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《新加坡文献馆》 13/11/09 作者/来源：新加坡陈华福 原作者文稿 1831年，法国著名政治思想家托克维尔（Alexis de Tocqueville，）在“论美国的民主”一书中预言：:“民主即将在全世界范围内不可避免的和普遍的到来。” 2009年10月30 日中国《人民政协报》刊登了俞可平“人民政协与人民民主”一文，开章明言：“中共十七大报告指出，人民民主 (People's democracy) 是社会主义的生命，人民民主就是国家的最终权力源于人民，接受人民的监督和制约。说得更简单一点，人民民主，就是人民当家作主，就是人民至上。” 民主与亚洲儒家社会 长期以来，我们一直受威权政治控制的新闻媒体经年不懈的舆论宣传和影响，误解了民主是美国的政治专利品牌，因此不顾一切否定民主。只要社会上有人提出需要民主，就认为是以西方为首的美国“要把他们的制度毫无例外地强加于那些根本行不通的社会”。 人民没有理由对民主产生恐惧。韩国金大中在“文化决定命运吗？”就曾经与李光耀针锋相对，痛斥他那种反民主的亚洲价值观神话。 民主不分东西方，不仅是“从西方的政治文明变为世界的政治潮流，从少数国家的政治现象成为全人类共同的普遍价值。”（俞可平：人民政协与人民民主）甚至从不足不完美出发通过实践逐渐走向完善，是真正伟大的政治家寻求能造福人类的一种政治制度和理想。 五四运动要的“德先生”并没有被抗拒于中国门外，从近年邓玉娇案件获得突破，江西南昌南康的污染到上海“钓鱼制法案”调查的水落石出等等，足见中国正在排斥万难走上民主和人权道路的努力。当年中国革命先驱通过枪杆子革命走上无产阶级专政，是有其一定的历史原因。 那时清朝覆灭后随之而来的立即是抗日战争，西方帝国入侵中国未能得逞，也没有机会将其国内民主选举制度引入中国。国共两党主要都是以战争对抗方式争取人民的支持统一国家，现台湾因地小和蒋家皇朝结束迅速走入民主政体，中国大陆因疆域辽阔民族多而复杂，只能缓慢的进行民主改革。 除了中国大陆之外，韩国，日本和台湾等这些比新加坡更具有儒家历史渊源和文化背景的国家，经多年来行之有效的民主改造成功，表明经济繁荣和政治自由是可以在民主社会陷入混乱的情况下并存，败选政党经常在动荡不安的时局中面对选民压力不得不和平交出政权，更使一度喧嚣哄闹的“民主不能相容于亚洲儒家社会”的“亚洲价值观”失去说服力。 最叫人担心的是国家体制内平时缺少竞争，独裁者牢牢控制权力，短时间内保持经济蓬可以勃发展，他个人一旦告终，由他掌权架构的组织便会崩溃离析，像骨牌般接连倒塌。人民没有合法途径宣泄不满和表达意见时，流血事件便层出不穷。 人民从缺少民主和没有民主艰辛走上坎坷曲折的民主道路，是国家和社会的一种进步；倘若通过民主选举制度取得政权，却质疑一人一票的制度，甚至试图推翻和否定它，无疑那是一种民主的大倒退。 甚至有一种不堪一击的错误舆论：“不能温饱谈什么民主和人权？”无论如何，我们人类今天岂不是比以往还过着更加先进和文明的舒适生活吗？难道奴隶仅仅要的只是面包和牛油，翻身自主取得个人尊严是临空而降的吗？ 民主： 四大形式 七大支柱 俞可平列举人民民主有四种形式：“即民主选举、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督”。 在最近泰国举行的第三次阿马蒂亚森( Third Amartya Sen Lecuture )讲座会上, 前总理阿南班亚拉春Anand Panyarachun )以“可持续民主”为课题，列举建设民主的七个主要支柱：“民主选举，政治宽容，民主法制，言论自由，问责制和透明度的规则，权力下放和公民社会。”(见Temasekreview : The important of democracy ) 俞可平对民主的概括和阿南班亚拉春对民主的解析并不矛盾，互可补充，民主的定义下包含不可忽视的人权。民主不仅仅是西方哲学家著作中经常浮现在我们脑海中的概念，亚洲政治家金大中，阿马蒂亚森和中国学者俞可平为捍卫民主，探索民主和丰富西方民主学说，提供我们正确的认识民主政治。 “现代西方民主政治决不是人们所想象的那种多数表决的民主。”它维持“尊重少数人意愿原则”的基础。（谢文郁，当代西方民主体制的问题）西方大多数国家都不再实施强制性的投票制度，人民有投票权也有因为不愿作错误的无知决定而放弃投票的权利。虽然澳洲仍然存在着强制性投票，但也设置实行议员的选举比例代表制弥补了一党独大的淘汰制，不仅使全国人民和政府能在国会中听到不同的声音，小党和少数党派在国会中也起着对大党的制衡作用，充分发挥民主的精神。即使中国以“人民政协”为主要载体的议论殿堂也积极搞“一党领导、多党合作”的政党制度。 我们取消无数原有的单选区，将三个，四个甚至五个单选区捆绑在一起组成集选区，无疑是绑架民意，与有实质民主的选举背道而驰。尤其考虑到历来的选举都是在极短的时间内闪电举行，对缺乏宣传渠道和不能经常大规模举行群众大会的非执政党，更难说是一场自由和公正的国家选举了。 倘若权力不下放，又没有强势的独立公民社会，民主监督无疑流于纸上谈兵。人民是国家的监督者，不是适得其反。政府也只是人民选出来治理国家的公仆，任何人或任何政党都不是“天降大任于斯”永远统治着这个国家，执政党不能永远只为巩固和扩张自己的政治势力而长期精心策划。 政治宽容 民主问责 法律不外乎人情。但违反民主的国家领导人却常滥用法律对付政治异己，缺少七大支柱中的“政治宽容”。早期将政治犯驱逐出境，或者长期投入牢狱监禁或者流放孤岛劳动的最后结果，却使南非的曼德拉和台湾美丽岛的政治囚犯回归社会后成了“人民英雄”,给执政党带来更大的政治压力。 过去通过操控的国家新闻媒体将政治异己描述成滋事分子，或行为怪诞的疯子，降低他们在民间的可信度；而今同时采取司法途径提控他们,以便削弱他们的经济实力，彻底摧毁他们在社会上的地位。然而互联网的出现，开始平衡了传统主流媒体所制造的不公平破坏。马来西亚前总理巴达维承认反对派能在2008年全国大选期间取得惊人的战绩，网络媒体起了关键的作用。同样的，网络媒体也成了无数中国网民伸冤的渠道。 当我们国家有了民主七大支柱中的问责制和透明度，消费税要从5%提升到7%，政府也许需要考虑和人民进行协商；两年来组屋价格的飚涨，导致人民必须承担越来越高的房屋贷款，建屋局就会有必要公布土地单位的价格和建筑成本造价，用来说明组屋单位售价的合理性；新加坡有否必要兴建两座娱乐性赌场，恐怕也需要像台湾澎湖岛一样举行公投来了解民意了。 结语 我们国家和人民或许没有意识到民主政治在日常生活的重要，全民的积极参与还不足够，民主的价值和意义也就无法显现。 许多政治先驱为追求民主不惜付出重大的牺牲，为了国家的进步，我们不能继续忽视人民对民主政治的冷漠和恐惧造成的伤害。 中国继印度大国之后认可民主政治，希望以最小的成本和最佳途径造福自己的人民；我们岂能坐视不迎头直追？无论如何，民主政治最终将应验法国托克维所言：全面走进我们人类的生活。  Read More →

By Elaine Kurtenbach from Associated Press Asian economies must handle their monetary and currency policies carefully to avoid unleashing a wave of potentially destabilizing inflation, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Friday. The U.S. and European economies, which are barely starting to recover from the global meltdown, are less at risk, but in Asia the massive liquidity flowing into regional markets could push asset prices up dangerously high, Zoellick told a business forum on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. "In this region some care must be taken because as we get recoveries ... we could see inflation or some flow into commodities markets or certain asset price markets," Zoellick said. Stimulus spending and loosened credit and monetary policies have helped spur a recovery in the region, especially in India and in China, which clocked growth at 8.9 percent in the third quarter. Zoellick noted that Asian central banks, which normally take their cues from the U.S. Federal Reserve, are doubly reluctant to raise interest rates to fight inflation because that will likely push the values of their currencies higher — weakening the potential for growth in their exports by making them less competitive. Interest rate hikes in the U.S. are not expected in the immediate future out of fears they could threaten the incipient recovery at a time when jobless rates remain at their highest in more than 26 years. "If the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates low and they keep interest rates low you're going to see this danger I think increase in potential," Zoellick said. Such concerns have sharpened, especially in China, in recent months given the 74 percent rise in the Shanghai Composite Index share benchmark since the beginning of the year. Real estate prices and commodity prices have also rallied in recent months. "We are at the stage of the recovery where confidence is important," Zoellick said. "If you have asset bubbles that are not properly dealt with, then that could in turn undermine confidence in 2010, which is the year I'm more concerned about," he said. Currency issues remain another daunting problem for Asian economic planners, given the weakness of the U.S. dollar and controls on the Chinese yuan that keep its value linked to the American currency, Zoellick said. Finance ministers gathered in Singapore for the regional APEC summit endorsed monetary policies based on flexible exchange rates, but downplayed criticism of Chinese policies that some say keep the yuan artificially low, giving the country's exporters an advantage in overseas markets. The yuan is in a more competitive position than other currencies and that makes it more difficult for other countries to adjust their monetary policy, Zoellick said. Beijing has pledged to gradually allow the yuan's value to float more freely, but it also has stressed its reluctance to make rapid moves that might pressure its exporters or developing financial system. "If some countries are trying to make sure their currencies keep down and stop their exchange rate from appreciating, that will put pressure on all the others," Zoellick said. - Associated Press  Read More →

From our Correspondent In a desperate move to reach out to as many Singaporeans as possible just before the next general election, the PAP propaganda book about its early years will soon be available in a lighter format: a comic! A team from The New Paper has been arrowed to convert the 692-page book chronicling the PAP's rise, fall, split and resurgence into a 32-page graphic novel. It is called The Illustrated Men In White: Selected Tales Of Power, Struggle And Betrayal." Written by a team of SPH journalists who spent nearly a decade on it, the book "Men in White" was launched officially amid much fanfare on 8 September at the Art House by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. A month before its release, the Straits Times gave it extensive publicity on every Saturday to boost its sale. The books are given prominent display and sold at all major bookshops in Singapore including Borders and Kinokuniya. Barely two months after its launch, an atrocious factual error was discovered in page 441 of the book which mentioned briefly that former ISD director Mr Yoong Siew Wah was asked to leave CPIB after he removed 4 detectives involved in a case of his close friend Francis Seow, then the Solicitor-General of Singapore. It turned out that Mr Yoong was never asked to leave CPIB. He was promoted to become the director of ISD after his stint at CPIB ends. Mr Yoong had written to the CEO of SPH to point out the error. SPH initially only offered to add a note in subsequent editions of the book to clarify that Mr Yoong was not sacked. Following our publication of Mr Yoong's case which was read by more than 10,000 readers, SPH had no choice but to retract the defamatory statement completely and issued an open apology to Mr Yoong on the Straits Times Forum including his original letter in full. How such a glaring factual error was actually missed by a team of supposedly professionals is anybody's guess and it casts doubts on the accuracy and consistency of the rest of the book. As few Singaporeans will actually bother to read through the 698 pages of the book, SPH now decides to condense its content to a 32-page "novel". Though the format has changed radically, the gist of it is still the same: Singapore owes what it is today to the PAP and young Singaporeans should be grateful to it. With the elections just around the corner, it will serve as a timely reminder to Singaporeans to cast their votes "wisely".  Read More →