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Racial Preferences in Malaysia: Deformative Action
馬來西亞種族優待：畸形的議案
State help for ethnic Malays may seem to have worked. But its benefits are debatable and its costs calamitous.
國家幫助馬來少數族裔人群可能確實有幫助，但其優點仍有待商榷，且代價慘重。
What government would not like to reduce racial disparities and promote ethnic harmony?
沒有哪個政府不想減少種族差異，促進民族和諧。
The tricky part is knowing how.
但是關鍵問題是如何實現。
One country that claims to have found a way is Malaysia.
而馬來西亞聲稱自己已經找到了解決方法。
Since 1971 it has given preferential treatment in everything from education to investing to bumiputeras—people of indigenous descent, who are two-thirds of the population but poorer than their ethnic-Chinese and -Indian compatriots.
自1971年以來，馬來政府就給予當地有土著血統的人群從教育到投資各方面的優待，馬拉西亞土著人口占馬來總人口的三分之二，但他們比當地的華裔和印籍人口的生活境況都要差。
On the face of things, this system of affirmative action has been a success.
表面上來看，平權法案制度是成功的。
The gap in income between Malays (the biggest bumiputera group) and Chinese- and Indian-Malaysians has narrowed dramatically.
馬來人（馬來西亞最大的土著部落）和華裔、印裔馬來西亞人之間的收入差距已經顯著縮小。
Just as important, there has been no repeat of the bloody race riots of 1969, when Malay mobs burned Chinese shops in Kuala Lumpur, prompting the adoption of the policy.
此外，類似于馬來暴徒在吉隆坡燒毀中國商店的種族暴動行為，自1969年起，再也沒有出現過，這推動了政策的通過。
And the economy—typically an instant victim of heavy-handed government attempts at redistribution—has grown healthily.
經濟通常會受到政府在重分配方面實行即時高壓手段的影響，但是馬來西亞的經濟卻在穩健的增長。
Small wonder that some see Malaysia as a model.
有些小國家開始模仿馬來西亞的做法。
South African politicians cited it when adopting their plan for “Black Economic Empowerment” in the early 2000s.
南非的政客們在21世紀初期通過《黑人經濟振興法案》時，就援引了馬來西亞的《平權法案》。
More recently Indonesian activists have been talking about instituting something similar there.
最近，印度尼西亞的積極分子一直在討論推行相似的政策。
Malaysia, meanwhile, keeps renewing the policy, which was originally supposed to end in 1991.
同時，馬來西亞也不斷革新這個實際應于1991年就廢除的政策。
Just last month Najib Razak, the prime minister, launched the latest iteration: the catchily named Bumiputera Economic Transformation Roadmap (BETR) 2.0, which, among other things, will steer a greater share of government contracts to bumiputera businesses.
就在上個月馬來西亞總理Najib Razak又推出了這個法案的最新版，新版法案的名字很吸引人：《土著經濟轉型路線圖2.0版本》，除了其他方面的原因，這個法案將給馬來西亞土著生意人帶來更多的政府項目。
Yet the results of Malaysia's affirmative-action schemes are not quite what they seem.
然而，馬來西亞的《平權法案》并沒有完全得到預期的結果。
Malays in neighbouring Singapore, which abjures racial preferences, have seen their incomes grow just as fast as those of Malays in Malaysia.
馬來西亞的鄰國新加坡拒絕了種族優待法案的實施，但是經濟也照常增長，并且其速度不亞于馬來。
That is largely because the Singaporean economy has grown faster than Malaysia's, which may in turn be a product of its more efficient and less meddling bureaucracy.
出現這種局面大部分是因為新加坡的經濟增長速度比馬來西亞快，而這也許因為新加坡的高效和干涉力度較小的官僚機構。
譯文來源考研英語時事閱讀
