他她話題:新加坡的國慶造人計劃

When this small Asian city-state celebrates its independence today, Singaporeans are encouraged to show their patriotic fervor by displaying their country's flag proudly, sharing snapshots of their favorite local foods and dancing along to a fresh new national theme song.

2012年8月9日，新加坡這個亞洲的小型城市國家慶祝了自己的獨立日。歡欣鼓舞的新加坡人盡情展現他們的愛國熱情，自豪地揮舞國旗，分享自己最愛的當地美食的照片，伴着全新的國慶日主題曲載歌載舞。

But there is another, distinctly unofficial, national song in Singapore these days. It is asking locals to try something else on their country's big day: Make love for Singapore.

不過，現在新加坡還有一首無疑非官方的國慶日主題曲，鼓勵當地人以一種新的方式來慶祝節日：爲新加坡造人。

The soulful rap, which is part of a new ad campaign to promote Mentos mints, is called 'National Night,' and it exhorts Singaporeans to 'do their civic duty' to help solve the city-state's low birthrate by making a baby on Aug. 9.

這首熱情的說唱音樂是曼妥思(Mentos)薄荷糖全新廣告宣傳的一部分，名叫“國慶之夜”(National Night)。歌曲倡議新加坡人“履行公民義務”，在8月9日的國慶日積極實施造人計劃，幫國家解決出生率過低的問題。

'It's National Night, let's make Singapore's birthrate spike,' a female vocalist sings over jittery synthesizers and drumbeats, as her male counterpart shouts phrases like 'that's right' and 'the birthrate won't spike itself!'

在令人緊張的電子合成音樂和鼓點聲中，一位女歌手唱道：“這是國慶之夜，讓新加坡的出生率高飛。”一名男歌手則應和着“沒錯！”和“出生率不會自己高飛！”這樣的話。

'Singapore's population, it needs some increasin', so forget waving flags, August 9th we be freaking,' the rap continues.

“新加坡需要人氣，需要助力，別光揮舞國旗，8月9號一起用力。”歌曲繼續唱道。

The song has gone viral, taking on a life of its own on social networks across the famously staid city-state. It is also raising the eyebrows of older residents who fret that it is mocking a serious issue.

這首歌在社交網絡上如病毒般傳播開來，迅速遍及新加坡這個以沉穩著稱的城市國家。一些年長的居民爲之側目，覺得這是對一個嚴肅問題的不當調笑。

Singapore's leaders have worried for years about the country's birthrate, which is among the lowest in the world at 7.72 births per 1,000 people, according to 2011 estimates from the CIA World Factbook. That means the country's population would keep falling every year if authorities didn't let in immigrants - a policy that doesn't go down well with many locals, who say they resent new arrivals who take jobs and strain local resources.

多年來，新加坡的領導者一直在擔心這個國家的出生率。根據《美國中央情報局世界概況》(CIA World Factbook)2011年的估計，新加坡出生率爲千分之7.72，處於全世界最低水平。這意味着如果政府不引入移民，這個國家的人口每年都會減少；而移民政策並不爲許多本地人所認可，他們認爲新移民會搶走工作崗位，給當地的資源供應帶來壓力。

The government has tried just about everything to get the birthrate back up. It has offered 'baby bonus' tax breaks and government-paid maternity leaves to new mothers. It has also set up a special government unit, the Social Development Unit (SDU), now renamed the Social Development Network, to help singles meet and mingle. Thanks to the unit, locals can sow the seeds of romance at government-subsidized speed dating events and salsa dance classes.

政府已採取幾乎一切手段來提升出生率，給予“生育獎金”(baby bonus)稅收優惠，向新媽媽提供政府買單的產假，還設立一個特殊的政府部門“社交發展部”(Social Development Unit，簡稱SDU)，現在更名爲社交發展網(Social Development Network)，幫助單身男女約會交往。在該部門的推動下，本地人可以在政府補貼費用的速配活動和薩爾薩(salsa)舞蹈班上擦出愛情的火花。

Over the past year, the government has designed a series of instructional comics, including one exploring different 'love fallacies' that singles often have. In one of the strips, a young woman tells her friend she is waiting for the 'right one' to come along, only to find a 100-year-old man, lonely and wrinkled, as the only one who agrees with her. The comic comes with this advice: '[A relationship] is a matter of going out of your comfort zone to meet new people. . not being afraid to love and commit.'

過去一年，政府設計了一系列的教育漫畫，其中一個探討的是單身青年存在的各種“愛情誤區”。在一幅漫畫中，一名年輕女子對朋友說，她在等待那個“合適的人”，但最後只找到一位百歲老人，樣子可愛但滿臉皺紋，因爲這是唯一一個符合她條件的人。漫畫上寫着一條忠告：“牽手成功在於走出自己的舒適區，去認識新的朋友，不要害怕愛與承諾。”

National Day, which includes giant parades presided over by Singapore's top leaders and lots of military displays, has become a prime forum for messages about making babies. At the 2008 National Day, for instance, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spent more than 5,000 words discussing Singapore's falling birthrate. The speech included advice on how to change diapers.

新加坡國慶日的慶祝活動包括政府領袖出席的盛大巡遊和許多閱兵表演，同時也成爲一個宣傳“多生孩子”的主論壇。舉例而言，在2008年的國慶日，新加坡總理李顯龍(Lee Hsien Loong)用超過5000字的篇幅談論新加坡不斷下跌的出生率，演講中甚至還提及瞭如何給嬰兒換尿布。

'In the days before Pampers, you actually got to fold the cloth, you got to put it on, you got to put the safety pin in and I haven't pricked any baby yet,' Mr. Lee told a rapt nation. 'If I can do it, it means everybody can do it.'

“在廣泛使用幫寶適(Pampers)之前的時代，你得用布料做尿布，給嬰兒穿上，用安全別針別好，我給孩子換尿布時，從來沒扎疼過他們。”李顯龍對專注聆聽的全國人民說道，“如果我能做到，那每個人都能做到。”

All that talk of making babies does seem to be having some impact. In 2003, according to surveys by condom maker Durex, Singapore was among the bottom three nations in the world when it came to frequency of having sex. Five years later, more Singaporeans were having sex at least once a week than Australians, Americans, British and Canadians, according to a similar survey by Durex.

所有這些“多生孩子”的倡議似乎產生了一些效果。根據避孕套生產商杜蕾斯公司(Durex)做過的調查，2003年時，新加坡是全世界性生活頻率最低的三個國家之一。五年後，根據杜蕾斯的類似調查，每週至少有一次性生活的新加坡人在比例上超過了澳大利亞人、美國人、英國人和加拿大人。

But the birthrate has continued to decline steadily, although with a slight improvement in the number of babies born last year, according to government statistics.

然而，據新加坡政府的統計數據，這個國家的出生率仍在穩步下降，只有去年的新出生嬰兒數量稍有回升。

Enter the Mentos campaign, which was composed independently of the government as a parody of officially sanctioned National Day songs that play in the months leading up to Aug. 9 each year, and are sung during National Day parades.

曼妥思的廣告應運而生，這首非官方的歌曲有意模仿了那些政府指定的國慶日主題曲，後者在每年8月9日之前的數月就開始播放，並在國慶巡遊上演唱。

There is a new official song each year. This year, it is called 'Love at First Light,' and comes with a music video highlighting Singapore's newest attractions, like a new billion-dollar public park called Gardens by the Bay. It also celebrates Singapore's 'lively ways' and 'warm sunny days.'

新加坡每年都有一首新的官方國慶日主題曲。今年的歌曲名爲“愛在晨曦中”(Love at First Light)，並配有音樂電視片展現新加坡最新熱點，如在濱海灣(Bay)建設的耗資上十億美元的公衆公園Gardens等。歌曲還着意勾勒新加坡的“生機蓬勃”和“陽光明媚”。

The Mentos rap has other ideas.

然而，曼妥思的說唱音樂另有主意。

'Let's not watch fireworks, let's make 'em instead,' the rap's male vocalist croons. 'It's National Night and I want a baby, boo, I know you want it, so does the SDU.'

一位男歌手這樣唱道：“大家不必看煙花，我們自己做煙花，國慶之夜值千金，你的心思我明白，我們來個小寶寶，SDU也喜歡。”

The song, devised by ad agency BBH Asia-Pacific and spread via social media, is part of Mentos's plan to launch a special 'I Heart SG' pack of their signature mints for this year's National Day. The agency was asked to come up with a campaign to 'prove how much Mentos really 'hearts' ' Singapore, according to the project's creative director, Adrian Chan.

這首歌由百比赫亞太廣告公司(BBH Asia-Pacific)策劃，並通過社交媒體傳播開來，其目的是宣傳曼妥思爲今年國慶日推出的一款主題薄荷糖“我愛新加坡”(I Heart SG)。該項目的創意總監阿德里安•陳(Adrian Chan)說，曼妥思要求百比赫公司想出一個廣告方案來，“證明曼妥思真的很愛新加坡。”

'Mentos has always stood for 'fresh thinking,' so we decided to apply some to an issue that is very close to home: our declining national birthrate,' said Mr. Chan.

阿德里安說：“曼妥思的廣告一直以‘全新思考’而著稱，因此我們決定把曼妥思與新加坡本土的一件大事聯繫起來：即不斷下降的出生率。”

In one part of the song, one of the singers advises, 'come on now, let's get that baby bonus.' And in case any locals might be offended, a singer says listeners should just get over it and, 'well, get [their] National Night on.'

在歌曲中，一位歌手唱道：“現在行動起來，去拿生育獎金。” 有一位歌手說，即使一些新加坡人覺得歌詞不動聽，他們也應該把不快拋在腦後，“在國慶之夜行動起來。”

Some Singaporeans were tut-tutting as the song went viral.

當這首歌廣爲傳播時，有些新加坡人卻對此不以爲然。

'The clip should not be shown during the National Day Parade season. . do not want to trivialize the baby issue,' said Lee Chun Wah, a professor at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore specializing in brand communication.

“這首歌不應該出現在迎接國慶的日子裏……出生率這種大問題不能拿來隨便調笑。”新加坡南洋理工大學(Nanyang Technological University)講授品牌溝通技巧的教授Lee Chun Wah說道。

'The conservative folks - the traditional 'heartlanders' - may be offended,' he said, adding that he personally finds the song 'hilarious.'

“新加坡的保守人士──即傳統的‘本土核心人羣’(heartlander)──可能會感覺不快。”他說，並表示自己覺得這首歌“滑稽可笑”。

Mr. Chan said he hopes the government will like it, given the importance and urgency of the issue of fertility in the city-state. Officials contacted about the song and its video said only that Singapore's government wasn't involved.

阿德里安說，他希望政府喜歡這首歌，因爲它唱出了生育問題對於這個城市國家的重要性和緊迫性。接觸過這首歌曲及其音樂電視的官員只是表示，新加坡政府沒有參與這首歌的製作和宣傳。

The video does come with an important disclaimer. Only 'financially secure adults in stable, committed, long-term relationships should participate,' it advises.

音樂電視中倒是有一條重要的免責聲明：建議只有那些“經濟條件良好且雙方關係長期穩定的成年人才應參與國慶造人計劃。”