Officials damage govt image by winning trophies

THE LAST DAY of 2015 saw three local officials in the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province, Southwest China, win 19 major awards in a local photography contest. Other winners remain unidentified. The cost of the contest was 700,000 yuan ($106,750), of which the local government provided 500,000 yuan. The Beijing Times says:

The total amount of the award prizes were 300,000 yuan. It is hard to avoid the suspicion that the three local officials were taking advantage of the competition to get bonuses.

Even though the contest was financially supported by the local government, it should still be an open and fair competition. And such competitions should not be tailored-made to suit the hobbies of certain officials.