Quotable

"We're always saying that we have to educate our children well. But who will educate these kinds of teachers?"

Yao Chen, an actress who boasts 25 million followers on Sina Weibo, commenting that clearer laws are needed to prevent child abuse in China. Yao's comments came after public outrage over online photos that showed an uncertified teacher at a kindergarten in Zhejiang province holding up a boy by his ears, his feet about 10 cm off the ground.

"The penchant to be a civil servant in China shows that many are still suffering from what is called 'power fever'. "

Tang Zhijun, a lecturer at Hunan University of Science and Technology, commenting after reports that nearly 1.3 million people have registered to take the annual national civil servant examination this month. Many are looking to the civil service as a career because of the power and financial benefits they believe it gives them.

"It is sad that money and not love determines whether a marriage in China is successful. Many modern alliances are arranged between families of equal economic standing, which gives rise to more room for parental interference."

Zi Zhongyun, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, saying that the current marriage concepts reek of money worship and a return to feudalism. Zi said that while it was love that joined his parents in wedlock some 100 years ago, it is economic affluence in the form of houses and cars that rule the hearts today.

(China Daily 11/02/2012 page2)