖啡屋中，最近有约50名来自不 同背景的人参加。他们围在矮桌旁，一边吃着自助晚餐，一边参与激烈讨论，谈论着人民行动党虽然倾听但并没有 改变的事，谈论高薪官员不理解人民对公共交通和住房价格的忧虑。

　　一个女人在提到大多数新加坡人居住的公寓时说：“他们不坐火车(MRT)，他们不坐出租车(Taxi) ，他们不住组屋，他们怎么能知道？”

[dzylim]

can someone translate?

SINGAPORE - They crammed into an art cafe in Singapore and pulled no punches, deriding authoritarian officials who ruled with an "iron fist" and complaining that government ministers with million-dollar salaries were out of touch.

One woman, a middle-aged professional, got nods of agreement when she said modern Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, had done great things but that new ways were needed from current leaders still practising a "do-as-I-say style of parenting".

Singapore remains regimented but the unusually frank criticism at the recent gathering, part of a government-run national "conversation" about the city state's future, reflects the reality that this is no longer the era of Lee Kuan Yew.

LKY, as he is widely known, built the tiny Southeast Asian island into one of the world's wealthiest nations with a strong, pervasive role by the state and no patience for dissent.Now 89 and in declining health, LKY has receded from the public and political scene, leaving the government of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, his elder son, to deal with economic and social challenges roiling the country of 5.3 million people.

"The time has come for a younger generation to carry Singapore forward in a more difficult and complex situation," LKY said in 2011 as he resigned from the cabinet after the ruling party suffered its worst election result in history.

Saying they feel inundated by foreign workers and priced out of their own homeland, Singaporeans are angry. And with the hugely respected figure of LKY retired from the political stage, they are no longer hesitant to show it.

In online chatrooms, letters to state-linked newspapers and at the "Our Singapore Conversation" sessions, they are pressing for answers from the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) which is doing more to listen but struggling with how to change after five decades in power.

Despite the new climate of open criticism, there is still some trepidation about speaking out in front of journalists. At the recent "conversation" session, the organisers asked Reuters not to identify the participants so they could talk freely without being intimidated by the presence of a foreign reporter.

LKY's long-standing openness to foreign workers clashes with the current mood and detractors decry his paternalistic and stern ways, including defamation lawsuits against critics.But his legacy as Singapore's first prime minister for 31 years and then advisor emeritus is not in doubt.
Last August, rumours spread that LKY was gravely ill or had died. When he disproved the chatter by appearing at the National Day parade, the flag-waving crowd erupted into cheers.

In February, he was hospitalised when an irregular heartbeat interrupted the flow of blood to his brain. But he turned up at a forum a month later and took the stage with Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Replying to questions about U.S.-China relations, Europe's woes and Asia's future, LKY showed his intellect remains intact and powerful. But his speech was slow and sometimes difficult to understand. Many of his answers were short and trailed off.

Volcker prompted nervous laughter from the crowd when he said: "Singapore is going to have to adjust to Lee Kuan Yew at some point not being the guide.
""VESTED IN THE SYSTEM"That adjustment is already happening, senior officials say, with LKY leaving the current leaders to set policies without him pulling the strings.

The pace of change is the big question.Hit by voter discontent in 2011 and again in a by-election in January, the PAP must walk a fine line in pacifying the public's concerns without abandoning policies that have created a financial powerhouse where stability and an ease of doing business are magnets for investors and multinational companies.

"We have to work in a more open way. We have to accept more of the untidiness and the to-ing and fro-ing, which is part of normal politics," Prime Minister Lee told the Washington Post."It is a major change, of course, which we hope we will be able to navigate safely over a period of time and not suddenly.

"While the PAP's majority in parliament has shrunk to 80 of 87 elected seats, few expect the opposition to prevail in the next election in 2016. But as the PAP charts the way ahead, there are internal differences over what approach to take, senior officials say.

Some of those divisions were on display in parliament in February over a government document that envisioned the population swelling by as much as 30 percent by 2030, largely due to more foreigners, to maintain economic growth.

"I have very serious reservations about the white paper," PAP member Tin Pei Ling said during the five-day debate.Inderjit Singh, also from the PAP, said: "Our past decade of rapid population growth has already created too many problems which need to be solved first before we take the next step.

"During LKY's time, it was very rare for PAP politicians and civil servants to publicly voice any difference of opinion. But the new scope for dissent extends only so far.In the end, no PAP member voted against the white paper and it passed by a 77-13 margin. Singh was not present for the vote.

Despite the unusually heated debate, the outcome illustrates why speculation may be overblown about a split in the ruling party or major shifts in policy when LKY is no longer around."They still have this pretty much authoritarian kind of mindset," said Kumaran Pillai, a businessman and former chief editor of The Online Citizen, a popular public affairs website.

I don't think the split would happen so soon. The main reason is a lot of PAP cadre members, grassroots members and the elite are vested in the system and they aren't going to let it fall apart just because Lee Kuan Yew has passed away.

"MORE OPPOSITION VOICES"The government has taken steps to restrict immigration, cool the property market, build up infrastructure and broaden social safety nets. But it did itself no favours with the population white paper which sent public anger into overdrive and, for many, reaffirmed the PAP's reputation for prescriptive policies.

"I just want more opposition voices," said Brendan Mok, a university student with a dragon tattoo on his arm. "At the same time, I don't feel the opposition is solid enough for anything that could deliver positive change. But we do want more debate."Mok and his friend Ron Ho, who both voted for the opposition in 2011, said the priority was to narrow income inequalities and address concerns about housing, good jobs and living costs.

"A lot of Singaporeans aren't happy and one of the reasons is because there's a lot of status anxiety here," said Ho.With the PAP under pressure to listen, the year-old "Our Singapore Conversation" is assuming greater resonance.In a Singaporean twist, the dialogue about the role of the state is organised by the government at venues such as The Connoisseur Concerto, a boutique cafe where about 50 people from diverse backgrounds recently gathered.

Crowded around low tables, they tucked into a buffet dinner and then engaged in a feisty chat about the PAP listening but not really changing and about well-paid officials being out of touch with anxiety over public transport and home prices."They don't take the train, they don't take taxis, they don't live in HDBs," said one woman, referring to the state-built Housing & Development Board apartments where most Singaporeans live. "So how do they know?

Lee Kuan Yew, who continues to espouse the need for immigrants and scolds Singaporeans for not having enough babies, is also seen as out of touch as citizens challenge the government's top-down approach and demand their voices be heard.

With characteristic bluntness, he summed up his own legacy in the book "Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going" published in 2011, just before the election that led to his retirement.

It's irrelevant to me what young Singaporeans think of me," he said. "I've lived long enough to know that you may be idealised in life and reviled after you're dead."

Originally Posted by dzylim

can someone translate?

Like that can? copy paste one

[dzylim]

very good. A+

[Ah_ZhaN]

Originally Posted by Ah_ZhaN

Wah use picture and words like that ay tio tai chi boh you make this picture yourself ?

[Ah_ZhaN]

Originally Posted by leong26

Wah use picture and words like that ay tio tai chi boh you make this picture yourself ?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...1692882&type=1

Pic credit: Teo Boon-Pin

[dragon888]

could BFF be Best F----r Forever???

[hkh]

Huat huh.......