Singaporean Mandarin Database

This database contains a collection of Mandarin terms which have cultural, historical or sentimental value unique to Singapore. These terms may be used by Singaporeans in the past or at present. Some of the terms are read in print while others are used in our everyday conversations.

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咖

kā

啡

fēi

钱

qián

bribe

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生活用语

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bribe

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Speech

生活用语

Speech

释义

名词

用于贿赂他人的钱。

DEFINITION

Noun

Money offered as a form of bribery. 

由来
  • 有一说认为该词源自福建或潮州方言词 “㗝呸镭”（kopi-lui）。
  • 在 1950 至 1960 年代间，新加坡社会一片动荡，经济衰弱，贪污腐败的行为也很常见。当时许多执法部门的员工都利用职权非法索取钱财。
  • 当时的贪污腐败问题极其严重，人民若是想要取得出租车执照、小商贩营业证或其他执照，有时就必须递交咖啡钱贿赂公务员。
  • 因此，咖啡钱指的是私下给公务人员的钱，当作是请他喝咖啡，从而得到他的关照。当然，这笔贿赂的金额远远超出一杯咖啡的价钱。人们向这些员工行贿时就委婉地称为 “交咖啡钱”。
  • 新加坡立国之后，此衰弱腐败的现象有所改变。政府努力建立一个清廉的政体，对贪污持零容忍的态度，使新加坡迅速成为全球高度廉洁的国家之一。
ETYMOLOGY
  • It is believed that this term originated from the Hokkien or Teochew dialect term kopi-lui (literally coffee money)
  • In the 1950s and 1960s, Singapore was in turmoil as the economy was sluggish and corrupt practices were common. At that time, many law enforcement officers used their authority to illegally demand for money.
  • At that time, corruption problems were severe. To obtain a taxi, hawker or other licenses, one had to bribe the civil servant with coffee money.
  • Therefore, coffee money refers to money given to a civil servant in private, regarded as buying them a cup of coffee, in order to obtain preferential treatment. Of course, the bribe was worth far more than a cup of coffee. When offering bribes, one would tactfully say “pay coffee money”.
  • Since Singapore gained independence, the situation turned for the better. The authorities are dedicated to building an honest and upright government with zero tolerance for corruption. Singapore quickly became one of the least corrupt nations in the world.

 

例句
早期的反贪官员的经验是，几十年前，上自高官，下至杂役都有收取 “咖啡钱” 或是 “红包” 的恶习，从邮差、清洁工讨红包到部长受贿巨款的情形都发生过。（《联合早报》， 9/6/2017）
SAMPLE SENTENCE
The experience of the early anti-corruption officials was that regardless of rank, civil servants from senior officials to menial workers had the bad practice of collecting coffee money or “red packets”. There were cases ranging from postmen and cleaners demanding red packets to ministers accepting bribes of a huge amount. (Lianhe Zaobao, 9/6/2017)
参考资料
点击查看咖啡钱的参考资料
REFERENCES

Click here to view references for bribe

 

 

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