(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-31 07:28

The National Development and Reform Commission along with eight ministries jointly issued a document on Monday requiring the number of government-sponsored performances and festivals be reduced, and public money should not be spent on inviting top artists to such occasions.

Such a ban should have been introduced much earlier given the increasing number of complaints about the wastage of public money on such festivals and on big name performers.

It is not too late to close the stable door even after the horse has bolted.

The unhealthy tendency of holding unnecessary festivals or celebrations sometimes for quite far-fetched reasons by local governments has become a scourge, which has not only wasted both human resources and money, but also fed the appetites of big name stars and led to corruption by local officials.

It was reported that some poverty-stricken counties have spent millions of yuan staging festivals or celebrations and inviting big name stars to perform on such occasions. The payment for a singer could be as much as the annual income of more than 200 local villagers.

Such celebrations have been criticizied as - governments act as the hosts, taxpayers foot the bill, and big stars reap the cash.

There is nothing wrong with stars being paid handsomely for their performances so long as the concerts they take part in are commercial ones.

For quite a long time we have considered squandering public money as part of the working style, unless the money finds its way into the pocket of a particular person. As a result, the degree of punishment on offenders is so limited, very few are concerned about it.

That is one of the reasons why local governments can stage such celebrations or even a concert, when they are not in a position to do so.

It is right for the central government to ban such activities. Along with this document, we need specifications about how local officials should be punished if they squander public money, which could otherwise be used in improving the livelihood of local residents.

Last but not the least, we need supervision of the budgets of governments at various levels which define how the money of taxpayers should be spent.

(China Daily 01/31/2008 page8)