新加坡：當(dāng)愛已成“國”事

愛情本是男女之間很私密的事，然而在生活節(jié)奏快、人口出生率低的新加坡，公民談情說愛關(guān)乎國家發(fā)展前景。數(shù)據(jù)顯示，新加坡去年適齡婦女的生育率跌至記錄最低點(diǎn)，為1.24個(gè)孩子，排名世界倒數(shù)。要維持新加坡現(xiàn)有人口數(shù)量，適齡婦女的生育率需達(dá)2.5個(gè)孩子，但新加坡的生育率已連續(xù)28年低于這一水平。于是，上到政府總理，下到校園講師，新加坡發(fā)起了一場(chǎng)“愛的運(yùn)動(dòng)”，鼓勵(lì)單身男女墜入愛河、結(jié)婚生子，以保證新加坡人口維持在正常水平。

It was like a college 1)mixer， a classroom full of young men and women seeking a recipe for

romance. They had assembled for the first class of “Love Relations for Life: A Journey of Romance， Love and Sexuality.” There was giggling and 2)banter among the students， but that was all part of the course as their teacher， Suki Tong， led them into the basics of dating， falling in love and staying together.

The course， in its second year at two polytechnic institutes， is the latest of many， mostly 3)futile， campaigns by Singapore’s government to get its citizens to 4)mate and multiply. Its popularity last year has led to talk of its expansion through the higher education system.

“We want to tell students， ‘Don’t wait until you have built up your career，’ ” said Yu-Foo Yee Shoon， the Minister of State for Community Development， Youth and Sports， at a news conference in March. “Sometimes， it is too late， especially for girls.”

The courses are an extension of government matchmaking programs that try to 5)address the twin challenges embodied in a falling birthrate: too few people are having babies， and too few of those who are belong to what Singapore considers the genetically desirable educated elite.

Last year Singapore’s fertility rate fell to a record low of 1.24 children per woman of childbearing age， one of the lowest in the world. It was the 28th year in a row Singapore had stayed below the rate of 2.5 children needed to maintain the population.

But even a replacement-level rate would not be enough for today’s planners. The government recently announced that it was aiming to increase the population by more than 40 percent over the next half-century， to 6.5 million from the current 4.5 million.

“Teaching our youth in school how to fall in love” is a good solution， wrote Andy Ho， a

senior writer at 6)The Straits Times， a government-friendly newspaper that does its best to help out in Singapore’s many campaigns. In 1991， for

example， when the government began offering cash bonuses to couples with more than two children， the newspaper printed tips for having sex in the back seat of a car， including directions to some of the “darkest， most secluded and most romantic spots” for parking. It suggested covering the windows with newspapers for privacy.

In 1984， the country’s master planner， Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew， declared that too few of the country’s most 7)eligible women， those with college degrees， were marrying and having children. He set up the Social Development Unit to address the problem， and since then the government has been the country’s principal matchmaker.

In addition to its tea dances and moonlight cruises， the agency acts as a lonely hearts adviser， with an online counselor named Dr. Love and a menu of boy-meets-girl suggestions on its Web site，

www.lovebyte.org.sg. “Guys， girls notice everything!” the Web site offers in one of its dating tips. “Comb your hair differently and they notice. Change your watch and they notice! Skipped your morning shower and sprayed on 8)deodorant to cover the smell—they notice! What does this mean? Well， bathe regularly， change something about yourself， be observant， and compliment the lady.”

In other words， said Annie Chan， director of a matchmaking agency， “Our government wants smart ladies to meet smart guys to get smart children.”

But in Singapore it is impossible to get very far from thoughts of money and the workplace. These guys may have other things on their minds besides romance and babies. Singaporeans quite seriously describe their society as being driven by a local concept called kiasu， a desire not so much to get ahead as to not lose out. That concept might be applied， for example， to a person who pushes ahead of everybody else to get into an elevator. This single-mindedness， in life as in elevators， seems to leave little room for social graces or for romance or procreation.

“The E.Q. here，” said Ms. Chan， “can be 9)appalling.”

But even while working on the solution， Ms. Chan seems to be part of the problem. She is 39 and has been married for four years， but said she did not have the time or energy to have children.

It is a lot to ask of a college course to break attitudes like this. Three 20-year-old graduates of last year’s 10)inaugural course at Singapore

Polytechnic still seemed 11)imbued more with kiasu than romance. Despite everything their teachers had told them about multitasking work and love， none was in a relationship. And nothing they had heard in class seemed to have 12)dented their stereotypes about the opposite sex.

“I’m not open to relationships in school，” said Wei Shan Koh， a former student who works as a teacher’s aide. “Boys in school are not my 13)cup of tea. They are 14)male chauvinist pigs. They’re annoying and childish. And they won’t give in to you. They’re just not mature.”

Another former student， Tian Xi Tang， was quick to respond. “I think girls’ ideas are a bit childish， or you might say 15)girlie，” said Mr. Tang， who hopes to become an engineer. “It’s a matter of pride. Guys are more outspoken. We don’t like a girl to be more outspoken.”

Kamal Prakash， who hopes to be a lecturer in mathematics， gave voice to what appears to be the common theme here， among both young people and their elders. “I am not interested now in love relations because I want to continue my studies，” he said. “If I concentrate on love relations， I won’t be able to concentrate on my studies.”

像大學(xué)在搞聯(lián)誼會(huì)似的，教室里擠滿了青年男女，在探尋獲得浪漫愛情的秘訣。這是他們聚在一起上的第一堂課——《愛之于人生：戀、愛、性之旅》。其間學(xué)生們嬉笑、打趣，那也都是課程的一部分。他們的老師童素琪（音譯）在教授他們學(xué)習(xí)約會(huì)、相戀以及維系感情的基本技巧。

在新加坡兩間理工學(xué)院開設(shè)的這門課已經(jīng)進(jìn)入第二個(gè)年頭，是繼新加坡政府開展的許多旨在促進(jìn)國民結(jié)婚生育的運(yùn)動(dòng)后又一最新舉措，先前的大部分舉措都收效甚微。而去年開設(shè)的這門課程則廣受歡迎，并引發(fā)熱論希望其能在高校系統(tǒng)內(nèi)進(jìn)一步推廣。

“我們想告訴學(xué)生們，‘別等到事業(yè)有成才談戀愛’。有時(shí)候，那太晚了，尤其對(duì)于女孩子來說?！毙录悠律鐣?huì)發(fā)展、青年及體育部政務(wù)部長符喜泉在今年三月的一場(chǎng)記者招待會(huì)上說道。

這類課程是新加坡政府眾多“紅娘”舉措之外的擴(kuò)展，旨在設(shè)法對(duì)抗低生育率包含的兩大挑戰(zhàn)：愿意生孩子的人太少；……