好英语网检视新加坡的三种价值观
Though Singapore celebrated its 50th year of independence in 2015, the country has wasted no time organising its next tribute. The Singapore Bicentennial, which is being recognised at events, exhibits and festivals throughout 2019, commemorates the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles, who established Singapore as a trading post for the British East India Company.
新加坡在2015年才庆祝了独立建国50周年，随后又毫不犹豫地开始筹备下一次庆典，即新加坡开埠200周年。2019年全年将会有一系列的活动项目、展览和节庆，以纪念英国史丹福·莱佛士爵士（Sir Stamford Raffles）登陆马来半岛南端这个小岛200周年。200年前莱佛士爵士将这个小岛设为英国东印度公司的一个贸易站。
Unlike the celebrations surrounding the SG50, however, the Bicentennial is being marked as a time of commemoration. British colonisation of the island nation has long been a contentious issue, and many locals are unhappy that the date is being marked at all. However, the Bicentennial Office says it’s aiming to provide citizens with an opportunity to reflect on a colonial past that stretches even further back – 700 years in total – and on the values that have shaped the modern-day nation.
然而，与庆祝建国50周年不同，开埠200周年只被认为是一个纪念的时刻。英国对这个岛国的殖民一直是一个有争议的问题，很多当地人根本不喜欢纪念这个日子。不过，200周年纪念办公室表示，其目的是让国民有机会反思殖民历史（新加坡历史甚至可以追溯到更远的700年前），以及反思塑造现代新加坡国家的价值观。
新加坡文化的多样性让新移民能够迅速适应环境
Those values – openness, multiculturalism and self-determination, as named by the Bicentennial Office – are exactly what many residents love about living here. “Singapore is a country with an identity of its own. Diversity in ethnicity and religion meld seamlessly in social interaction and in the food and landmarks,” said Singaporean LG Han, who is chef-owner at Michelin-starred Labyrinth. “In spite of this diversity, Singaporeans all share a commonality and trait in the way we speak, the values we share and acceptance of people from all walks of life.”
由200周年纪念办公室命名的价值观：开放、多元文化和自决，正是许多居民喜欢在此安居乐业的原因。新加坡法式融合料理米其林星级餐厅Labyrinth的主厨韩立光（LG Han）说，“新加坡是一个拥有自己特色的国家。多种族和多宗教，但却能在社会互动、饮食和地标中无缝融合。”他说，“尽管存在种族和宗教的多样性，但新加坡人属于同一个共同体，有相同的语言表达方式，并分享共同的价值观，各行各业人士能相容共存。”
Despite Singapore’s cultural diversity, the country remains in an evolving conversation around sexuality. Singapore still recognises a rule inherited from British colonial rule banning gay sex, though it has frequently been challenged in court – with new trial proceedings to begin in 2019 after India abolished a similar colonial rule, according to The New York Times. Same-sex relationships are not legally recognised in Singapore, nor can a same-sex couple legally adopt a child, but activists continue to bring awareness and change during events like the annual Pink Dot rally, named after the mixing of the red and white colours of the Singapore flag and the push toward inclusivity for all.
尽管新加坡有文化上的多样性，但在性倾向话题上，这个国家依然还在争论不息。据纽约时报报道，新加坡仍然承认继承自英国殖民时代一条禁止同性恋的法律条文，不过此法在法庭上频频受到挑战。在印度废除类似的殖民时代法律后，受此鼓舞，要求新加坡废除同性恋刑事法的新一轮诉讼程序将于2019年启动。在新加坡，同性恋没有得到法律认可，同性伴侣也不能合法领养孩子。但社会活动者通过诸如一年一度的“粉红点”（Pink Dot）（颜色取自新加坡国旗红白两色混合而成）集会和推动全民共融的运动，唤起社会对同性恋者政治权利的关注，希望带来改变。
Why do people love it?
人们为什么喜欢这里？
The mix of cultures here allows newcomers, especially Westerners, to adjust quickly. “It's a great gateway to Asia, both physically, as a fantastic hub for other travel spots in the region like Bali and Boracay, but also culturally,” said American Alexandra Feig, who has lived in Singapore for three years and writes the travel blog A Maiden Voyager. “Singapore has deep ties to the West, with a lot of British influence in particular. Walking around the town you will see Buddhist temples next to more British-style shophouses, and in local hawker centres you'll have stalls serving [Hainanese] chicken rice next to nasi goreng [Indonesian-style fried rice] and Western cuisine like hamburgers.”
新加坡的多元文化让新移民、特别是西方人能够迅速适应这里的生活。 “新加坡在地理位置上，是通往亚洲的枢纽通道，是前往像印尼巴厘岛、菲律宾长滩岛等旅游胜地的绝佳中转站。而且在文化上也是如此，”在新加坡生活了三年的美国人亚历山德拉·费格（Alexandra Feig）如是说。 她是旅游博客“少女航海家”（A Maiden Voyager）的博主。她说，“新加坡与西方有很深渊源，英国在此的影响力尤其大。在城中漫步，你会看到佛教寺庙与英式风格突出的商铺相邻。在当地的小吃市集，你会看到供应海南鸡饭的摊位紧邻印度尼西亚风味的炒饭和卖汉堡包之类的西式餐厅。”
Don’t make the mistake of confusing hawker-centre fare for just any street food, though, warns Canadian Jordan Bishop, who lives part time in Singapore and is the editor of How I Travel. “Two of Singapore's food stalls now have Michelin stars,” he said. Those stalls, Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle and Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle, were the first of their kind to be recognised with the honour in 2016.
不要误认为新加坡小吃市集的食物就是普通的街头食品。“我如何旅行”（How I Travel）的主编、部分时间住在新加坡的加拿大人乔丹·毕晓普（Jordan Bishop）提醒说， “新加坡的两个小吃档都有米其林星。”他说这两个摊位，“了凡香港油鸡饭面”（Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle）和“大华猪肉粿条面”（Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle），是这类小食店首次在2016年获此殊荣。
With new restaurants and bars opening weekly, Singapore has no shortage of diverse cuisine reflecting its trading port past, including Chinese, Malay, Indian, Peranakan, German, Italian, Japanese, Vietnamese, French and American.
每周都有新的餐厅和酒吧开业，新加坡不乏反映其过往国际贸易港口特色的多国饮食，比如中国、马来西亚、印度、土生华人、德国、意大利、日本、越南、法国和美国的食物等。
The multiculturalism doesn’t stop at the food. Locals even have their own lingo that reflects this melting pot. Though not recognised by the government (which recently even actively discouraged its use), Singlish – a creole mix of English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay and Tamil – is commonly used in social situations like ordering coffee or gossiping with friends.
多元文化并不止于饮食。当地人甚至有反映这个种族大熔炉的语言 。虽然政府不承认（最近甚至积力阻止使用），但新加坡英语（Singlish），这种混合了英语、普通话、福建话、粤语、马来语和泰米尔语的混合语，常常在点咖啡或与朋友闲聊的社交场合用到。
What’s it like living there?
在那里生活是种什么感觉？
Unlike in many other big cities, residents rarely worry about theft or violence. With one of the lowest crime rates in the world, even petty street crime is viewed as “a waste of time” said 11-year resident Bino Chua, who blogs at I Wander. “You can leave your car unlocked, your purse unattended,” said American Alison Ozawa Sanders, who has lived here for five years and is the co-author of The Expats’ Guide to Singapore. “As a woman, I can go out at night in any neighbourhood and not worry about my personal safety ever. As a parent, I don't have the feeling that if I take my eyes off my kids for two seconds they're going to be kidnapped.”
与许多其他大城市不同，新加坡居民很少担心盗窃或暴力犯罪。居住了11年的Bino Chua在“我的漫游”（I Wander）博客上写道，新加坡是全世界上犯罪率最低的几个地方之一，街头的小偷小摸甚至被视为“浪费时间”不值得做的事。已经在这里生活了5年的美国人、“新加坡外籍人士指南”的合著者艾莉森·小泽·桑德斯（Alison Ozawa Sanders）说，“你可以不用锁车，留下钱包无人看管地走开。作为女人，我可以在任何社区晚上外出，不用担心自己的人身安全。作为父母，我也不会有如果我把视线从孩子身上移开两秒中，我的孩子就会被绑架的感觉。”
Singapore is also very clean and convenient to get around, with very few traffic jams, in part due to government restrictions on cars and the high price of vehicles here. “Some people say it’s sterile and boring, but personally I think that’s just a product of the safety and convenience here,” said Chua. “I’d take this over having to worry everyday about the possibility of getting mugged.”
新加坡也很干净整洁，交通极为便利，很少堵车。这部分归功于政府对私家汽车的限制和购买汽车的高昂成本。Bino Chua说，“有人说新加坡管理过度，令人乏味。但就我个人来说，这就是安全和方便。我宁愿如此而不想每天都会担心遭到抢劫。”
The city centre has a career-focused vibe and people move at a fast pace, but it’s easy to escape the hustle when needed. “From my apartment, I could walk for about 25 minutes and find myself in dense jungle forests, and it's an extremely rewarding destination for birdwatching,” said American Daniel Burnham, Asia flight search expert at Scott’s Cheap Flights. “Singapore has beautiful national parks and a significant amount of wildlife, given its size and density.”
市中心充满着以职业为重的氛围，人们行色匆匆。 但在有需要的时候，逃离闹市喧嚣也不难。供职于斯科特廉价机票服务（Scott's Cheap Flights）的亚洲航班搜索专家美国人丹尼尔·伯纳姆（Daniel Burnham）说，“我从公寓出发步行约25分钟，就能身处茂密的热带森林，这个森林也是一个非常值得一去的观鸟地。虽然国土面积小而人口密度很大，但新加坡却拥有美丽的国家公园和丰富的野生动物。”
Since the island is relatively small, residents also recommend taking advantage of world-renowned Changi Airport and low airfares. “Whenever I started to feel restless it was easy to hop on a plane and get out of town,” Burnham said.
新加坡这个岛国虽然面积狭小，但有世界著名的樟宜机场和廉价机票，新加坡人出国非常的方便。伯纳姆说，“每当我感到焦躁不安，我都可以轻松地搭飞机离开这里。”
What else do I need to know?
我还需要知道什么？
Located just one degree north of the equator, Singapore has a year-round hot climate that takes adjusting to, say expats. “One has to get used to sweating all the time. And your hair will never look the same as it did ‘back home’,” said Ozawa Sanders. Frigid air conditioning inside buildings is also a ‘necessary evil’, Burnham added.
新加坡位于赤道以北仅一度，外来人员需要适应全年炎热的气候。小泽·桑德斯说，“人们必须习惯汗流满身。而且你的头发永远不会像你在家乡的一样。”伯纳姆补充说，室内的寒冷空调也是一种“必要的恶”。
Singapore is also notoriously the world’s most expensive place to live according a recent report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, with sky-high rents of around S$1,885 for a studio apartment, even away from the city centre, according to cost comparison site Expatistan.com, and new car prices running typically north of S$100,000.
根据经济学人智库的最新报告，新加坡是世界上最昂贵的居住地。参考成本比较网站Expatistan.com，即使是远离市中心的一房公寓租金也高达1,885新元 ，新车价格通常在10万新元以上。
Still, seasoned residents say that those numbers don’t always reflect reality. “Many visitors and expats tend to conflate life in Singapore with what you see in movies like Crazy Rich Asians or wealthy expats on relocation packages,” Burnham said. “The cost of living in Singapore isn't necessarily in the stratosphere if you live a local lifestyle. We made common-sense budgeting choices, like subletting a [public housing] HDB flat, cooking for ourselves and taking public transit. Our expenses were far less than they would have been living in the United States.” The country also has one of the lowest tax rates in the world, capping out at 22%.
尽管如此，经验丰富的居民表示，这些数字并不总能反映现实。伯纳姆说， “许多游客和外国人倾向于将新加坡的生活与你在电影中看到的东西，比如《疯狂亚洲富豪》（Crazy Rich Asians）或享受房屋津贴的有钱外派人士混为一谈。如果你选择当地的生活方式，新加坡的生活成本并不一定高耸入云。我们制定了符合常理的预算方案，例如转租属于公共住房的组屋，自己做饭和乘坐公共交通。我们的开支远低于在美国的生活费用。” 这个国家的税率也是全世界最低税率之一，限制在22％以内。
All in all, Singapore shines best when residents make the extra effort to venture outside the sometimes-homogenous urban centre, where malls and identical apartments can seem to stretch on for miles in the larger residential neighbourhoods and commercial streets.
新加坡市中心多半是大同小异，商场和相似的公寓房在较大的居民区和商业街上似乎可以延伸数英里。但只要离开市中心，走到郊外去探险，这时的新加坡总体来说相当之棒。
“There's a lot of urban diversity if you go looking for it,” Burnham said. “Hidden amid pockets of 21st-Century development, the outskirts of Singapore reveal acres of farmland, crumbling cemeteries, fishing villages and colonial outposts.”
伯纳姆说。“只要你去寻找，就会发现城市的多种风貌。新加坡的郊区有绵延数英亩的农田、有断壁残垣的墓地、渔村，还有殖民地时代的军营哨站，所有这些像是隐藏在21世纪发展的口袋里。”
