以領袖為名？由《海峽時報》窺探新加坡紀念地名的文化政治

Named after Political Leaders? Probing into the Cultural Politics of Singapore’s Commemorative Place Names from The Straits Times

本文以領袖地名為中心，探討後殖民時期新加坡以政治領袖進行公共空間命名／更名過程的文化政治，藉以挖掘新加坡政治與社會文化中之特殊面向。具體來說，研究目的有以下兩點：第一，探究新加坡以領袖名字所進行的公共空間命名及其特色；第二，剖析新加坡領袖紀念地名之文化政治。文中採用1980年代以降批判地名學的觀點作為研究的方法論。在研究方法方面，主要選取新聞報章中曾經公開討論，或以其作為命名紀念的部長級以上的政治領袖作為分析對象。析論的取材來源主要來自於殖民時期以來發行量大且歷史新聞保存完整的《海峽時報》。研究結果顯示：雖然新加坡一向被視為是一個威權體制的國家，但近十幾年來在地名政策的實施過程中，似乎反而展現出一種較為自由、競爭的社會論述面向。公開的領袖紀念地名議題可說是官方決策進行前的風向球，藉由將領袖紀念議題拋出廣為周知，來喚起人民對於建國領袖與國家認同的注意。新加坡雖處於後殖民時期，但領袖紀念議題與去殖民無關，而是透過對形塑現代新加坡有功的近代人物的崇敬，彰顯國家認同。不同於威權體制下的台灣與大馬時常利用公共空間的命名進行領袖崇拜與紀念，後殖民時期新加坡領袖地名的命名過程為一競爭、協商的紀念政治，反映出新加坡的威權形態與政治有其特殊性。

This research probes into the cultural politics in the course of naming/renaming public space after political leaders in Singapore during the post-colonial period in order to identify the special aspects within Singapore’s political and social culture. The objectives of this research are to first explore the public space named after Singapore’s political leaders and their distinguishing features, and to second analyze the cultural politics of such place-naming actions. The result shows that although Singapore has always been regarded as an authoritarian nation, its place-naming policies in the most recent decade somehow exhibit a relatively free and competitive phenomenon for social discussions. Although Singapore has stepped into the post-colonial era, the topic of commemorating political leaders has nothing to do with decolonization; instead, it is to manifest the national identity through paying respect to those who have rendered great service to the modern Singapore. The naming process in the post-colonial Singapore does show the style of the limited liberty, a competitive and negotiatory memorial politics indicating certain specific characteristics are there in the authoritarian form and politics of Singapore.