OPINION> Commentary
This is no school for scandal
By Yanxizao (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-17 07:51

One professor forwarded to his school's academic ethics watchdog a letter exposing another professor's act of plagiarism. The alleged dishonesty was confirmed. Both professors have been suspended from their faculty positions.

No, I'm not wrong. Both. Not one.

I won't be surprised if this had happened in a government office. But it took place at one of the best-known institutions of higher learning here in Beijing. I'm not the kind of Chinese journalist who's accustomed to reporting without naming names. But, pardon me this time, I feel too ashamed to name that otherwise well-respected college.

The school's disciplinary authorities found no fault on the former's part. He received an equal treatment with the latter reportedly because the scandal, after being picked up by the press, compromised the school's reputation. Obviously they don't think it is a lame pretext. But what good does a cover-up do to the school's reputation?

* * *

Call me cruel. Call me unsympathetic.

I do not mind. Because I hate contaminated milk. Instead of seeing the government going all out to their rescue, I'd rather see them left out in the cold, dying. Okay, at least some of them. I mean Sanlu and its likes responsible for the milk scare.

By the way, is there any of them truly innocent? I'm trying to find out whom to trust.

The nasty stories of fraudulence by the country's top dairy firms may teach different lessons to different minds. Mine is that a prosperous national industry does not necessarily do us good. What? I'm unpatriotic? Give me a break. Never count on me loving something just because it is home-made.

I do love my country. But not the milk. At this point, the best I can do to show my love of the country is to wean myself from Chinese-made milk. I've shifted to a milk-free, or home-made dairy products-free to be exact, diet for some time. This won't change until I see sufficient reasons to feel safe.

Don't get me wrong. Through the boycott, I'm helping them out. I honestly believe it is a bad idea to bail them out with taxpayers' money. Nor is it fair. Only bankruptcies can drive home the omitted lesson of corporate ethics. Over-generous care from the government may do the very opposite.

* * *

So some young writers born after 1980, "post-80ers" as they call themselves, want to rescue Chinese literature. One of them even published online a "manifesto" in the name of all post-80ers.

I don't agree with them at least on one point - to me, the state of Chinese literature is not as nasty as that of Chinese men's soccer.

Still I believe today's literary circles need some fresh air, and faces to be respectable. Good to see aspiring young writers coming up with bold ideas. I particularly appreciate their independence from the existing writers' associations, I wish them good luck.

(China Daily 10/17/2008 page8)