文明衝突並非人類宿命 開放和寬容仍然存在

The election of Sadiq Khan, a practising Muslim, as mayor of London was rightly celebrated across the world. It confirmed that openness and tolerance, hallmarks of western civilisation, are alive and well. More surprising, perhaps, is that this spirit can be found in parts of the Islamic world, too.

虔誠的穆斯林薩迪克汗(Sadiq Khan)當選爲倫敦市長，理所當然地受到了全世界的讚美。這證明，西方文明的標誌——開放和寬容——如今仍然存在。或許，更令人吃驚的是，這種精神在伊斯蘭世界的某些地方也能找到。

Indonesia is the country with the world’s largest Muslim population. Its capital city, Jakarta, is run by Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Chinese Christian popularly known as “Ahok”. This is highly significant. Why? As recently as 1998, Jakarta saw anti-Chinese riots in which more than a thousand people were killed. Mr Purnama and his family had to defend themselves with sticks, Molotov cocktails and machetes.

印尼是世界上穆斯林人口最多的國家。該國首都雅加達特區首長是一名華裔基督徒——鍾萬學(Basuki Tjahaja Purnama)，人們都稱他爲“阿學”(Ahok)。此事意義非凡。爲何？在不太久遠的1998年，雅加達還曾發生過反對華人的騷亂，導致逾1000人喪生。當時鍾萬學和他的家人不得不用棍棒、莫洛托夫燃燒彈和寬刃大刀自衛。

After 17 months as governor of Jakarta, Mr Purnama remains immensely popular. He has made some bold changes: closing down trendy but disruptive nightclubs, cleaning up red-light districts, evicting people from slums (while providing them with better housing) and dredging clogged-up canals.

在擔任雅加達首長17個月之後，鍾萬學仍然非常受歡迎。他主導了一些大膽改革：關閉時髦但引起混亂的夜總會，拆除紅燈區，把人們趕出貧民窟（同時爲他們提供更好的住房），並疏浚淤塞的運河。

He has also demonstrated his willingness to make difficult policy choices, such as discontinuing a long-stalled monorail project in favour of a more cost-effective and efficient light rail system. Even more significantly, an underground railway, which had been held up by bureaucracy for more than 25 years, is going ahead.

他也展示了自己願意去做艱難的政策選擇，比如終止一個長期擱置的單軌鐵路項目，支持一個更划算、更有效率的輕軌鐵路系統。更令人矚目的是，一個因官僚政治而擱置逾25年的地鐵項目，目前正在推進之中。

Mr Purnama also believes in transparency. The entire budget of the city of Jakarta is online. Citizens can scrutinise all spending. Even his mobile phone number is public, meaning that he receives a large number of text messages, many of which he responds to personally. The city’s inhabitants feel that their lives are improving.

鍾萬學也秉持公開透明的理念。雅加達市的全部預算都可在網上查閱。市民可以詳細查看所有支出。就連他個人的手機號碼都是公開的，這意味着，他會收到大量的短信，他親手回覆了其中的許多條。雅加達的居民們感覺到，自己的生活正在變好。

This is why the attacks on him by hardline Islamist groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front, also known as Front Pembela Islam, are not working. In theory, appeals to religious loyalties by such groups should work against Mr Purnama. In practice, however, they have failed — suggesting that in Jakarta, as in London, a corner has been turned. The big question is why.

這正是伊斯蘭捍衛者陣線（Islamic Defenders Front，也叫Front Pembela Islam）等強硬伊斯蘭組織對他的攻擊不起作用的原因。理論上，這些組織所號召的宗教忠誠，應該對鍾萬學不利。但實際上，這些組織的企圖失敗了——這表明，正如倫敦一樣，雅加達的情況也發生了轉機。最大的疑問是原因何在。

One reason could be greater access to information. A little-known fact about Indonesia is that its social media penetration rates are among the highest in the world. There are more than 80m users of social networks in the country. In the new climate of transparency, there is increasing evidence for Mr Purnama’s claim that conditions in Jakarta are improving.

一個原因可能是人們可以接觸到更多信息。很少人知道，印尼的社交媒體滲透率非常高，居世界前列。該國社交網絡用戶超過8000萬。在新的透明氛圍下，越來越多的證據證明鍾萬學所言不假，雅加達的狀況確實正日益改善。

Corruption is also declining in what was a notoriously corrupt city. Video clips of Mr Purnama berating officials of the city’s transport administration have gone viral. Despite the traditional Javanese preference for avoiding confrontation, he has adopted a brash, in-your-face style that has clearly angered many. He has acquired enemies.

在曾經因腐敗而臭名遠揚的雅加達，腐敗程度也在減輕。鍾萬學斥責雅加達交通管理官員的短視頻在網絡上廣爲流傳。儘管爪哇文化傳統上傾向於避免對抗，但他採取了一種鋒芒畢露、當面鑼對面鼓的方式，這明顯惹惱了很多人。所以，他樹立了敵人。

When I met him earlier this year, I asked him for his views on how to succeed politically. He replied: “Be prepared to die. I am ready to die”.

當今年早些時候遇到他時，我問他覺得如何才能在政治上取得成功。他回答說：“準備好去死。我隨時準備迎接死亡”。

His courage is obvious. And for a Chinese Christian in a largely Muslim society to have displayed such courage could have been politically suicidal. Instead, it has proved to be a vote-getter. A grass roots campaign to put him on the ballot as an independent candidate to run again as governor in 2017 has drawn wide support from the city’s predominantly Islamic population. He has received more than enough nominations.

他的勇氣是顯而易見的。作爲一個生活在以穆斯林爲主體的社會中的華裔基督徒，他展示出這樣的勇氣本來可能自毀政治前途。事實卻恰恰相反——這爲他拉到了選票。一場旨在推舉他爲獨立候選人、於2017年再度競選雅加達首長的草根運動，在該市以穆斯林爲主體的市民中獲得了廣泛支持。他得到的提名數量遠超需要的最低標準。

Mr Purnama’s success in Jakarta is not just a local phenomenon. It demonstrates that we are moving into a new world in which people make more informed and rational decisions on the basis of greater access to information. The citizens of Jakarta are aware how backwards their city had become, even in relation to its Asian peers. So when a Chinese Christian promises that he will study best urban practices from Singapore and Taipei and bring them to Jakarta, they support him.

鍾萬學在雅加達的成功並非一個局部現象。這表明，我們開始進入一個新世界，在這個世界裏，人們會在獲得了更多信息的基礎上，做出更明智、更理性的決定。雅加達市民如今意識到，他們的城市是多麼的落後，即便相對亞洲其他首都而言也是如此。所以，當一名華裔基督徒承諾要研究新加坡和臺北的最佳城市管理經驗，將其推廣到雅加達時，他們都支持他。

This is why I believe that we are witnessing globally a fusion of civilisations, not a clash of civilisations. Societies around the world are beginning to learn best urban practice from others.

正因如此，我相信，我們在全球範圍內將見證不同文明的融合，而非不同文明的衝突。世界各地的許多社會都開始借鑑其他社會的最佳城市管理經驗。

The brash Chinese Christian governor of Jakarta is popular among the Islamic population of Jakarta because he says to them, in effect: “You can see on your phones how the rest of the world has moved ahead. Follow me, and I will bring the world’s best practices to Jakarta.”

這位鋒芒畢露的華裔基督徒首長之所以在雅加達穆斯林人口中大受歡迎，原因在於，他實際上對他們說：“你們能在自己的手機上看到，世界其他地區在多大程度上領先於我們。追隨我，我會把世界上的最佳城市管理方式帶到雅加達。”

In theory, an Islamic population ought to have been reluctant to follow a Christian leader. In practice, they are embracing him. This is as significant as the election of Mr Khan.

理論上，穆斯林理應不願追隨一位信仰基督教的領導人。實際情況是，他們擁戴他。這一點與薩迪克汗當選倫敦市長一樣意義重大。