新加坡大選的五大焦點 Five flashpoints in Singapore's general election

Singaporeans head to the polls on Friday in what some observers have suggested is the city-state’s most important election since independence.

新加坡將於週五舉行大選，一些觀察人士表示，這是新加坡自獨立以來最重要的一次選舉。

Opposition parties are fielding candidates in all of the country’s 29 electoral divisions — the first time the People’s Action party has faced such a challenge in its half-century of unbroken rule over the tiny Southeast Asian nation.

反對黨在全國29個選區均派出候選人蔘選，這是人民行動黨(People’s Action party)在連續統治這個東南亞小國半個世紀以來首次遭遇此類挑戰。

Here are five issues looming in voters’ minds.

以下是選民們較爲關心的5個問題：

Immigration

移民

This is “the mother of all issues in this election”, according to Eugene Tan, political analyst and associate professor at Singapore Management University. “Immigration is the one topic that many, many Singaporeans are worried about.”

這是“此次大選所有問題中最重要的一個”，新加坡管理大學(Singapore Management University)政治分析師、副教授陳慶文(Eugene Tan)表示，“移民是很多新加坡人關心的一個話題。”

The loosening of immigration controls has helped drive the economy and propelled the population from 4.4m in 2006 to 5.5m in 2014. But that has put pressure on infrastructure and created domestic friction over jobs, even though the unemployment rate is still only 2 per cent.

放鬆移民控制幫助推動了新加坡經濟，並使該國人口從2006年的440萬人增至2014年的550萬人。但這給基礎設施造成了壓力，並在國內引發圍繞就業的分歧，不過該國失業率目前仍僅爲2%。

Overcrowding, buoyed by 1.6m foreigners, has chafed with locals, a fact that Lee Hsien Loong, prime minister, has acknowledged. “We cannot close our doors completely. [But] if we let in too many foreign workers, our society will come undone,” he said.

160萬外國人造成的過度擁擠激怒了新加坡本地人，該國總理李顯龍(Lee Hsien Loong)也承認這點。他表示：“我們不能徹底把大門關閉。（但）如果我們讓太多外國務工人員入境，我們的社會就亂了。”

Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch note that Singapore’s “non-resident population growth has slowed to 2.9 per cent in 2014, down from an average of more than 10 per cent during 2005-2010”.

美銀美林(Bank of America Merrill Lynch)分析師指出，新加坡“非居民人口增速在2014年放緩至2.9%，低於2005年至2010年期間逾10%的平均水平”。

Check on ruling party’s power

制約執政黨權力

The 2011 election was noted by observers as a “watershed election” when the dominance of the PAP was tested for the first time in Singapore’s half-century of statehood.

觀察人士將2011年大選視爲一場“分水嶺大選”，當時，人民行動黨的統治地位在新加坡獨立半個世紀以來首次受到考驗。

Although the PAP won 81 of 87 seats, its vote share fell to 60.1 per cent — the lowest in history and well below the 67 per cent of 2006 — giving opposition parties their first significant toehold in parliament.

儘管人民行動黨贏得了87個議席中的81席，但得票率降至60.1%，爲歷史最低水平，遠遠低於2006年的67%，這令反對黨首次在議會獲得重要立足點。

“Do I believe that it is healthy for a handful of people from the same political party deciding what is best for Singapore? The answer... no,” said He Ting Ru, a 32-year-old Cambridge university-educated solicitor standing on the Workers’ party ticket.

劍橋大學(Cambridge university)畢業的32歲律師、工人黨(Workers’ party)候選人之一何廷儒表示：“我是否認爲由同一政黨的少數人來決定什麼對新加坡最有利這種情況是合理的？我的答案是……否定的。”

While the PAP is almost certain to retain power on Friday, aided by a favourable block-voting electoral system, many observers believe a viable opposition in parliament will check the PAP’s near-autonomy — something against which Mr Lee has cautioned.

儘管人民行動黨幾乎肯定會在週五大選中保住權力（這得益於對該黨有利的集選區制度），但很多觀察人士認爲，進入議會的反對派將制約人民行動黨的準自主權——對此李顯龍曾經警告過。

“For every one more ‘checker’ in parliament there will be one less doer, thinker and leader in the government to serve the nation and the people,” he said.

他表示：“議會中每增加一個‘制衡者’，政府就會少一位行動者、思想者和領導者來爲國家和人民服務。”

Economy

經濟

Singapore has long been an oasis of political stability and economic predictability, but its stagnating economy, and concerns over China’s stock market slump and neighbouring Malaysia’s political troubles have emerged as fresh worries.

長期以來，新加坡一直是政治穩定和經濟明朗的樂土，但陷入停滯的國內經濟以及圍繞中國股市暴跌和鄰國馬來西亞政治困境的擔憂成爲該國新的隱憂。

Singapore’s industrial production contracted 6.1 per cent in July against a year earlier, compounding the 4 per cent fall seen in June. While it remains a vibrant financial centre, manufacturing still accounts for 17 per cent of gross domestic product.

今年7月，新加坡工業產值同比下滑6.1%，6月爲下滑4%。新加坡仍是一個富有活力的金融中心，但製造業仍佔其國內生產總值(GDP)的17%。

The government recently pared back its 2015 GDP growth forecast to 2-2.5 per cent from 2-4 per cent previously.

新加坡政府最近將其對今年GDP增速的預期從之前的2%至4%，下調至2%至2.5%。

In neighbouring Malaysia, worries over religious radicalisation and the scandal engulfing Prime Minister Najib Rajak have made an unwelcome addition to the mix. After being ejected from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore has outgrown its neighbour but it is still closely linked through its reliance on water supplies from the north.

在鄰國馬來西亞，對於宗教激進化的擔憂以及總理納吉布拉扎克(Najib Rajak)捲入的醜聞也是新加坡不願看到的問題。自1965年脫離馬來西亞後，新加坡的經濟增速一直超過馬來西亞，但新加坡對馬來西亞水資源供應的依賴仍讓兩國緊密聯繫在一起。

“If Malaysia is troubled, unstable or divided, it will affect our economy, our society and our security too,” said Mr Lee.

李顯龍表示：“如果馬來西亞陷入困境、形勢不穩或出現分裂，這也會影響我們的經濟、我們的社會以及我們的安全。”

Pensions and housing

養老和住房

Known as the Central Provident Fund, Singapore’s system of financing pensioners is based on mandatory savings by households, which are in turn micromanaged by the state. CPF allows account holders to make withdrawals for housing, medical and education fees — something some opposition parties oppose.

新加坡的養老保障體系被稱爲中央公積金制度(Central Provident Fund)，它基於家庭強制儲蓄，並受政府的微觀管理。該制度允許賬戶持有者爲住房、醫療和教育支出提取公積金，一些反對黨反對這點。

A minimum S$161,000 (US$113,000) must remain in a CPF account when a person reaches the age of 55, placing a clamp on the assets of poorer Singaporeans.

在本人55歲時，其中央公積金賬戶中必須最少保留16.1萬新元(合11.3萬美元)，這對低收入人羣的資產形成了限制。

More than 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in flats built by the country’s Housing and Development Board, with more than 90 per cent of those owner-occupied. However, many of the opposition parties complain that the fixed prices of HDB flats — known as Build-To-Order flats — are too high for poorer Singaporeans.

超過80%的新加坡人居住在由該國建屋發展局(Housing and Development Board)建造的組屋中，其中超過90%房屋爲自住。然而，多數反對黨抱怨稱，對於較爲貧窮的新加坡人而言，建屋發展局建造的組屋——被稱爲預購組屋(Build-To-Order)——偏貴。

Singaporeans who qualify — and who are prepared to endure multiyear waiting lists — can obtain government subsidies of as much as S$60,000 to buy BTO flats on the far outskirts of Singapore. Prices range from S$75,000 (US$53,000) for a 36 sq m two-room flat in Sembawang near the Malaysian border, to S$576,000 for a five-room flat in more central Clementi.

那些符合資格（並準備忍受多年排隊等待）的新加坡人在遠郊購置預購組屋可以獲得最高6萬新元的政府補貼。房價差異很大，靠近馬來西亞邊境的三巴旺36平米兩居公寓7.5萬新元(合5.3萬美元)，更靠近市區的金文泰五居公寓57.6萬新元。

Transport

交通

Singapore’s 5.5m people are crammed into 720 sq km, making it the most densely populated sovereign state after Monaco. The squeeze has placed strains on the country’s infrastructure, with the metro system, for example, suffering several high-profile breakdowns in recent years.

新加坡550萬人口擠在720平方公里的土地上，這令該國成爲繼摩納哥之後全球人口密度最大的主權國家。這給該國基礎設施帶來了壓力，例如，最近幾年，該國地鐵發生了多次引人注目的癱瘓事件。

“When infrastructure doesn’t work like it should, Singaporeans get very annoyed about it. They don’t seem to accept it like in, say, the UK or Australia,” said David Black, managing director of Blackbox Research, a market research group.

市場研究機構Blackbox Research董事總經理大衛布萊克(David Black)表示：“當基礎設施運行不暢時，新加坡人感到很惱火。他們似乎不會接受這種事情，不像英國或澳大利亞。”

A July poll from Blackbox found that “the recent spate of train disruptions, including a major breakdown during rush hour that affected close to 250,000 commuters” had weighed on voters’ confidence in the government’s ability to handle transportation issues.

Blackbox在7月的一項調查發現，“最近一系列軌道交通停運事件，包括一次影響近25萬通勤者的高峯時間的大面積癱瘓”，影響了選民對政府處理交通問題能力的信心。

Overcrowding on trains has also raised Singaporeans’ ire, which some have blamed on the island’s growing population. The government has responded by building new lines and adding hundreds of new buses to the roads.

地鐵乘客過度擁擠也讓新加坡人感到憤怒，一些人將其歸咎於不斷增加的人口。新加坡政府做出迴應，修了新線路，並在地面增加了數百量新的巴士。