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作者：方志恒 香港城巿大学社会科学部讲师 日本大选民主党取得压倒胜利，彻底击败有「万年执政党」之称的自民党。民主党在480席的众议院中取得绝大多数的308席，党魁鸠山由纪夫 (Yukio Hatoyama) 将成为下任首相，强势实现「政权更替」的目标。 民主制度的有效运作，建基于「政党竞争」。因为只有透过不同政党之间的竞争，民主制度才能够发挥回应民意、赏善罚恶、自我修正的重要作用：人民利用手上的选票奖励或惩罚执政党，从而确保政府的长远施政，符合民众的意愿及利益。 但长期以来，日本「有民主、无竞争」的政治体制，却成为现代民主国家中的一个异数。二次大战后的日本政治，被称为「五五年体制」：1955年，两大保守政... 

By Eugene Yeo and Jeremy Koh Besides political considerations, it is in the economic interest of the government to keep HDB prices on the high side. Who will be so silly to kill the goose which lays golden eggs? Increased profits from sale of new flats Since the prices of new HDB flats are pegged to that of the resale flats... 

By Imran Ahmed, Business Correspondent The labour chief Lim Swee Say recently suggested that Singapore must make structural changes to bring about an economic recovery. Few details were made public other than the need to improve productivity. We can only speculate about the structural changes Mr. Lim referred to in his speech....