Editorials

Lost wisdom of a few

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-25 07:48

It finally backfired. The abusive use of public hearings by some local authorities has infuriated too many citizens that it is no longer considered credible any more.

Instead of putting blind trust in such shows of "democracy", we hear angry calls for probes into those responsible for such bureaucratic posturing.

In a political culture like ours, when the government is determined to do something, it hardly ends up not being done. Hence, whenever a local government held a public hearing on its plans, the public would more or less not be preoccupied with the outcome the authorities had aspired for. A nave few would only believe dissenting voices in a public hearing could ultimately kill a government initiative.

Case in point: Local governments in a few cities recently wanted to raise water prices and had held public hearings to gather public's opinion on such matter. But most citizens knew that their opinions would amount to almost nothing.

But what turned people off is the pretentiousness of holding such hearings. Outsiders might be curious to note that representatives of local residents who attended public hearings were unnaturally unanimous in their views on contentious topics. Perhaps it's simply the authorities' capability of rallying public support.

We are not categorically against any price hikes, particularly when it comes to public goods concerning our precious resources and the damaged environment. Raising water prices in Beijing, for instance, is an overdue purpose. Excluding those in abject poverty - they deserve special government subsidies, a higher cost for water is a feasible approach to remind the average Beijinger of their city's severe water shortage.

Lost wisdom of a few

This is a good example to remind the public to conserve and consume less. As long as there's a good reason for hiking the price of certain public goods such as water, no one should complain unnecessarily.

Like everyone else, we find hypocrites pathetic. When a public hearing is held, we would like it to be what it is supposed to be. If you cannot allow diverse voices, just forget about public hearings. They are handy means for democratic decision-making, not a lip service for phony democracy.

Our public servants, however, did not seem to care about that. They obviously thought the public hearings could easily win them credibility. They were wrong. Our conscientious public is evidently more aware of what democracy should be like. The local authorities' manipulation of representative compositions, for one, has been exposed in multiple public hearings from the provinces. The ugliest scandals of the scandals involved the use of false identities.

We remember reviewing the famous quote from late Chairman Mao Zedong: The masses' eyes are discerning. We would like to share it with all those taking public hearings as cosmetic.

(China Daily 12/25/2009 page8)