反思新加坡騷亂 外籍勞工之痛

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.

來自南亞的數百名勞工在新加坡掀起一場罕見的騷亂，再度引發了公衆對新加坡過度依賴外籍勞動所帶來的社會經濟影響及其可持續性的關注。

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.

週日發生在新加坡“小印度”區的這起事件不僅終結了新加坡40餘年無騷亂的歷史，也給這座城市國家作爲亞洲最安全國家之一的形象抹了黑。“小印度”是新加坡南亞僑民和外籍勞工週末的聚集地。分析人士和勞工維權人士說，新加坡有大量外籍勞工，不同民族之間的緊張情緒不斷加劇，這場騷亂凸現出新加坡決策者在試圖維護社會凝聚力和抑制排外情緒方面所面臨的日益嚴峻的挑戰。

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.

警方和目擊證人說，騷亂始於週日晚上9點30分左右，當時，一輛巴士撞死一名33歲的印度男子。電視畫面顯示，南亞外籍勞工在事故現場用棍棒、石塊和垃圾桶襲擊那輛巴士，隨後又攻擊了聞訊趕來的警察和醫務人員。

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.

在大約300名警察的幫助下，騷亂於當晚11點前平息，但至少有39名執法人員和緊急服務人員以及肇事巴士的司機和售票員受了傷。警方、緊急服務機構和私人擁有的幾十輛車受損，其中五輛車被燒燬。

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.

公開暴力行爲在新加坡幾乎可說是聞所未聞，民衆集會在新加坡受到嚴格控制。但新加坡國立大學李光耀公共政策學院(Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy)經濟學教授Hui Weng Tat說，從某種程度上講，像這樣的事件是一定會發生的，特別是考慮到“小印度”週末會有成千上萬的人聚在那裏。他說，一些外籍勞工對所謂的歧視和惡劣工作條件不滿，可能是導致這場騷亂的原因之一。他還說，決策者或許應該考慮提高外籍勞工的薪資和待遇。

'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)在迴應外界詢問時說，被逮捕的與騷亂事件有關的外籍勞工受僱於不同僱主，他們被關押在不同地點；沒有證據表明他們的不法行爲與工作場所的問題有關；無論如何，沒有人可以凌駕於法律之上。

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.

警方說，他們已逮捕了27人，其中24人爲印度籍，兩人爲孟加拉籍，一人是新加坡永久居民，年齡在23歲到45歲之間。這些人的名字尚未公開。不清楚這27人是否以及何時會被起訴，也不知他們是否得到了法律幫助。新加坡當局將這起事件定性爲“持危險武器參與騷亂”，一旦被定罪，將面臨最高10年監禁和鞭刑等懲罰。警方說，可能會有更多人被逮捕。

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.

肇事司機爲55歲新加坡人，姓名不詳，警方已將其逮捕，並準備以疏忽致死罪對其進行起訴，這項罪名最高可判兩年監禁和罰款。記者未能立即聯繫到該巴士司機發表評論。

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.

新加坡總理李顯龍週一在公告中稱，他已下令調查這起由不法暴徒引起的孤立事件，並表示將徹查騷亂的起因，包括官員對這起事件的應對，以及政府部門對外籍勞工聚集區的管理方式。

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，新加坡外籍勞工已達到130萬人左右，而新加坡總人口只有540萬。騷亂事件發生後，人們擔心龐大的外來勞工還可能引發更多動盪。研究人員稱，新加坡有大量南印度勞工。

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.

爲了推動經濟增長，新加坡過去10年實行了自由移民政策，使其人口增加了27%。由於擔心這種增長模式難以爲繼，過去三、四年裏新加坡政府限制了外來人口的流入，希望安撫選民的不滿情緒。許多新加坡市民將低工資、高物價和基礎設施緊張歸咎於大量移民。

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.

而外籍勞工的怨氣也在這一制度下不斷加深。近年來，一些工資特別低的建築工人已經組織抗議活動反對所謂的僱主壓榨。去年，170名華裔公交司機舉行非法罷工，結束了新加坡26年無罷工的歷史。

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.'

李顯龍試圖緩解騷亂事件引發的憂慮。他在公告中稱，大多數的外籍勞工是遵守新加坡法律的，絕不能讓這起不好的事件抹黑新加坡人對外籍勞工的看法。

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.

警方不願給這起騷亂的原因下結論。新加坡交通部長呂德耀說，酒精可能是引發騷亂的一個因素。但勞工維權人士反駁說，多數低薪外籍勞工買不起太多酒。

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

警方表示，他們將格外關注小印度、外籍勞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.

新加坡上一次騷亂髮生在1969年，當時，占人口多數的華人和占人口少數的馬來人之間爆發了一場種族暴力衝突，造成至少四人死亡，80人受傷。