九月份的The Economist有篇文章，Hijaak 网友的翻译Tall buildings, narrow minds楼宇高，心胸窄

THE government of Malaysia has laid on all sorts of grand pageantry this weekend, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Malay peninsula's independence from Britain. There is much to celebrate. Living standards and access to education, health services, sanitation and electricity have soared during those five decades of sovereignty. The country's remarkable modernisation drive was symbolised, nine years ago, by the completion of the Petronas twin towers, in Kuala Lumpur, then the world's tallest buildings.本周，马来西亚政府大张旗鼓，想尽法子庆祝独立50周年，50年前马来半岛摆脱了英国的殖民统治。他们的确有很多值得庆祝的事情。马来政府50年以来，人民生活水平大大提高，教育、医疗、卫生、电力设施广泛普及。九年前，吉隆坡双子塔竣工，这在当时是世界最高的建筑，标志着马来西亚现代化水平引人注目。Yet there will be a hollow ring to the festivities. Malaysia's 50th birthday comes at a time of rising resentment by ethnic Chinese and Indians, together over one-third of the population, at the continuing, systematic discrimination they suffer in favour of the majority bumiputra, or sons of the soil, as Malays and other indigenous groups are called. There are also worries about creeping “Islamisation” among the Malay Muslim majority of what has been a largely secular country, and about the increasingly separate lives that Malay, Chinese and Indian Malaysians are leading. More so than at independence, it is lamented, the different races learn in separate schools, eat separately, work separately and socialise separately. Some are asking: is there really such a thing as a Malaysian?然而，隆重的庆典之中也有不合之音。马来西亚独立50周年，华裔和印裔的不满也与日俱增。华裔和印裔占了马来西亚人口的三分之一，却不断遭到社会制度的歧视，这种社会制度青睐占大多数人口的马来人，本土居民和马来人都称自己是“土地之子”。总的说来，马来西亚是非宗教国家，大多数人口却是穆斯林信徒，现在伊斯兰教的势力渐渐崛起，华裔和印裔马来人与本土人的生活隔阂拉大，情况堪忧。不同民族的人衣食住行、读书工作都被隔离开了，情况比独立前还糟糕，令人遗憾。人们不禁要问：马来西亚真的是完整的吗？The pro-bumiputra discrimination was laid down in the country's first constitution, in 1957, to ease Malays' fears of being marginalised by the Chinese and Indian migrants. These had come, supposedly temporarily, to work in the tin mines and plantations but were settling permanently and increasingly dominating business and the professions. The perks were extended greatly after race riots in 1969. Malays get privileged access to public-sector jobs, university places, stockmarket flotations and, above all, government contracts. The most notable result, as with South Africa's similar policy of “black economic empowerment”, has been “encronyment”—the enrichment of those well connected to the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party that has led all governments since independence. Malays as a whole, like other races, have got richer but the gap between the Malay haves and have-nots has widened. The corruption and waste these policies engender seem to have got worse in recent years.1957年，马来西亚的第一部宪法废除了从亲马来人的歧视政策，马来人不用担心被中国和印度移民排斥。这些移民曾经在锡矿和种植园做临时工，后来成了永久居民，在商界和白领职业中独占鳌头，1969年马来爆发种族冲突，之后各种族之间的矛盾更加激化。马来本土人在获得公务员职位，大学入学和购买股票上享有特权。南非也有类似的政策，叫做“黑人经济权利赋权”，最显而易见的结果就是，造成了任人唯亲的局面。发财致富的都是那些和巫统（UMNO）关系密切的人。自独立之后，巫统就一直领导各届政府。总的来说，和其他种族的人民一样，马来人变得越来越富有了，然而，马来人之间的贫富差距却拉大了。近几年，政府贪污腐败、铺张浪费气焰见长，这都是拜新政策所赐。As criticism has grown, UMNO's leaders have resorted ever more frequently to growling that nobody should question the “social contract”. This is a reference to the metaphorical deal struck between the races at independence, in which the Malays got recognition that the country was basically theirs, while the Chinese and Indians were granted citizenship. The veiled threat of violence lurking behind calls to uphold the social contract was made explicit during last year's UMNO conference, at which one delegate talked of being ready to “bathe in blood” to defend Malay privileges and the education minister, no less, brandished a traditional Malay dagger.批评之声越来越多，巫统领导人频频呵斥，不许任何人质疑“社会契约”。这隐射了独立之初种族之间达成的协议，马来人认为马来西亚是他们的土地，他们赋予了中国人和印度人公民身份。以前，政府只是暗示会用武力相逼，去年的巫统大会上，政府则明目张胆地表示会以武力保护社会契约。在会上，有代表声称，自己准备好了要“浴血”保护马来人的特权。教育部长也不示弱，当场挥舞传统的马来短剑。The hypocritical Malay dilemma虚伪的巫统The social contract may once have seemed necessary to keep the peace but now it and the official racism that it is used to justify look indefensible: it is absurd and unjust to tell the children of families that have lived in Malaysia for generations that, in effect, they are lucky not to be deported and will have to put up with second-class treatment for the rest of their lives, in the name of “racial harmony”. When the mild-mannered Abdullah Badawi took over as prime minister from the fire-breathing Mahathir Mohamad in 2003, there were hopes of change for the better. Mr Badawi preached a moderate, “civilisational” Islam and pledged to crack down on corruption.想天下太平，社会契约似乎是必不可少的。但现在，社会契约有官方种族主义撑腰，这两者却经不起推敲：告诉那些家里几代人都住在马来西亚的孩子，实际上，他们没被驱逐出境已经很幸运了，所以必须要终生忍受二等公民的待遇，为了实现所谓的“种族和谐”。这种做法多么荒诞，多么不公。2003年，性情温和的阿卜杜拉•巴达维从气焰嚣张的马哈蒂尔•穆哈默德手中接过了总理职位，人们希望情势会有所改观。巴达维鼓励中庸文明的伊斯兰教，发誓打击腐败。Four years on, corruption, facilitated by the pro-Malay policies, is unchecked. The state continues to use draconian internal-security laws, dating back to the colonial era, to silence and threaten critics. UMNO continues to portray itself to Malays as the defender of their privileges yet tries to convince everyone else that it is the guarantor of racial harmony. One commentator this week gently described this as a “paradox”. Hypocrisy would be a better word.四年过去了，以前的马来政策滋生的腐败依旧猖獗，政府依旧采用严酷的国家安全法令，这些法令在殖民地时期出台，旨在打击和威胁任何的批评言论。巫统继续把自己描画为马来人特权的捍卫者，想方设法让其他公民相信，巫统在保障种族和谐。本周，有评论家说巫统的说法是自相矛盾。这样的评论太温和了，用“虚伪”来形容巫统更恰如其分。The damage caused by this state racism is ever more evident. Malaysia's once sparkling growth rate has slipped. Racial quotas and protectionism are scaring away some foreign investors. While Malaysians celebrate having done rather better than former British colonies in Africa, they must also notice that South Korea, Taiwan and their estranged ex-spouse Singapore have done much better still. The economic consequences alone justify ending Malaysia's official racism. Even without them, it would still be just plain wrong.国家种族主义带来的恶果尤为明显。马来西亚曾经令人瞩目的经济发展日渐下滑。种族配额和保护主义吓跑了一些外国投资者。尽管比起英国在非洲的前殖民地，马来西亚还算做得不错，但他们也一定发现了，韩国、台湾，以及跟他们有着恩怨情仇的新加坡经济发展得快得多。仅仅看在经济下降的后果上，马来西亚也应该摈除官方种族主义。即使不考虑经济，官方种族主义也明摆着是个错误。