韓國頒佈熄燈令 激勵職員多"造人"
South Korea's health ministry, which is charged with boosting the nation's low birthrate, is turning off the lights in its offices once a month to encourage staff to go home early and make more babies.
The ministry said in a statement Wednesday the switches will be flicked at 7.30 pm every third Wednesday in the month to "help staff get dedicated to childbirth and upbringing".
Those with urgent duties will be exempt from the switch-off.
"Going home early may have no direct link to having more kids, but you cannot just completely rule out a possible link between them," Choi Jin-Sun, who is in charge of the project at the ministry, told reporters.
Low birthrate is a pressing issue in this fast-ageing society.
South Korea's birthrate -- the average number of babies born during a woman's lifetime -- remained near the world's lowest at 1.19 in 2008 and there are fears the population will begin shrinking within a decade.
"It won't be too long before our children are burdened with supporting the elderly," Health Minister Jeon Jae-Hee told the Korea Times newspaper.
"Korea may lose out in the global economic competition due to a lack of manpower. It is actually the most urgent and important issue the country is facing."
Married staff at the ministry are not doing their bit, with an average of 1.63 children compared to the average of 1.82 among all civil servants. The ministry aims to increase the figure to 2.0 in two years.
The ministry has various other incentives, including cash gifts, for staff who produce more than two babies. Some local governments also run schemes or even matchmaking services to boost the birthrate.
負責提高全國出生率的韓國衛生部日前宣佈該部辦公樓每月提前熄燈一晚，以鼓勵職員提早回家“造人”。
韓國衛生部於本週三發表聲明稱，今後該部辦公室將於每月第三個星期三的晚上七點半準時熄燈，以讓“員工有更多的時間和精力去生兒育女”。
不過有緊急公務在身的人可以例外。
衛生部負責這一項目的崔珍善在接受記者採訪時說：“早點回家可能和多生孩子沒有直接關係，但也不是完全沒有關係。”
韓國社會老齡化迅速，低出生率是當下的一個緊迫問題。
韓國2008年的出生率（即一名女性一生平均所生育的孩子數量）爲1.19，接近世界最低水平，有人擔心韓國人口在十年之內會開始萎縮。
衛生部部長全在熙接受《韓國時報》採訪時說：“用不了多久，我們的孩子就要承擔起贍養老人的重擔。”
“勞動力的缺乏會使韓國無法應對世界經濟競爭。這實際上是目前韓國所面臨的最緊迫、最重要的問題。”
衛生部中的已婚職員沒有盡到“本分”，相對於所有公務員1.82的平均生育率，該部職員的平均生育率僅爲1.63。衛生部計劃在兩年內將這一數字提高到2.0。
韓國衛生部還推出了其他一些激勵措施，包括對生育兩個以上子女的職員給予現金獎勵。一些地方政府也推出刺激計劃甚至提供婚姻介紹服務來提高生育率。
Vocabulary:
switch off: cause to stop operating by disengaging a switch 關（電燈、機器等）
rule out: dismiss from consideration 排除（That idea can be completely ruled out. 那種看法可以完全不必考慮。）
lose out: to be defeated or unsuccessful 失敗，輸掉
