Singapore’s reputation as a “nanny state” — where the sale of chewing gum is banned and persistent litterbugs can be fined up to S$10,000 (US$7,000) — is one of the more notorious legacies of Lee Kuan Yew, who has died aged 91.
新加坡有着“保姆国家”的名声，这是在91岁辞世的李光耀(Lee Kuan Yew)不甚光彩的遗产之一。新加坡禁止销售口香糖，多次乱扔垃圾者将被罚款最高1万新元（合7000美元）。
It struck at the heart of the founder of modern Singapore’s vision for a society where collective responsibility came above the instincts of the individual, for the greater good.
这个词切中“现代新加坡之父”的理想社会的核心特征：为了更广泛的社会福祉，集体责任高于个人天性。

Mr Lee justified his government’s intrusiveness on its citizen’s private lives by saying it was necessary for social cohesion. But this paternalistic approach to governing chafes with many in the population who have grown tired of being told how to live their lives.
关于政府介入公民个人生活领域，李光耀的理由是，这是形成社会凝聚力的必要之举。但这种家长式的治理作风引起了许多新加坡人不满，他们厌倦了被告诉该如何生活。
One of the earliest acts of the ruling Peoples’ Action party in the 1960s was to start a programme of clearing the streets of itinerant hawkers, and rehousing them in “hawker stalls”, organised under a single roof and regulated with strict hygiene standards.
执政的人民行动党(People’s Action party)在上世纪60年代采取的最早举措之一，是展开了一项整顿街头小贩的行动，引导这些流动小贩进入集中的、有着严格卫生标准的“小贩中心”。
With the massive public housing programmes of the same decade came the introduction of strict rules on cleanliness and order that survive to this day. Urinating in apartment block elevators is banned and urine smell detectors are installed to deter offenders.
60年代实施大规模公共住房项目的同时，新加坡也开始推行延续至今的、关于保持清洁与秩序的严厉法规。公寓楼电梯里禁止小便，并且安装有尿味探测器。
Failure to flush a public toilet is also a punishable offence.
在公厕不冲水也要受惩罚。
The authority that administers the country’s massive Housing Development Board housing schemes goes to the length of including on its website items that must not be hung from the bamboo laundry poles that jut from most HDB flats. The list includes cooking woks and even shopping trolleys.
大规模的公共住房计划由新加坡建屋发展局(Housing Development Board)负责管理，该局网站上详细列出了不得挂于此类住房中伸出的晾衣竹竿上的物品清单（大多数HDB公寓都有这种晾衣杆）。被禁物品包括炒锅，甚至还有购物用的小推车。
Littering has become an increasing problem in Singapore, in spite of a system of “corrective work orders”, which force offenders to pick up litter in public.
尽管政府出台了“垃圾虫劳改法令”，强制犯规者打扫公共场所，但乱丢垃圾现象仍日益增多。
Fines have risen accordingly. Last year the maximum fine for littering was doubled to $2,000 for the first conviction, rising to five times that for repeat offenders.
于是对乱扔垃圾者的罚金也相应提高。去年，对初犯者的最高罚金提到了一倍，达2000美元，对屡教不改者的最高罚金则提高了4倍。
In January authorities meted out a fine of S$19,800 ($15,000) to a smoker for throwing cigarette butts out of his apartment window — the largest ever such punishment.
1月，当局以一名吸烟者将烟头扔出自己家窗户为由，对其处以1.98万新元（合1.5万美元）的罚款，为同类罚款中金额最高的一次。
Goh Chok Tong, Mr Lee’s successor in 1990, posted a comment on Facebook in January lamenting how Singapore’s reputation as one of the world’s cleanest cities “was going down the rubbish chute” after an outdoor music festival venue was left strewn with rubbish. But the move provoked a reaction from many people who felt he was needlessly patronising.
1990年接替李光耀担任新加坡总理的吴作栋(Goh Chok Ton)今年1月在Facebook上发了一条评论。事情起因是一场户外音乐节结束后，地上扔满了垃圾，吴作栋为此感叹道，新加坡作为全球最清洁城市之一的名声也“沿着垃圾滑槽沉下去了”。但这番言论在社会上引起很大反响，许多人认为，吴作栋不必自视清高。
It was Mr Goh who introduced the ban on chewing gum in 1992 — a move unlikely to have gone ahead without the support of Mr Lee, who still wielded enormous influence in the cabinet at the time.
1992年实行口香糖销售禁令的正是吴作栋——此事若未得到李光耀的支持是推行不下去的，那时李光耀在内阁仍有很大的影响力。
The ban was relaxed in 2004 after lobbying by Wrigley, the US gum maker, to allow the limited sale of sugar-free gum for medicinal purposes.
在美国箭牌公司(Wrigley)的游说之后，口香糖禁令在2004年有所放宽，允许用于医疗用途的无糖口香糖的有限销售。
The government official who implemented the prohibition on gum, Daniel Wang, was reported this week to have died aged 71. “It’s actually good for gum health and that’s why it’s still used for medical reasons today,” he was reported as having said. “But I was under instructions.”
本周有报道称，当初负责贯彻落实口香糖销售禁令的政府官员Daniel Wang已经去世，终年71岁。据报道他曾说过这样的话：“嚼口香糖确实有利于牙龈健康，所以今天口香糖仍可用在医疗用途上，但我是奉命行事的。”
There is no sign of the ban being fully lifted.
目前没有迹象表明，口香糖销售禁令将全面解禁。