No Man is An Island

没有人是与世隔绝的    Méiyǒu rén shì yǔ shì géjué de

The year was 1966 and I had just graduated with the professional degree in Property Valuation, having passed the final examinations of the RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, studying at the College of Estate Management (CEM) in London, on a Singapore Government’s Colombo Plan Scholarship. The examinations were conducted in March and when the results were out in May, I received a message from the Public Service Commission of Singapore to return to Singapore to help train the next generation of Chartered Surveyors. Together with my wife and my baby daughter, we hurried back home, to take over the role of Contracts Officer at the Housing and Development Board. Unbeknown to me then, the Government had terminal the service of an expatriate holding that post and place me in his place.

那是1966年，我刚刚毕业，获得了房地产估价专业学位，并通过了RICS（英国皇家特许测量师学会，就读于伦敦房地产管理学院（CEM），新加坡政府的科伦坡Plan Scholarship. 考试是在三月份进行的，当结果在五月份出来的时候，我收到了新加坡公共服务委员会的信息，要我回到新加坡帮助培养下一代特许测量师。和我的妻子和我的孩子一起女儿，我们赶紧回家，接任建屋发展局的合同主任。当时我还不知道，政府已经终止了一名担任该职位的外籍人士的服务，并让我接替他的位置。

During the next five years, I was awarded another scholarship to study the second professional degree of Quantity Surveying while still serving the Singapore Civil Service in the Housing Board with additional roles of starting cadet-training schemes to train both the RICS’s Chartered Valuation and Chartered Quantity Surveyors using the correspondence courses of the CEM.

There were other part time public services that I was assigned to, like advising the Singapore Tourism Board on the development of Sentosa as a tourist designation, and making positive contributions to the technical teams for the reclamation of land at Marine Parade.

Together with many other civil servants during that period, we took up the call of the nation (under the leadership of the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and the Minister of Finance Goh Keng Swee), to build up the infrastructures for a new country - (a) underground railway known as the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport); (b) industrial township of Jurong; (c) international airport of Changi; and (d) the PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) container port.

在接下来的五年里，我获得了另一项奖学金来学习工料测量的第二个专业学位，同时仍在新加坡房屋委员会的公务员队伍中任职，并担任启动学员培训计划的额外角色，以培训 RICS 的特许估价和特许数量使用 CEM 函授课程的测量员。我还被指派从事其他兼职公共服务，例如就圣淘沙作为旅游目的地的开发向新加坡旅游局提供建议，以及为马林百列填海造地的技术团队做出积极贡献。在那段时间里，我们和许多其他公务员一起，响应国家的号召（在李光耀总理和吴庆瑞财政部长的领导下），为一个新国家建设基础设施-（ a) 地下铁路称为 MRT (Mass Rapid Transport)； (b) 裕廊工业区； (c) 樟宜国际机场； (d) PSA（新加坡港务局）集装箱港口。

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The book, “No Man is an Island - a portrait of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew”, written by James Minchin, is a book about the first Prime Minister of independent Singapore, during the difficult times when Singapore was forced to break away from Malaysia in 1965. The book was published in Australia and was initially the thesis paper of Minchin when he was a student at the University of Melbourne and an Anglican priest.

这本书由 James Minchin 撰写，讲述了新加坡独立后的第一任总理李光耀在 1965 年新加坡被迫脱离马来西亚的艰难时期的故事。该书在澳大利亚出版，最初是明钦在墨尔本大学读书时的毕业论文，当时是圣公会神父。

Until recently (1986), Singapore has been synonymous with high economic growth and skilful political control. Synonymous with Singapore has been Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister since 1959, when Singapore gained self-independence from Britain.

No Man is an Island is essential reading for all who want to understand the unusual life and character of Lee Kuan Yew and for all who want to probe beneath the brilliant surface of Singapore’s achievements.

The book is the fruit of many years’ independent research. It is
written by an Australian who first went to Singapore in 1968 and soon became fascinated with her people and the role played by Lee Kuan Yew in reshaping their world.

Unlike earlier studies which were either too favourable or too hostile, No Man is an Island presents an even-handed approach. It does not claim to offer the only definitive interpretation of the evidence available, but it does pursue a consistently questioning line. Based on interviews with more than seventy politicians and activists involved in making modern Singapore, the book provides thought-provoking insights into a man who has long dominated his own society whilst managing to play a global role disproportionate to the tiny island republic’s size.

直到最近 (1986)，新加坡一直是高速经济增长和巧妙的政治控制的代名词。自 1959 年新加坡从英国获得独立以来，李光耀一直是新加坡的总理。对于所有想了解李光耀不同寻常的生活和性格的人，以及所有想探索新加坡辉煌成就背后的人来说，《没有人是一座孤岛》是必不可少的读物。
本书是多年独立研究的成果。这是作者是一名澳大利亚人，他于 1968 年首次前往新加坡，很快就对她的人民以及李光耀在重塑他们的世界中所扮演的角色着迷。
与早期的过于有利或过于敌对的研究不同，《无人是一座孤岛》呈现了一种不偏不倚的方法。它并不声称对现有证据提供唯一明确的解释，但它确实追求一贯的质疑路线。基于对参与建设现代新加坡的 70 多位政治家和活动家的采访，这本书提供了发人深省的见解，让人们了解一个长期主宰自己社会的人，同时设法发挥与这个小岛共和国的规模不成比例的全球作用。

The Singapore Pledge:

Our Pledge

We, the citizens of Singapore,
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity
and progress for our nation.

Ikrar Kita

Kami, warganegara Singapura,
sebagai rakyat yang bersatu padu,
tidak kira apa bangsa, bahasa, atau ugama,
berikrar untuk membina suatu masyarakat yang demokratik,
berdasarkan kepada keadilan dan persamaan untuk mencapai kebahagiaan,
kemakmuran dan kemajuan bagi negara Kami.

信约

我们是新加坡公民，
誓愿不分种族、言语、宗教，
团结一致，建设公正平等的民主社会，
并为实现国家之幸福、繁荣与进步，共同努力。

Leaving Home, Mother - a poem by Robert Yeo

But, oh, the demands you make on us Singaporeans!

Since you didn’t choose us, but we choose you

(most of us, at any rate and we still have that choice)

your demands shall be commands.

They shall be observed:

the schools’ daily litany

five mornings saluting

five stars and a crescent;

our young men shall bear armed

to deter unnamed enemies;

we shall accept as treasonable

strikes not in the national interest;

South East Asia’s cleanest city

shall be Asia’s cleanest city;

we shall enlarge the airport

for the Jumbos

and develop Sentosa

but only for the tourists;

our already low birthrate

shall further decline;

the world’s second busiest port

shall become the world’s busiest port;

we shall keep our hair short,

we shall continue to view Art

as an adjunct to Culture

serving politics.

And me? Knowing you

Knowing your demand acts, not gestures,

I choose a medium not so cool

to spread your message hot

from the repetition and elaboration

of your likewise leaders.

After two years, hoarse with belief

reeling from the nearest of you

Supersonic Singapore

I thought it best to opt out awhile

the better to view you from afar.

离开家，罗伯特·杨
但是，哦，你对我们新加坡人提出的要求！
不是你选择了我们，而是我们选择了你
（我们大多数人，无论如何，我们仍然有这个选择）
你的要求就是命令。
应遵守：
学校的每日连诵
五个早晨敬礼
五颗星和一个新月；
我们的年轻人将全副武装
威慑不知名的敌人；
我们将接受叛国
罢工不符合国家利益；
东南亚最干净的城市
成为亚洲最干净的城市；
我们将扩大机场
对于巨无霸
开发圣淘沙
但仅限于游客；

我们已经很低的出生率
应进一步下降；
世界第二繁忙的港口
将成为世界上最繁忙的港口；
我们要留短发，
我们将继续观看艺术
作为文化的附属物
为政治服务。
和我？认识你
了解你的需求行为，而不是手势，
我选择了一个不太酷的媒介
热传你的讯息
从重复和阐述
你同样的领导者。
两年后因信仰而嘶哑
离你最近的人
超音速新加坡
我认为最好暂时退出
最好从远处看你。

Lee Kuan Yew, “War and Self-Preparation.” in ‘The Battle for Merger’, 1961, pp. 10 - 11.

My colleagues and I are of that generation of young men who went through the Second War War and the Japanese Occupation and emerged determined that no one - neither the Japanese nor the British - had the right to push nd kick us around. We determined that we could govern ourselves and bring up our children in a country where we can be proud to be a self-respecting people.”

李光耀，“战争与自备”。在“合并之战”中，1961 年，第 10 - 11 页。
我和我的同事属于经历过第二次世界大战和日本占领的那一代年轻人，他们坚定地认为没有人——无论是日本人还是英国人——都无权推搡我们。我们下定决心，我们可以管理自己，并在一个我们可以为成为自尊的民族而自豪的国家抚养我们的孩子。”

“Preparing a Movement” from ‘The Battle for Merger’, 1961, p.14

“Let me tale my story back to 1950 when I began to learn the realities of political life in Malaya. At that time, every genuine nationalist who hated the British colonial system wanted freedom and independence. That was the time when only weak men and stooges came out abs performed on the local political stage. Fierce men were silent or had gone underground to join the Communists.”

“为合并而战”中的“准备运动”，1961 年，第 14 页
“让我把我的故事追溯到1950年，那时我开始了解马来亚政治生活的现实。那个时候，每个真正憎恨英国殖民制度的民族主义者都想要自由和独立。那是只有弱者和走狗的时代出来abs在地方政治舞台上表演。凶猛的人要么保持沉默，要么转入地下加入共产党。”

May 1954 by Edwin Thumboo, Singaporean poet https://www.lyrikline.org/en/poems/may-1954-13034

We do but merely ask, no more, no less, 

This much: that you white man, boasting 

Of many parts, Some talk of Alexander,  
Some of Hercules. Some broken not long ago 

By little yellow soldiers out of the Rising Sun… 

We ask you see the bitter, curving tide of history, 

See well enough, relinquish, restore this place, 

This sun to us… and the waiting generations.  

       Depart white man.  

Your minions riot among our young in Penang Road 

Their officers, un-Britannic, full of service, look angry 

And short of breath. You whored on milk and honey, 

Tried our spirit, spent our muscle, extracted from our  

Earth; gave yourselves superior ways at our expense, 

       In our midst.  

       Depart: 

You knew when to come; surely know when to go. 

Do not ignore, dismiss, pretending we are foolish; 

Harbour contempt in eloquence. We know your 

Language.  

My father felt his master’s voice, obeyed, 

But hid his grievous, wounded self.  

I have learnt: 

There is an Asian tide 

That sings such power 

Into my dreaming side: 

My father’s anger turns my cause.  

Depart Tom, Dick and Harry.  
Gently, with ceremony; 

We may still be friends, 

Even love you… from a distance.

1954 年 5 月
我们只是问，不多也不少，
这么多：你这个白人，自夸
在许多部分中，有些人谈论亚历山大，有些人谈论赫拉克勒斯。有的不久前坏了
由旭日中的小黄兵……
我们要求你看到历史的苦涩，弯曲的潮流，
看得够清楚，放弃，恢复这个地方，
这个太阳给我们……以及等待的子孙后代。
离开白人。
你的奴才在我们槟城路的年轻人中间闹事
他们的军官，非英国人，服务周到，看起来很生气
而且气短。你以牛奶和蜂蜜为妓女，
考验我们的精神，消耗我们的肌肉，从我们的身体中提取
地球;以牺牲我们为代价，为自己提供优越的道路，
在我们中间。
离开：
你知道什么时候来；肯定知道什么时候去。
不要忽视、不屑一顾、假装我们是傻子；
以口才掩饰蔑视。我们知道你的
语。
我父亲感觉到他主人的声音，服从了，
但隐藏了他悲伤、受伤的自我。
我已经学会了：
有亚洲潮
唱出这样的力量
进入我梦想的一面：
我父亲的愤怒改变了我的事业。
离开汤姆、迪克和哈利。轻轻地，有仪式感；
我们可能还是朋友，
甚至爱你......从远处。

4th September 1962: “Into Malaysia”

Lee Kuan Yew in a broadcast to the nation - “The calculated risk is now over. The people have declared their will … … Before 1st September our firmness could have been misrepresented as Fascist repression of a so-called colonial liberation movement. After 1st September I am sure you will want my colleagues and me to do what is right for the security and well-being of all Singapore and Malaysia … “

1962 年 9 月 4 日：“走进马来西亚”
李光耀在向全国发表的广播中 - “计算出来的风险现在已经结束。人民已经宣布了他们的意愿......在 9 月 1 日之前，我们的坚定可能被误传为法西斯镇压所谓的殖民解放运动. 9 月 1 日之后，我相信你会希望我和我的同事们为所有新加坡和马来西亚的安全和福祉做正确的事......“

24 February 1966: “Less Than Paradise”

“Everything sooner or later in 1966 will be ordered and organised.”

1966 年 2 月 24 日：“不到天堂”
“一切迟早会在 1966 年得到安排和组织。”

Lee Kuan Yew, Speech in Parliament 23 February 1977. “The Man and The Island”

Lee Kuan Yew to PAP Members of Parliament after the sudden loss in the Anson by-election. “I have come to the conclusion that each generation must learn its own lessons … What we, as elders, can do is to save our young Singaporeans from unnecessary, self-inflicted wounds. The duty of leadership is to preserve the climate of confidence and discipline, without which Singapore will wither away and die.”

李光耀，国会演讲，1977 年 2 月 23 日。“人与岛”
李光耀在安顺补选中突然失利后向人民行动党国会议员致辞。 “我得出的结论是，每一代人都必须吸取自己的教训……作为长者，我们能做的就是拯救我们年轻的新加坡人免受不必要的、自己造成的伤害。领导层的责任是保持信心和纪律，没有这些，新加坡就会枯萎和死亡。”

17 November 1981: “More Than Survival”

“Any time, every time, you can damn the Prime Minister and so long as it is not a lie and a criminal lie, nothing happens to you. You can say a lot of things. You can write books about him, damning him. So long as it is not a libel, go ahead.”

1981 年 11 月 17 日：“不仅仅是生存”
“任何时候，每一次，你都可以诅咒首相，只要不是谎言和犯罪谎言，你就什么都不会发生。你可以说很多话。你可以写关于他的书，诅咒他。只要不是诽谤，就去吧。”

My Country and My People by Lee Tzu Pheng

My country and my people
are neither here nor there, nor
in the comfort of my preferences,
if I could even choose.
At any rate, to fancy is to cheat;
and worse than being alien, or
subversive without cause,
is being a patriot
of the will.
I came in the boom of babies, not guns,
a ‘daughter of a better age’;
I held a pencil in a school
while the ‘age’ was quelling riots
in the street, or cutting down
those foreign ‘devils’,
(whose books I was being taught to read).
Thus privileged I entered early
the Lion City’s jaws.
But they sent me back as fast
to my shy, forbearing family.
So I stayed in my parents’ house,
and had only household cares.
The city remained a distant way,
but I had no land to till;
only a duck that would not lay,
and a runt of a papaya tree,
(which also turned out to be male).
Then I learnt to drive instead
and praise the highways till
I saw them chop the great trees down,
and plant the little ones;
impound the hungry buffalo
(the big ones and the little ones)
because the cars could not be curbed.
Nor could the population.
They built milli-mini-flats
for a multi-mini-society.
The chiselled profile in the sky
took on a lofty attitude,
but modestly, at any rate
it made the tourist feel ‘at home’.
My country and my people
I never understood.
I grew up in China’s mighty shadow,
with my gentle, brown-skinned neighbours;
but I keep diaries in English.
I sought to grow
in humanity’s rich soil,
and started digging on the banks, then saw
life carrying my friends downstream.
Yet, careful tending of the human heart
may make a hundred flowers bloom;
and perhaps, fence-sitting neighbour,
I claim citizenship in your recognition
of our kind,
my people, and my country,
are you, and you my home.

我的国家和我的人民
既不在这里也不在那里，也不
根据我的喜好，
如果我能选择的话。
无论如何，幻想就是欺骗；
比外星人更糟糕，或者
无故颠覆，
是爱国者
的意志。
我是在婴儿潮中来的，而不是枪支，
一个“更上一层楼的女儿”；
我在学校拿着铅笔
而“时代”正在平息骚乱
在街上，或砍伐
那些外国“鬼子”，
（我被教导阅读的书籍）。
如此荣幸我早早进入
狮城的下巴。
但他们尽快把我送回去
致我害羞、隐忍的家人。
所以我住在我父母的房子里，
并且只有家务。
城市依然遥远，
但我无地可耕；
只有一只不会下蛋的鸭子，
和一棵矮小的木瓜树，
（结果也是男性）。
然后我学会了开车
赞美公路直到
我看见他们砍倒大树，
栽种小孩子；
抓住饥饿的水牛
（大的和小的）
因为汽车无法被遏制。
人口也不能。
他们建造了微型公寓
对于一个多迷你社会。
天空中轮廓分明的轮廓
摆出崇高的姿态，
但谦虚地，无论如何
它让游客感到“宾至如归”。
我的国家和我的人民
我一直不明白。
我生长在中国强大的影子里，
和我温柔的棕色皮肤的邻居；
但我用英语记日记。
我寻求成长
在人类肥沃的土地上，
开始在河岸上挖掘，然后看到
生活载着我的朋友顺流而下。
然而，细心呵护人心
可开百花；
也许，坐在栅栏旁的邻居，
我在你的认可下申请公民身份
我们的同类，
我的人民，我的国家，
是你吗，你是我的家。