Racial Preferences in Malaysia: DeformativeAction
马来西亚种族优待：畸形的议案
State help for ethnic Malays may seem to haveworked. But its benefits are debatable and its costscalamitous.
国家帮助马来少数族裔人群可能确实有帮助，但其优点仍有待商榷，且代价惨重。
What government would not like to reduce racial disparities and promote ethnic harmony?
没有哪个政府不想减少种族差异，促进民族和谐。
The tricky part is knowing how.
但是关键问题是如何实现。
One country that claims to have found a way is Malaysia.
而马来西亚声称自己已经找到了解决方法。
Since 1971 it has given preferential treatment in everything from education to investing tobumiputeras—people of indigenous descent, who are two-thirds of the population but poorerthan their ethnic-Chinese and -Indian compatriots.
自1971年以来，马来政府就给予当地有土著血统的人群从教育到投资各方面的优待，马拉西亚土著人口占马来总人口的三分之二，但他们比当地的华裔和印籍人口的生活境况都要差。
On the face of things, this system of affirmative action has been a success.
表面上来看，平权法案制度是成功的。
The gap in income between Malays (the biggest bumiputera group) and Chinese- and Indian-Malaysians has narrowed dramatically.
马来人(马来西亚最大的土著部落)和华裔、印裔马来西亚人之间的收入差距已经显著缩小。
Just as important, there has been no repeat of the bloody race riots of 1969, when Malay mobsburned Chinese shops in Kuala Lumpur, prompting the adoption of the policy.
此外，类似于马来暴徒在吉隆坡烧毁中国商店的种族暴动行为，自1969年起，再也没有出现过，这推动了政策的通过。
And the economy—typically an instant victim of heavy-handed government attempts atredistribution—has grown healthily.
经济通常会受到政府在重分配方面实行即时高压手段的影响，但是马来西亚的经济却在稳健的增长。
Small wonder that some see Malaysia as a model.
有些小国家开始模仿马来西亚的做法。
South African politicians cited it when adopting their plan for “Black Economic Empowerment” inthe early 2000s.
南非的政客们在21世纪初期通过《黑人经济振兴法案》时，就援引了马来西亚的《平权法案》。
More recently Indonesian activists have been talking about instituting something similar there.
最近，印度尼西亚的积极分子一直在讨论推行相似的政策。
Malaysia, meanwhile, keeps renewing the policy, which was originally supposed to end in 1991.
同时，马来西亚也不断革新这个实际应于1991年就废除的政策。
Just last month Najib Razak, the prime minister, launched the latest iteration: the catchilynamed Bumiputera Economic Transformation Roadmap (BETR) 2.0, which, among other things, will steer a greater share of government contracts to bumiputera businesses.
就在上个月马来西亚总理Najib Razak又推出了这个法案的最新版，新版法案的名字很吸引人：《土著经济转型路线图2.0版本》，除了其他方面的原因，这个法案将给马来西亚土著生意人带来更多的政府项目。
Yet the results of Malaysia's affirmative-action schemes are not quite what they seem.
然而，马来西亚的《平权法案》并没有完全得到预期的结果。
Malays in neighbouring Singapore, which abjures racial preferences, have seen their incomesgrow just as fast as those of Malays in Malaysia.
马来西亚的邻国新加坡拒绝了种族优待法案的实施，但是经济也照常增长，并且其速度不亚于马来。
That is largely because the Singaporean economy has grown faster than Malaysia's, which mayin turn be a product of its more efficient and less meddling bureaucracy.
出现这种局面大部分是因为新加坡的经济增长速度比马来西亚快，而这也许因为新加坡的高效和干涉力度较小的官僚机构。
Singapore, too, has been free from race riots since1969.
而新加坡自1969年以来，也没有再出现种族暴乱。
If the benefits of cosseting bumiputeras are not asclear as they first appear, the costs, alas, are all tooobvious.
如果优待马来西亚土著得到的好处没有一开始那么明显的话，那么代价实在是太高了。
As schools, universities and the bureaucracy have become less meritocratic, Chinese andIndians have abandoned them, studying in private institutions and working in the private sectorinstead.
现在很多华裔和印籍人已经离开了不再精英化管理的学校，大学和官僚机构，转而选择在私人机构学习，在个体行业工作。
Many have left the country altogether, in a brain drain that saps economic growth.
还有的人举家离开马来西亚，这样的人才流失对经济是个不小的打击。
Steering so many benefits to Malays—developers are even obliged to give them discounts onnew houses—has created a culture of entitlement and dependency.
福利政策已多倾向于马来人，房地产商甚至有义务给买新房的马来人打折扣，这也创造了一个补贴帮扶的社会氛围。
Malays have stopped thinking of affirmative action as a temporary device to diminishinequality. As descendants of Malaysia's first settlers, they now consider it a right.
作为马来西亚第一代定居者的子孙，马来人不再认为《平权法案》是一个减少不平等的临时工具，而是他们的一项权利。
The result is that a system intended to quell ethnic tensions has entrenched them.
旨在平息民族矛盾的种族优待体系导致马来人处于了有利地位。
Many poorer Malays vote reflexively for UMNO, the Malay party that introduced affirmativeaction in the 1970s and has dominated government since then, for fear that another partymight take away their privileges.
唯恐其他党派会掠走他们的特权，很多贫困的马来人一而再地给巫统投票，巫统在20世纪七十年代执行平权法案，并自那以后一直主宰政府。
With these votes in the bag, UMNO's leaders can get away with jaw-dropping abuses, such asthe continuing scandal at 1MDB, a development agency that mislaid several billion dollars, much of which ended up in officials' pockets, according to American investigators.
因为手握特权，所以巫统的领导人不会因为滥用职权而受到处罚。据美国调查员调查，巫统的领导挪用马来西亚政府投资基金几十亿美元的公款，其中大多数的钱都进了这些官员的腰包里。
Minorities, in turn, overwhelmingly support parties that advocate less discriminationagainst them.
少数民族反过来会极度支持那些不歧视他们的政党。
The ambition to improve the lot of Malaysia's neediest citizens is a worthy one.
改善马来西亚贫困公民生活的志向是非常有价值的。
But defining them by race is a mistake.
但是把这个定义成种族问题是错误的。
It allows a disproportionate amount of the benefits of affirmative action to accrue to well-offMalays, who can afford to buy the shares set aside for them at IPOs, for example, or to bid forthe government contracts Mr Najib is reserving for them.
《平权法案》造成福利的分配不成比例，就像那些可以买得起上市公司股份的马来人都可以得到福利，或Najib先生给这些人投标政府合同的机会。
It would be much more efficient, and less poisonous to race relations, to provide benefitsbased on income.
如果以收入为标准来发放福利，那么这样做会更有效率，并且对种族关系不会有害。
Most recipients would still be Malays.
接受福利的主体人群还是马来人。
And defusing the issue should pave the way for more nuanced and constructive politics.
解决这个问题是为了在提出细致和有建设性政策前做好准备。
Perhaps that is why UMNO has resisted the idea for so long.
这也是巫统一直坚持这个想法的原因。
重点词组：
1.talking about 谈论
例句:I don't understand what you are talkingabout.
我不明白你在说什么。
2.in turn 轮流
例句:In the city squares the neon lights flashed in turn.
在城市广场上，霓虹灯依次闪烁。
3.as fast as 和...一样快
例句:I threw caution to the wind and rode as fast as I could.
我不顾一切，骑得飞快。
4.prime minister 总理
例句:The Prime Minister reviewed the situation with his Cabinet yesterday
昨天，首相和他的内阁对局势进行了审度。
5.set aside 驳回;撤销
例句:He urged them to set aside minor differencesfor the sake of peace.
他敦促他们为了和平抛开一些小的分歧。
6.in turn 轮流
例句:In the city squares the neon lights flashed in turn.
在城市广场上，霓虹灯依次闪烁。
7.ended up 结束
例句:Having spent his rich wife's fortune, the Major ended up in a debtors 'prison.
花光了他有钱老婆的财产之后，这位少校最后被关进了债务人监狱。
8.since then 从此以后
例句:Since then he has been drawing a pension.
从那时起他一直领退休金。
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