Officials must have Wen's human quality

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-16 08:06

Premier Wen Jiabao's two small deeds moved the entire country recently. The acute sensibility of the public mirrors the indifference of thousands of government executive officials with obscure faces and an uncaring attitude, says an article in the Chinese Business View. Excerpt:

The humility Premier Wen Jiabao showed in apologizing to newspaper readers for a mistake and in holding an umbrella over an international guest during the farewell has moved all countrymen. But this is not the first time he has done such a deed.

So why did his actions move us? Why people in this country of people's republic unwittingly differentiate between ordinary people and the premier when it comes to moral principles and standards? Should we interpret a trivial matter as a sensation?

No, we do not have excessive sensibility to sensationalize a small matter. Rather, we lack the necessary sense to see as normal the good image or action of most of our executive officials who, as public servants, should have been interacting closely with us in the first place. We may get to know many facets of their characters from newspaper reports and TV interviews, but most of them are solemn, scrupulous, and routine. The impressive ones, on the other hand, in most cases are involved in corruption or crime.

Perhaps the sympathetic character of our premier has been sensationalized and drawn so much praise because of the position he occupies and the power he yields.

Ordinary people are used to the arrogance and indifference of mid-ranking and lower officials. Worse still, most of them do not have access to even local public servants.

Therefore, the interaction between local public servants and the public is stereotyped, and excludes any element of humanity and sympathy on the part of the officials.

The image of officials is so fixed in ordinary people's mind that they are surprised to find any of them, especially if he/she is a top official of the country, extending a courteous hand to somebody or to a cause.

The premier's courteousness and sympathy cannot make up for the institutional apathy of local officials, let alone the whole executive system. We want all our executive officials to be like our premier.

(China Daily 10/16/2009 page9)