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Be more courteous!
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-23 07:51 Be more courteous! I have been living in China for almost a decade, first in Shanghai and then in Beijing. And I can say there have been incredibly rapid positive changes in every aspect of life. But it is still common to see men seated comfortably in a metro carriage, while a women with a child or heavy bag struggle to maintain a foothold. My wife and I came to Beijing almost two years ago. She was pregnant then, and somehow people in Beijing were more eager to give their seats to women in her condition than their counterparts in Shanghai. But I thought it was the "Bird's Nest effect", result of the campaign before the Olympic Games to give foreigners a good impression of the city. So I feared that after the Olympics things would change, and sadly my fear came true. After September 2008, it has become increasingly difficult for her and our baby to get a seat in a metro train or a bus. I have seen many seated "gentlemen" oblivious to women struggling with their bags and children in front of them. These "gentlemen" are lost in the waves of their MP3s, play videogames or stare "angrily" on the other side. In short, they do whatever they can, except giving seats to women. Some people say: "Oh, that's the problem with outsiders, locals are always more polite". But I'm sorry to say that many a time I have seen outsiders with bags and kids taking the subway, and people that clearly are not outsiders ignoring even their presence. Irrespective of the time one takes the subway or a bus, you will always find some people sleeping, and mostly, men. I concede some jobs demand a lot of physical strength and are tiring. But a lot of women, too, do such jobs. What finally prompted me to write this letter is a very big, strong Chinese man sending a small woman flying for having dared to compete with him for a seat. In fact, he was lihai enough to scold her after she somehow managed to untangle herself from other passengers and get back to her feet. After that, he closed his eyes, crossed his arms and went back to sleep again. Cesar Santos, A Colombian national living in Beijing via email Stream of thought I am a college student whose major is law. My hometown is Suzhou in Jiangsu province. Three years ago I was admitted to the school located in Taizhou where the air is fresh and the river clean, as industry here is less developed than in Suzhou. I think Taizhou enjoys both prosperity and a comfortable environment. As a comparison, I have to mention my hometown, which used to have abundant fish and rice. In their pursuit of happiness, it is a pity that people here ignore the environment. Now standing by the river, I see rubbish floating, and fish is scarce. This river is our source of water and the one we share with our offspring. Now we enjoy prosperity, but have to pay a price for that. There are people I know who died of cancer. Even today, there are many others ailing, who are not wealthy enough to receive treatment. We have to stop and think about what kind of life we are leading and whether this is the way we want to live. Loyalpan via email Readers' comments are welcome. Please send mail to Letters to the Editor, China Daily, 15 Huixin Dongjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029 China. Send faxes to (86-10) 6491-8377. Send e-mail to opinion@chinadaily.com.cn or letters@chinadaily.com.cn or to the individual columnists. China Daily reserves the right to edit all letters. Thank you. (China Daily 06/23/2009 page8) |
